GAF Energy manufactures its Timberline solar tiles at a new facility in California. It claims that the Timberline Solar roof system is unique because it directly integrates solar technology into traditional roofing processes and materials.
GAF Energy, a supplier of solar roofing products in North America, has announced the launch of Timberline Solar, which it describes as the world’s first nailable solar shingle.
At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week, the Timberline Solar Energy Shingle is set to receive three awards, including its highest honor, the Best of Innovation award for “Smart Cities.” The product was also named as an Innovation Award honoree in both the “Smart Cities” and “Smart Home” categories. What sets it apart from other solar shingles like Tesla’s, for example, is that the roof system directly integrates solar technology into traditional roofing processes and materials, according to GAF Energy.
The shingles will be assembled domestically at its facility in San Jose, California, which was constructed last year after the company moved manufacturing out of South Korea. At the time, the facility was expected to be able to produce 50 MW of solar panels per year, and provide jobs to about 400 people in manufacturing, engineering and R&D.
In an interview with pv magazine, Martin DeBono, GAF Energy’s president, said that R&D teams will be a short stroll away from the production line. And while California and Silicon Valley are not known for their low costs, the company chose San Jose for its proximity to a talent pool that is used to innovating for companies such as Apple and Google.
GAF Energy says that Timberline Solar shingles are water-shedding, strong and warranted to withstand wind speeds of up to 130 mph. Rack-mounted solar installations require the drilling of dozens of holes into the roof membrane. Any resulting damage related to those holes is not typically covered by roof warranties.
GAF Energy is the sister company of GAF, a leading roofing and waterproofing company. With access to GAF’s national contractor network, GAF Energy is uniquely positioned to bring residential solar to the mass market.
“Solar roofs are the future of clean energy, and Timberline Solar is the game-changing innovation that will get us there,” said Martin DeBono, president of GAF Energy.
The Timberline Solar design has secured UL 7103 certification, which authorizes GAF Energy to install the systems on residential rooftops as a roofing product and a solar energy product, making it the first of its kind to be recognized as both. In addition, GAF Energy has worked with Sandia National Laboratories, a U.S. Department of Energy R&D lab, to verify the strength, durability and overall market-readiness of the product.
This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to cooperate with us and would like to reuse some of our content, please contact: editors@pv-magazine.com.
More articles from Anne Fischer
It would be interesting to know if replacing the roof, the area under the Timberline Solar shingles, can be covered by underlayment only, there by decreasing the cost of the overall roof replacement?
Do these solar tiles qualify for federal and/or state solar tax credits?
I see no mention of $/watt, watts per shingle, or terms of production warranty. I did find 25-yr linear (.55%/yr) degradation warranty section; but no terms I could find in a shingle in the middle fails…. and how much of the labor to un-install and re-install the column to get to a faulty shingle.
big output concern is with zero air-flow behind backsheet, increased heat is going to reduce operating efficiency big time, and the frameless design of a rigid glass shingle seems to introduce a high risk of cracking with static loads.
I can’t imagine a significant reduction in decking penetrations compared to a typical rail-mounted system if they are using 6 nails per shingle….
It’s hard to get too excited about these without seeing any actual Solar output specifications or cost/watt
Please be mindful of our community standards.
Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *
Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.
By submitting this form you agree to pv magazine using your data for the purposes of publishing your comment.
Your personal data will only be disclosed or otherwise transmitted to third parties for the purposes of spam filtering or if this is necessary for technical maintenance of the website. Any other transfer to third parties will not take place unless this is justified on the basis of applicable data protection regulations or if pv magazine is legally obliged to do so.
You may revoke this consent at any time with effect for the future, in which case your personal data will be deleted immediately. Otherwise, your data will be deleted if pv magazine has processed your request or the purpose of data storage is fulfilled.
Further information on data privacy can be found in our Data Protection Policy.
Legal Notice Terms and Conditions Privacy Policy © pv magazine 2022
This website uses cookies to anonymously count visitor numbers. View our privacy policy. ×
The cookie settings on this website are set to "allow cookies" to give you the best browsing experience possible. If you continue to use this website without changing your cookie settings or you click "Accept" below then you are consenting to this.