Another Solar Shingle Partnership — Dow & Global Solar Energy
Entering into the solar-to-roofing material mix is Dow and Global Solar Energy. Both have teamed up to take on the Department of Energy’s Solar America Initiative (SAI) to create building-integrated photovoltaic systems (BIPV) that are efficient and cost effective.
This comes on the heels of two previously announced partnerships in this category with ASTI/Icopal and SRS/CertainTeed .
Dow Building Solutions wants to create a solar roofing shingle using Global Solar Energy’s panels.
Global Solar Energy produces thin-film, flexible CIGS solar panels for a variety of markets. Dow wants to partner with them because they produce flexible panels that meet the SAI’s requirement for 10% efficiency.
“We are collaborating with Global Solar Energy because throughout our search for a solar material provider, it was the only company able to supply a qualifying flexible Copper Indium Gallium diSelenide (CIGS) material that meets our needs and the requirements of the SAI,” said Bob Cleereman, senior director of Solar and Structural Technology with Dow Building Solutions.
The SAI is comprised of companies, laboratories, universities and non-profit organizations. As part of the initiative, Dow is participating in the Technology Pathway Partnership, which was designed to accelerate the commercialization of U.S.-produced solar photovoltaic (PV) systems.
While photovoltaic roofing shingles are not a new idea, it is now proving to be fast paced market. The declining production costs of CIGS panels will make the solar shingle more competitively priced. As more CIGS manufacturers enter into the market, we will see more and more roofing products to be laid down on our roofs.
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