Certainteed Enters Partnership with SRS Energy

April 21st, 2008 — Solar Roofing

Per an SRS Energy news item, they have entered into a partnership with CertainTeed Corporation, a North American manufacturer of interior and exterior building products.

Solar Roof ShinglesThe partnership will be used for the advance and development of photovoltaic roofing products, such as solar shingles. Both companies will collaborate on the development of a polymericbased photovoltaic roof tile that generates energy when exposed to radiant energy (light) without compromising the look of the home.


Newer technology allows you to seamlessly and inconspicuously embed solar technology into the roof tile. Most existing solar roofing systems rely on large and unattractive panels which makes PV systems a more elegant solution. Hi tech, while being low-key and aesthetic.

“We are thrilled to be on the leading edge of developing attractive roofing products that help save homeowners money and reduce energy consumption,” says Marty Low, Chief Executive Officer of SRS Energy. “This partnership will revolutionize the way homeowners look at roofing-from being simply a form of shelter, to being an environmentally-friendly resource that powers a home.”

This announcement came quick on the heels of CertainTeed laying off 140 workers from its fiberglass insulation plant in Kansas City, Kansas. CertainTeed said that downsizing was necessary due to an excess capacity for insulation products because of a weak new housing market.

Advances in technology

In the early 70’s, going solar meant panels the size of dining room tables. Now, where in the last few years, the solar industry are becoming more in tune with existing building architecture. The newer technologies enable us to have solar-powered cells that can be seamlessly incorporated into most traditional roofing materials such as slate, metal, and as in this partnership, asphalt roofing.

Solar shingle (or tile) systems are considered to be building-integrated photovoltaics or BIPVs. Strings of shingles spread over hundreds of square feet of roof can generate enough electricity to power a home. The solar shingles can be installed over new or existing roofs. An electrician and/or trained roofer will wire them together and patch them in to your home’s electrical system.

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This entry was posted on Monday, April 21st, 2008 at 3:40 pm and is filed under Solar Roofing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.


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5 Comments so far

  1. Magda on April 22, 2008 12:16 am

    An interesting way to save money in the future, lets use our resources!

  2. Ascent Solar Technologies to Partner with Icopal SAS in BIPV Roofing Products | Roof Info on April 24, 2008 7:45 am

    [...] Certainteed Enters Partnership with SRS Energy [...]

  3. Dow & Global Solar Energy to create Solar Shingle | Roof Info on May 5, 2008 7:28 pm

    [...] Certainteed Enters Partnership with SRS Energy         [...]

  4. Anonymous on October 29, 2009 7:30 am

    Actually, the true advance in technology since the 1970s might be the creation of Photoshop software:

    http://ecdfan.blogspot.com/2009/06/marketing-of-solar-tile.html

  5. Roof Info Staff on October 29, 2009 3:59 pm

    @anonymous (aka ECD Fan)

    Sure they used a Photoshopped photo for their brochure, but they have a disclaimer to that fact printed in plain sight. They also have some actual photos of the tile being installed.

    You seem to have it in for a vast majority of the thin-film PV roofing start-ups on your blog. Not sure what the reason for that is, but these companies have to start somewhere.

    One of your long essays (actually lost interest after the first three paragraphs) concerning the quality of the product and how long it lasts is probably without merit. You use data from a website and made one big assumption — the lack of data just has to be the tiles are no longer producing energy. You did not do the due diligence of calling the schools where the data is coming from to confirm your hypothesis.

    This is not to say that there are going to be a high failure rate with this new technology. I remember the early days of LCD displays in watches, control panels, etc. One little bump or smack on the display and the whole thing was worthless. Sometimes you could do this as soon as you walked out of the store with it. Eventually they improved, just as the tiles will improve.

    I can see why you are not following through on a lot of your claims. Kind of hard to do that when you are sitting in a room somewhere in New Jersey. Meh, pick up a phone or email some of these guys and get some balance to your reporting.

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