Solar Roof Shingles Blend In With Your Existing Roof And Are Cost Effective

Solar roof shingles can be a great choice when "Going Solar", especially if the idea of having large solar panels on your roof or in your yard does'nt appeal to you.

Solar roof tiles are aesthetically pleasing to the eye and are a deep dark purple color and made to have a similar look and feel as your existing shingles.

They'll blend right in to your roof.

How Does Solar Roofing Work?

Solar roof tiles are are also called photovoltaic shingles. They have thin film solar cells on the tops that capture the sunlight and convert it to electricity.

This captured electricity is ready for immediate use with your electrical appliances and the excess electricity is transferred to your power grid to be used at a later time or sold back to the power company if not used.

The electricity generated can also be transferred to a battery for storage so you can live completly off grid.(without reliance on the power company, living completely off the suns energy)

There are a number of different types of solar roof shingles to choose from.

There are solar roof tiles that are single panels and are the size of a number of conventional shingles in a strip. The most common size of these is 12" x 86" long.

They are put in a layered form on the roof with the standard shingles, and 5" is exposed to the sun. These can usually be nailed right onto the roofing felt.

Then there are solar roof tiles that are very similar in size and flexibility to regular roof shingles, and can be integrated right in with your exisitng shingles.

Each shingle produces between 17-50 watts, depending on the size and type you choose. So when you combine a number of these shingles together, you begin to access an abundance of electricity.

How much space do you need to install a solar roof? A small home will require an area of about 10 x 12 while a larger home will need around 1000 square feet.

There Are Many Advantages To Solar Roofing

Not only is solar roofing more aesthetically pleasing but it also takes less time to install than traditional solar panels.

The new CIGS(copper indium gallium selenide) thin film solar tiles can be installed in about 10 hours on an average size home, compared to the 22-30 hours required to install solar panels.

Also, with the thin film solar panels, direct sunlight is not required to generate electricity. As long as there is daylight, these solar roof shingles can produce electricity even on a cloudy day.

Of course, these shingles will get generate much more electricity in direct sunlight on a bright sunny day. For this reason, you will want to install the solar roof tiles on the sunniest side of the house, and out of any direct shade.

Then if you decide you want to install more solar power, you can still use the other side of the roof as well.

Many of the other benefits include:

• They are strong and durable and won't need to be replaced for 15-20 years.
• They are visually appealing, blending right into your existing roof
• You will save money on the installation costs.
• They can be used in the most remote locations on earth