These new nailable solar shingles are installed like a traditional roof

The “world’s first” nailable solar shingle, the Timberline Solar Energy Shingle, is being launched today by GAF Energy, the sister company of GAF, the largest roofing and waterproofing company in North America.

The Energy Shingle is combined with other standard roofing components to create the “Timberline Solar” roof system. GAF Energy claims to have the only product to integrate solar technology into existing roofing processes and materials, resulting in a full-fledged solar roof.

GAF Energy claims its Energy Shingles have comparable weatherproof performance to GAF’s roofing shingle, the Timberline HD/HDZ.

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All nailable solar shingle components are coplanar, and the electronic components are on the front of the shingle instead of the back so that they’re readily accessible for servicing.

In September 2021, Timberline Solar achieved UL’s 7103 certification, which authorizes GAF Energy to install the system on residential roofs as a roofing product and a solar energy product — the first of its kind to be recognized as both.

GAF Energy also worked with Albuquerque-based Sandia National Laboratories, a US Department of Energy research and development lab, to verify the product’s strength, durability, and overall market readiness.

One of Sandia’s missions is to drive technical innovation in the solar sector as part of a broader DOE effort to lower the cost, increase the efficiency, and further the deployment of solar technologies. 

Over five million new roofs are installed on US homes each year – one out of every four of those roofs come from GAF. With access to GAF’s national contractor network, GAF Energy is well positioned to grow residential solar in the mass market.

Martin DeBono, president of GAF Energy, said:

At GAF Energy, we have the capacity to scale this technology like no one else through GAF, bringing an integrated solar product that is weatherproof, affordable, and design-minded to homeowners across the country.

The Energy Shingles will be manufactured at the company’s new facility in San Jose, California, and launched this month.

Electrek’s Take

GAF Energy didn’t give us the specifications or prices of these new tiles, so we don’t know how efficient they are in terms of generating energy, or how costly they are. But if we assume that they’re efficient, and not exorbitantly priced, these could be a real game changer.

It just makes sense to combine roofing and solar installation, as GAF Energy is doing. If the process is streamlined, then more home owners will adopt rooftop solar.

I’m going to find out and will report back… and if the answers to the above two questions are good, I’d want them on my own roof.

Read more: GAF Energy moves its solar manufacturing from Asia to the US

All photos: GAF Energy

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