The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE: DOW) and Underwriters Laboratories (UL) announced that the DOW™ POWERHOUSE™ Solar Shingle is the first residential solar roofing shingle with an integrated connection system to receive Underwriters Laboratories (UL) safety certification. The DOW™ POWERHOUSE™ Solar Shingle is a ground-breaking photovoltaic solar panel in the form of a solar roofing shingle that can be integrated into rooftops with standard asphalt shingle materials. It reduces installation time and complexity using a revolutionary system design that eliminates on-roof wiring, minimizes through-roof penetrations, and allows the product to be installed in the same manner as a standard roofing shingle.
“In the case of Dow’s solar shingles, we had to take a unique approach in order to test the product as both a roofing shingle and a PV system. We are proud to provide the UL mark to this first-of-its-kind solar shingle from Dow.”
“The receipt of UL safety certification represents the successful completion of a rigorous and comprehensive multi-test process for the DOW™ POWERHOUSE™ Solar Shingles,” said Dow Solar Vice President, Jane Palmieri. “This is another important milestone towards the planned 2011 commercialization of Dow’s solar shingles, and represents a crucial third-party validation of the safety of this product. We are dedicated to making solar easy for homeowners, builders, and roofing contractors who already trust the performance and safety of building products bearing the Dow brand.”
Given the new and unique nature of the DOW™ POWERHOUSE™ Solar Shingle, Dow Solar worked closely with UL - a trusted global resource for product safety certification and compliance solutions - to indentify a series of rigorous tests to assess the safety of the unique design and of all the elements of the combined solar and roofing product. The final listing awarded to the DOW™ POWERHOUSE™ Solar Shingles represents compliance to a diverse sequence of UL’s safety and building standards, specifically, UL 746, 1703, 1897, 790, 486 and 514. Over 50 individual tests were conducted to assess the safety of the DOW™ POWERHOUSE™ Solar Shingles against building code standards, including wind and fire resistance, and electrical code requirements, such as proper wiring and photovoltaic (PV) connections.
“UL has been leading the development of PV equipment testing methodologies and standards since the 1980s, and has contributed to the safe operation of PV equipment by providing safety testing and certification services for PV equipment manufacturers worldwide,” said Jeff Smidt, Vice President and General Manager for UL’s Global Energy business. “In the case of Dow’s solar shingles, we had to take a unique approach in order to test the product as both a roofing shingle and a PV system. We are proud to provide the UL mark to this first-of-its-kind solar shingle from Dow.”
In addition to the vitally important design and material safety tests performed by UL, Dow will continue with its own reliability and durability testing in support of commercialization. Dow is currently performing tests on installed systems of DOW™ POWERHOUSE™ Solar Shingles in addition to individual shingles in order to assess the durability of the product, utilizing Design for Reliability and Physics of Failure methodologies to measure performance against weather, extreme temperatures and more.
Dow has chosen thin-film CIGS (Copper Indium Gallium deSelenide) as the PV material in the DOW™ POWERHOUSE™ solar shingle, and Global Solar Energy (Tucson, AZ) was selected as the preferred supplier in support of the product launch. CIGS technology offers the best balance of low cost and highest sunlight conversion efficiency of the commercialized thin film technologies available today, and the flexible foil substrate of the Global Solar Energy CIGS cells provides the necessary level of flexural durability to allow the DOW™ POWERHOUSE™ Solar Shingle to perform reliably in a demanding application environment.
Breaking the traditional barriers to residential solar adoption – complexity, affordability and aesthetics – this technology offers the missing link needed by the energy industry to drive solar adoption across the U.S., and will bring the possibility of safe and reliable solar power to American households. The DOW™ POWERHOUSE™ Solar Shingle is expected to be commercially available in select U.S. markets by mid 2011.
What will the benefits of the BIPV Shingle be?
* Lower system cost
* Improved aesthetics
* Easier installation
* Long-lasting performance
