Solar shingles project? Help/advice please

Tim,

Good news and bad news. The good, you are on the right path. Having that said, here is the bad. I've seen and read on solar shingles (uni-solar, the actually shingle looking panels), and in the end, they are more of a losing battle. Unfortunately your area, about the same as mine, doesn't get a lot of solar radiation. If you on purpose or accidentally chose to use amorphous silicon, i don't know, but its a good choice in areas with less total irradiation. the main problem with the solar shingles is that they are expensive! (not that much else isn't) but at $7.33 a watt, and only for the panel, that already makes it less feasible. For as gorgeous and well made as they are, they just don't make sense. I do not know much about the Sharp 62W panels, but from the look, they're quite similar to the uni-solar shingles. the panels that i do like however, are another uni-solar product, their roof laminate. the only drawback to these laminates are that they require a 15.5" wide metal sheeting on the roof. but i like the wide sheets better than the shingles, personal opinion.

Now onto the cost, as with all RE endeavors, the monetary payback is not immediate or even soon. over 20 years, in the better of locations. now this of course can be affected by incentives, special loans, and other tax breaks, and of course, a reduced energy bill and possible selling back extra power to the grid. If your so inclined as to the actual energy payback, its only around 2 years w/ uni-solar products.

Finally, if your association is cash-strapped, this may not be feasible. not to discourage you at all, but money is fortunately your biggest enemy. one thing to consider doing, is to maybe go with a roof structure that could be built upon in the future, using solar PV panels to generate electricity. if this is more appealing, then i recommend the 15.5" metal sheeting, and the hope of adding to it later. If you could do it, I'd try to convince those in your neighborhood of ALL of the benefits of such a system, even a small one (less than a kW). once installed, it can always be added upon(except for certain inverters), and expanded once the money is available, and such structure would have electricity whenever the sun was shining.

I hope i have been of some help as far as advice and not so much on the #'s end of it. whatever you decide, do so with confidence and support RE wherever possible.

Ian Williams