Solar Shingles and Photovoltaic Panels

Solar roof tiles are up-and-coming technology which is replacing the bulky photovoltaic panels that have been commonly used to make solar power.

As photovoltaic panels are used commonly so people mostly know about them, but what are solar shingles? Are they same competent like photovoltaic panels? These are couple of questions which must be coming in your mind.

Is Shingles better than traditional Photovoltaic Panels?

Solar shingles are better than traditional photovoltaic panels because of their small size; shingles are having same size as the traditional shingles. The shingles lay on the roof same as regular roof shingles and their appearance is a dark publish hue. This means you will not have to sacrifice design and aesthetic quality by placing big panels on your roof. Solar shingles are lot easier to install, unlike with a regular photovoltaic power system the shingles are extremely easy and take a lot less time to install, with several models you can just hammer them to the roof.

Solar shingles are also called solar roof tiles or “building-integrated photovoltaic” BIPVs for short.  Solar roof tiles were introduced in 2005, so it means they are relatively new in the field of green energy. There are various companies producing solar shingles and prices are dropping also time to time because of competition and further breakthroughs in the technology.

What you should know before buying solar shingles?

Important thing which you need to know before purchasing solar roof shingles is that figure out if your house is suitable for photovoltaic power generation. You must be having a good roof for photovoltaic roof shingles. There might be zoning laws which you’ll have to check with the proper channel before you purchase your system.

How Solar Shingles Work?

Solar shingles work same as solar photovoltaic panels. They are made of crystalline silicon disks which are then attached tometal-conductors. Solar cells within the shingles convert the sunlight into DC voltage, to supply that power to home inverter is used to change it into AC voltage so that house appliances can use the power. Solar shingles are lot smaller and cumbersome than traditional photovoltaic panels.

How solar shingles can be beneficial for you?

As solar shingles generate green energy which means you don’t rely on conventional power that is generated from coal, nuclear, or gas. The best thing is that it generates cheap energy means that you will pay less for your electricity. You can also make money as most systems are integrated into the electricity grid, which allow you to sell excess energy back to the grid.

Solar shingles come with the warranty of 20 years, some with 50 years also.  This means you will be having a long time period to save more and you will not need to replace damaged solar shingles. There are also government run incentive programs which will help the expense of installing a new photovoltaic system.