DOW POWERHOUSEâ„¢ Solar Shingle Now Available to Homeowners in Colorado

The roof of a home has always had the critical job of protecting families from the elements. Today, for the first time, a new commercially-available solar roofing shingle has entered the U.S. housing market that not only protects from the elements, but uses one of those elements — sunlight — to turn the typical American home into a dynamic power generator.

At an event recently in Arvada attended by Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper and supporters of solar technology, alternative energy, green manufacturing and the latest innovations in home building, Dow Solar, a division of The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE: DOW), announced that the DOW POWERHOUSE™ Solar Shingle will now be available to homeowners in Colorado. On October 4, Dow announced that the product would be available in targeted U.S. markets and now Colorado becomes the first state to offer Dow’s revolutionary Solar Shingle.

Co-hosted by D.R. Horton (NYSE: DHI), one of the leading homebuilders in the nation and the first residential production builder to participate with Dow Solar, the event showcased D.R. Horton’s commitment to offer the POWERHOUSE™ Solar Shingle as a standard feature on 50 new homes in the developer’s Spring Mesa community in Colorado. Each of the remaining homes in Spring Mesa will receive a 3 kilowatt POWERHOUSE™ Solar Shingle roof.

“We are excited that Dow has chosen D.R. Horton’s Spring Mesa community to launch its POWERHOUSEâ„¢ Solar Shingle technology,” said Scott Davis, Division President, D.R. Horton – Colorado. “We believe the addition of solar technology will attract new homebuyers to Spring Mesa who will now have Dow’s innovative Solar Shingles available on one of the most scenic and beautiful communities in the Denver area.”

According to Dow Solar Vice President, Jane Palmieri, the introduction of the POWERHOUSEâ„¢ Solar Shingle into the Colorado market represents an exciting step towards bringing homeowners a solar solution that helps them save money and reduce their carbon footprint without compromising the aesthetics of their home.

“Colorado is the right place to introduce the POWERHOUSE™ Solar Shingle in, and we couldn’t be more excited to have D.R. Horton as our first participant,” Palmieri said. “Each of us shares a mutual vision of bringing innovations to this state and creating new opportunities for homeowners to have easier and better looking choices for residential solar. Working together, there is no doubt we can drive solar adoption rates in Colorado, and continue keeping this state at the forefront of clean, solar advancements.”

Why Launch in Colorado?

Dow chose Colorado as the first launch market for the POWERHOUSEâ„¢ Solar Shingle because the state provides the right combination of financial returns and market receptivity to solar.

According to Neal Lurie, Executive Director of the Colorado Solar Energy Industries Association (COSEIA), a number of factors combine to make Colorado the right market for the introduction of an important new solar technology.

“Colorado is a national leader in solar energy innovation and job creation. We have the right combination of public sector support, private sector commitment, homeowner interest and an enthusiastic community of builders and installers,” Lurie said. “The launch of POWERHOUSE™ in Colorado is a significant accomplishment for the state as clean energy once again serves as a catalyst for economic development.”

Working with Homebuilders, Roofing Contractors and Installers in Colorado

Behind a strong brand reputation and warranty, Dow is transforming the residential solar market by making a solar installation as easy as installing a composition shingle rooftop. This provides a new business opportunity for professional roofing contractors – now the only trade required on the roof for installation — and homebuilders looking for a solar solution that doesn’t interrupt the home’s attractiveness.

Dow Solar will bring the POWERHOUSEâ„¢ Solar Shingle to Colorado by working with leading homebuilders such as D.R. Horton to create more solar communities, and with POWERHOUSEâ„¢ Authorized Dealers to grow the solar market in Colorado one rooftop at a time. Expansion throughout Colorado is continuing and other U.S. market will be announced in the coming months.

The DOW POWERHOUSEâ„¢ Solar Shingle

The POWERHOUSEâ„¢ Solar Shingle roofing system protects the home like a standard roofing shingle while providing energy that powers the home and saves the homeowner money.

The three-part solar roofing system package includes an array of shingles, an inverter and an energy monitoring system. The shingles, custom designed to fit the individual homeowners’ budget and energy goals, are arranged to complement the style and form of the home and roofline. The inverter then converts Direct Current (DC) produced from the shingles into Alternating Current (AC), which is then fed to the home’s appliances, or back to the power grid. Finally, a real-time monitoring system provides readouts to homeowners to assess energy usage, production and the amount of excess power flowing back to the grid.

The great look of the integrated POWERHOUSEâ„¢ Solar Shingle solution now serves the needs of homeowners who want to go solar, but dislike the aesthetic of bulky, rack-mounted systems.

The POWERHOUSE™ Solar Shingle is Made in the USA at Dow’s small-scale manufacturing facility in Midland, Michigan. Dow has also begun construction of a new, large-scale facility at Dow’s Midland, Michigan Operations site, which the Company expects will create up to 1,275 jobs between now and 2015.

POWERHOUSE â„¢ has the safety backing of Underwriters Laboratories (UL), is backed by Dow and a warranty, and can withstand rain, hail and wind.

Visit www.DowSolar.com to find more information about the DOW POWERHOUSEâ„¢ Solar Shingles

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Posted by Gordon Smith on Oct 17 2011. Filed under Press Releases, Residential Solar, Solar PV. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry