The Dow Chemical Company reports that its DOW™ POWERHOUSE™ Solar Shingle—a photovoltaic solar panel in the form of a solar roofing shingle---has received Underwriters Laboratories (UL) safety certification.
The solar shingle is expected to be commercially available in select U.S. markets by mid 2011, the company says.
Dow describes the shingle as a “groundbreaking” photovoltaic solar-panel technology that can be integrated into rooftops with standard asphalt shingle materials. The system design eliminates on-roof wiring, minimizes through-roof penetrations, and allows the product to be installed in the same manner as a standard roofing shingle, the company says.
“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.”
Dow Solar said it worked closely with UL to indentify a series of rigorous tests to assess the safety of the unique design and all the elements of the combined solar and roofing product. The company said the final listing represents compliance to a diverse sequence of UL’s safety and building standards, specifically, UL 746, 1703, 1897, 790, 486 and 514.
More than 50 individual tests were conducted to assess the safety of the 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.”
Dow said that, in addition to the design and material safety tests performed by UL, it will continue with its own reliability and durability testing in support of commercialization. Dow is currently performing tests on installed systems of the 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 other conditions.
Dow has chosen thin-film CIGS (Copper Indium Gallium deSelenide) as the PV material in the solar shingle; Global Solar Energy (Tucson, Ariz.) was selected as the preferred supplier in support of the product launch.
Dow Solar unveiled the POWERHOUSE Shingle in late 2009 as the first in a portfolio of building-related solar energy-generating products. The shingle was named one of the "50 Best Inventions of 2009" by TIME magazine. The product design offers an integrated roof appearance and simplified installation in combination with standard asphalt roofing materials, the company says.
3 comments:
Khusboo magazine is a surat based women Fashion Magazine website which provides information about fashion tips and ladies
Indian garments. This website is basically fashion and modeling website.
Solar Shingles provide homeowners with an attractive, energy-efficient way to improve their home.
Iko shingles
It's interesting that many of the bloggers to helped clarify a few things for me as well as giving.Most of ideas can be nice content.The people to give them a good shake to get your point and across the command .
Home Painting Contractor in Chennai
Post a Comment