Solar roof design claims to be a third cheaper than Elon Musk’s version
A Solar Roof Price War: Forward Labs’ solar panels with us a different, cheaper material, to Elon Musk’s solar installations.
There could be a mini price war in the field of solar roof design. Elon Musk is in pole position with his design. A second company is in the running for a slice of the solar action: from Palo Alto, California, is Forward Labs. Their roof is 33% cheaper than his most famous rival. Plus, Forward Labs claim their installation times are shorter.
Instead of an individual shingle design, Forward Labs’ roof will be a standing seam metal roof of one large layered piece. Their solar roofs will be a solar companion of the corrugated roofs we know and love. The roofs will use what is known as chromatic cloning technology. This allows for a wide variety of solar panel colours, though eight colours will be made available. These will be Sandstone, Patina Green, Dolphin Grey, Colonial Red, Slate Grey, Sherwood, Charcoal, and Aged Bronze.
Its non-solar portions will cost $8.50 per square foot (£6.66) with the solar roof being $3.25 per watt (£2.55). Should one of the panels go awry, their replacement is straightforward: a new one can be replaced in no time at all. Installation time, they claim, just two to three days.
The new solar roofs are expected to begin production in 2018. $1,000 advance order deposits are being taken for future installations. If you go on the Forward Labs website, you will see how indistinguishable they are from regular metal roofs. From what we’ve seen, they look pretty good.
KC Smith Industrial Roofing and Cladding, 14 June 2017.
