PV = Photovoltaic Solar Systems, Practical Issues

The roof, looks like a roof. But it is really photovoltaic cells that produce electricity

Photovoltaic Shingles

Mark Johnson is a developer in Tucson, Arizona. He is an exceptional developer, with vision. He learned something about the environment and made a decision that will enrich his pocket book, while saving tons of carbon emissions into the atmosphere every year.

Mark is developing a 399 residential development southeast of Tucson, near the San Pedro River. He learned that he could increase the value of each home built, by as much as 12%, simply by spending 3% on environmental tools, such as solar energy panels.

That means that he could make an additional profit of $22,000 per home (or a total of $8,778,000 on the entire development) just by adding solar. "I plan to make a green development" he said. The reasons are clear. It is profitable. The public wants it, and it is time, especially with global warming and general changes in the climate.

But it is not without negative resistance. "I met with a builder and he said someone tried this 10 years ago, and it didn't work" Mark said. Builders, contractors, and traditional minded workers are always slow to progress to enviromentally efficient tools. It takes vision, and energy to move new ideas forward. In every state, where we do consulting, we hear the same resistence. And yet, those who do try energy efficient additions love them! But, now is the time to move forward and adapt new energy construction methods, like Mark is planning to do.

Advances in technology, plus increasing energy costs are driving this trend. One new trend is a shingle, that looks like a shingle, but is a photo cell instead. They are barely distinguishable from standard shingles, and yet save electricity costs, and more important, they save tons of carbon emissions into the air we breath.

A few companies that make these marvelous products: