Can we somehow envision a world of electric cars, quietly streaming by, leaving virtually no trace of their existence in the air we breathe? How about roof tiles that garner the sun's rays, providing all of the electricity we need for our homes and families and "zero-ing" out our monthly energy bills? Sound Orwellian, or realistic? The future, as they say, is here now for home and commercial builders alike with the introduction of PV (photovoltaic) roof tiles, proving that we can indeed "go into the light" for the latest in environmentally resource-saving salvation.

One manufacturer of PV tiles is Atlantis Energy, Their product, called Sunslates, is becoming popular on existing homes (in a retrofit mode) in large metropolitan areas from California to New York. Now new home builders are embracing these environmentally "green" tiles for their new home communities, mostly as an option for home buyers, and the near future may find builders offering them as a standard feature as their popularity increases.

Sunslates marry silicon chips to slate-like roof tile, creating electricity from sunlight. The surplus power feeds into the utility grid and becomes available to the homeowner whenever needed. Sunslates power can also be backed up with batteries in case of emergencies. The application of these tiles is quite simple; a change-out of a certain percentage of planned roof tile to these solar electric tiles will garner more than enough solar power to "credit" the home's electricity meter during the day (literally spinning the electric meter backwards), and debiting the meter during darker hours. This is called "net metering". Utility companies across the country have begun to form partnerships with manufacturers of environmentally correct products such as these, footing the cost for up to 50% of the product for builders. Although the initial price of a photovoltaic roof to the consumer is higher, the overall cost is perceived to be less overall, since homeowners keep their monthly electricity bill invested in their home. The translation of this to the consumer is a winning combination of not only energy savings, but the availability of higher mortgage loan amount to the buyer in the form of Federal EPA Energy Star mortgage point discounts as well as interest rate tax write-offs, according to Atlantis Energy.

"Ideally, we'd like to look ten or twenty years down the road with the vision of every new home built crowned with PV tiles," says Tor Allen, president of the Rahus Institute, a San Francisco Bay Area non-profit organization dedicated to resource efficiency, with a focus on "renewable" sources of energy. Allen's organization also supports the City of Palo Alto Utilities in its renewable energy projects, including workshop training for local architects, guiding them in the installation planning of this cutting-edge environmental product.

Marketing Engineer Lindsay Joye of The City of Palo Alto Utilities, heads up the PV program in the area, introducing the concept and providing funding for the incentives for this technology to the Palo Alto community. She promotes products such as these to builders, contractors, city inspectors and building permit grantors in the Bay Area. "We are pleased to play a role in the promotion of this technology, because we strongly believe that photovoltaics are the future of clean, renewable energy sources in both residential and commercial construction, says Joye. "The use of PV products ensures our energy future by tapping into an infinite, sustainable power supply."

Although Sunslate roofs have already been successfully implemented into new home neighborhoods in the Sacramento Valley by homebuilders Prodigy Homes and Regis Construction, Herman Gyr and Lisa Friedman are among the first in the Bay Area to experience the new roof tiles on their own home in Palo Alto. "The roof is not only in line with our values to use the cleanest and most environmentally friendly energy sources available, it is also beautiful to behold," says Friedman. "Neighbors who pass by comment on the intensely shiny, dark blue color of the tiles, reflecting both sun and sky." Gyr and Friedman run a management consulting firm from their home office, helping companies plan future strategies for growth, and are the authors of the book, The Dynamic Enterprise. "Our reasoning is that if the technology is already in place for environmentally pleasing and clean products like this, we have a responsibility to make the world a better place by using them," according to Friedman. Friedman and Gyr and their growing family are pleased to be a model and real life example of what is possible in environmental technologies for homes. "Let's face it," says Friedman. "If the grass on our front lawns is smart enough to take advantage of a free source of energy and light, then we, as humans are at least as intelligent as grass, " she laughs.

The installation of a photovoltaic roof may have another hidden benefit -- the amount of utility power it doesn't use, freeing up room on the utility grid when the rest of the neighborhood may need it most for peak time usage to generate power. This permits homeowners who have it to feel that they have not only invested in themselves and the environment, but in their neighbors' lives as well.

The PV tiles offer a 50 year roofing waranty, a class "A" fire rating, individually replaceable Steve Coonen, Vice President of Atlantis Energy, Inc., reports, "The beauty of this system is that homeowners can "make" all their own electric power. This is a completely renewable source of electricity, and can garner 90-100% of the electricity needed to sustain the average home. Builders love it because it can be installed by their own subcontractors, doesn't lessen the curb appeal of the home, and meets local and national building codes (NEC, UL, ICBO)." The PV tiles offer a 50 year roofing waranty, a class "A" fire rating, individually replaceable, and the system has no moving parts. How do Sunslates differ from the solar panels with which many of us are now familiar? Although the concept is basically the same, builders who have become trained in their installation also cite an important difference: no holes need to be drilled into the roof itself, eliminating the prospect of violating the roof's integrity. The fact that the product is installed in individual tiles like others on the same roof, instead of large panels, gives it a more homogenous appearance as well.

If Henry David Thoreau's adage "The true cost of a thing is how much of life it consumes," rings true, the future holds no limits for products such as these, where the forces of nature can be successfully used in their raw form to provide for our never-exhausting demand for electricity.

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Published: February 11, 2000

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A veteran of the real estate and homebuilding industries since 1986, Dena Kouremetis first joined Realty Times as a new homes writer in 1998. Since then, she has authored four books, written consumer columns on new homes issues for websites and newspapers all across the country, contributed to builder trade magazines, appeared as a guest expert on several radio shows and even created a ten-chapter podcast for LendingTree.com’s homebuilder website, iNest.com, now available on iTunes, entitled Uncharted Waters; Navigating the Purchase of a New Production Home. Kouremetis recently joined her local Folsom, CA Coldwell Banker office as a broker associate while continuing to write for the real estate industry. For the past three years, she has been training real estate agents for both the resale and new homes industries, putting her experience, research expertise and gift of expression to work to help others entering the business.