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Aerial view of a multi-unit residential building with solar shingles on its sloped roof

Commercial · pitched roofs only

Commercial Solar Shingles for Pitched-Roof Buildings

If your building has a pitched roof that takes shingles, the new roof can be the solar array. Flat and low-slope roofs are not a fit: shingles need slope to shed water.

Who this is for

Pitched roofs only. Here's why.

Solar shingles overlap in courses like any shingle, so they need a sloped roof. That rules out flat and low-slope membrane roofs (TPO, EPDM) on big-box buildings and warehouses.

It does fit a lot of commercial property: apartments, townhome rows, churches, offices and restaurants with pitched roofs, and farm buildings. When one of those roofs is due for replacement, the new roof can make power instead of just keeping the rain out.

Every commercial roof starts with a free property review: aerial and thermal imaging of each roof plane, then a layout that follows the hips and valleys. Courses are offset by 50%, so the solar can run up to those lines. Battery storage is integrated in the roof system and, by default, the system doesn't export to the grid, so it can be switched on right away instead of waiting on utility interconnection. Grid export is available if you want it.

Thermal aerial scan of a commercial roof with the planned solar shingle layout drawn on each plane
Multifamily

Solar for apartment buildings with pitched roofs

Apartment and condo buildings re-roof on a schedule, often one building at a time. Each re-roof is a chance to put solar on the sunny planes without adding a rack to the roof or a ground array to the site.

How the power is shared depends on how the building is metered and on local utility rules. The proposal works that out for your building.

Review an apartment building
Overhead view of a long pitched-roof building with solar shingles on one roof plane
HOA and townhomes

HOA and townhome communities

Townhome rows share roof lines, and associations care about how they look. Solar shingles sit in the roof courses rather than on rails above them, so a finished roof reads as a dark roof.

Whether an association can limit solar depends on your state's rules and your governing documents, and we don't give legal advice on it. We do supply the specs, ratings and photos the review committee asks for.

Review a townhome community
Long ranch-style home with a continuous black solar shingle roof under a blue sky
Churches

Solar for churches

Church roofs are often steep, large and visible from the street, which suits solar shingles: plenty of pitched roof area, and no panels breaking up the look of the building. Most churches decide through a board or committee, so the proposal gives a plain system size, a production estimate and the incentives that apply.

Incentives for tax-exempt organizations change, so we check them for each proposal rather than promise a program here.

Review a church roof
Aerial view of a complex hip roof with solar shingles fitted to several planes
Business

Solar for business: offices and restaurants with pitched roofs

Professional offices, restaurants and small retail buildings with shingle-ready pitched roofs can put solar in the roof itself. There's no rack bolted through the roof and nothing taking up parking or yard space.

If your business runs from a flat-roofed building, solar shingles aren't the right product. We'll tell you that at the review rather than after a site visit.

Review a business property
Glossy solar shingle roof plane reflecting the sky, with a green work truck parked below
Agriculture

Solar for farms, barns and pole buildings

Barns, machine sheds and pole buildings have big pitched roofs, and those roofs can carry the solar. Energy ReLeaf has installed solar shingles on pole buildings, including over exposed timber trusses.

Each shingle weighs 17.6 lb (4.6 lb per square foot), and the review checks that the structure can carry a shingle roof.

Review a farm building
Metal pole building with a band of solar shingles along the top of the roof
Inside a pole barn looking up at solar shingles installed over exposed timber trusses

Built like a roof

The same ratings on every building.

Each shingle carries a UL 790 Class A fire rating, a UL 1897 wind rating of 110 to 200 mph depending on fastening and exposure, and TAS 100 wind-driven rain testing. The glass is tested with a 2-inch steel ball dropped from 51 inches. A damaged shingle swaps out by removing six screws, so one bad shingle is a repair, not a roof job.

Installed by an Energy ReLeaf cooperative member installer, the roof and solar carry a 25-year warranty. Batteries and electronics carry a 10-year warranty (third-party components).

How a roofing crew installs it · Full specs and parts list

Questions

Commercial solar roof questions.

Is BIPV expensive?
BIPV costs more than a standard roof alone, but it is also the power system, so the fair comparison is a new roof plus a separate solar install. Price depends on roof area, pitch, how many planes carry solar and how much of each plane is solar. We quote each building after a free property review and don't publish per-square prices.
What is a BIPV system?
BIPV, building-integrated photovoltaics, means the solar cells are part of the building itself rather than mounted on it. Energy ReLeaf solar shingles are BIPV: each one is a roofing shingle and a 55 or 60 watt solar module in one part. They install in courses on a pitched roof, with no racking bolted through the roof, and battery storage is integrated in the roof system.
What roof pitch do solar shingles need?
Solar shingles need a pitched roof that can take shingles; flat and low-slope membrane roofs are not a fit. The property review checks your roof shape and slope before anyone visits, so you find out early whether your building qualifies.
Can our HOA stop us from installing solar?
The answer depends on your state's rules and your association's governing documents, so check both, and ask the association or a lawyer if anything is unclear. We can't give legal advice. What we can help with is the architectural review itself: solar shingles sit in the roof line instead of on rails above it, and we provide the product details, specs and photos an application usually needs.
Can solar shingles go on a barn or pole building?
Yes, if the roof is pitched and the structure can carry a shingle roof. Energy ReLeaf has installed solar shingles on pole buildings, including over exposed timber trusses. Each shingle weighs 17.6 lb, or 4.6 lb per square foot. The property review checks the roof structure and slope first.
How does solar on an apartment building split the power between units?
It depends on how the building is metered and on your local utility's rules, so it is worked out building by building in the proposal. Start with a property review and tell us how the building is metered today.

Got a pitched roof? Get a free review.

Send the address and tell us what kind of building it is. We check the roof shape, material and age before anyone visits.

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