Replacing your roof?
If the roof is due anyway, the new roof can be the solar system. One project, one crew.
Solar roofs for homes
The process · 6 steps
How Solar Shingles Work and How They Are Installed
From the first property review to the day the roof switches on. One roofing crew builds the roof and the solar system at the same time, shingle by shingle.
Step by step
Six steps from bare deck to power plant.
- 01
Property review
Send us your address or a recent utility bill. We confirm the roof is pitched and check its age, shade and how much sun each plane gets, before anyone climbs a ladder. If the roof is flat or low-slope, we tell you up front that shingles aren't a fit.
- 02
Roof design
Every roof plane is modelled from aerial and thermal imaging, so the layout follows your hips, valleys and vents instead of forcing a rectangle onto them. Courses are offset by 50%, which lets the shingles follow hips and valleys.
- 03
Proposal
You get a system size, a production estimate for your address and the incentives that apply to you when the proposal is written. Clear numbers before you commit to anything.
- 04
Installed by a roofing crew
A standard roofing crew tears off, rolls out underlayment, fastens baseplates in rows, then clips the dark PV inserts in place. Same crew, same tools. Each shingle shows 1056 × 333 mm (41.6 × 13.1 in) to the weather, and there's no racking bolted through the roof.
- 05
Connect and test
Two horseshoe connectors join each shingle to the next, and the array runs to the micro inverter and the battery storage built into the system. We strongly recommend a licensed electrician on site during installation to observe the connections and test the system, and local inspection follows code.
- 06
Power on
Because battery storage is integrated in the roof and the system doesn't feed the grid by default, it can be switched on right away instead of waiting on utility interconnection. If you want to send power back to the grid, it can be set up to do that too.
How the shingles connect.
Every shingle comes with two horseshoe connectors. As each course goes down, the crew joins a shingle to its neighbor with them, so the electrical run is built at the same pace as the roof. There's no separate wiring pass after the roofing is done.
The connectors are touch-safe and plug-and-play. That keeps electrician labor to a minimum, always subject to local requirements. We strongly recommend a licensed electrician on site during installation to observe the connections and test the system.
Here's why that matters. If one connection is left incomplete and nobody catches it, the roofers have to come back and remove five to ten shingles to find the faulty one. Testing as the roof goes on avoids that trip.
The run ends at the micro inverter and the battery storage integrated in the roof system. By default the system powers the building and doesn't feed back to the grid, which is why it can be switched on right away. If you want to export power to the grid, it can do that too.
The six-screw swap.
Each shingle is serviceable on its own. If one is cracked or damaged, the fix is:
- Remove the six screws that hold the solar PV insert.
- Lift the insert out of its baseplate.
- Set the new insert in place, reconnect it and fasten the six screws.
The baseplate stays fastened to the deck and the underlayment underneath is never opened. A damaged shingle is a repair, not a re-roof, and not a panel coming off a rack.
Want the part numbers? See the PH-055 and PH-060 specs and parts list, or read the warranty and what each rating means.
Who does what
One crew, one roof, one system.
Install it yourself
Your crew, your tools, the same courses you already lay. We train and support the install.
The roofer and builder programPitched-roof buildings
Apartments, HOA townhomes, churches, offices and pole barns. If it takes shingles, it can make power.
Commercial pitched roofsQuestions
Install questions, answered.
How do solar shingles work?
Solar shingles work like any solar module, built into the roof covering. Sunlight on the 24 monocrystalline half-cells in each shingle makes direct current. Connectors carry it from shingle to shingle to a micro inverter, which turns it into the alternating current your building uses, and integrated battery storage holds power for later. The shingle also does a roof's job: it sheds water and carries fire, wind and rain ratings.
How long does it take to install solar shingles?
It depends on roof size, pitch and how many planes get solar, so your proposal gives the schedule for your roof. The roof and the solar go on in one job, by one roofing crew, with no second crew coming back to bolt racking on. With storage built in, the system can be switched on without waiting on utility interconnection.
Do solar shingles need an electrician?
Some, and local requirements always apply. The touch-safe, plug-and-play connectors keep electrician labor to a minimum. We strongly recommend a licensed electrician on site during installation to observe the connections and test the system, because finding one bad connection later can mean pulling five to ten shingles.
Can you walk on solar shingles?
Treat a solar shingle roof like any roof with glass on it: stay off it unless there's a reason to be up there, and leave roof work to a roofer. If a shingle is ever damaged, its PV insert comes out by removing six screws, without disturbing the roof around it.
Can solar shingles go over an existing roof?
No. Solar shingles replace the roof covering rather than sitting on top of it. The crew tears off the old roof, lays new underlayment and fastens the baseplates to the deck. That's why the best time to go solar this way is when the roof is due for replacement anyway, after storm damage, or on a new build.
Start with step 01.
A free property review tells you whether your roof is a fit and what it could produce, before anyone climbs a ladder.