World roofing giant branches in to residential solar

US-based Standard Industries, the world’s largest roofing and waterproofing manufacturer, announced this week that it was launching a rooftop solar company in the US with the intention of “revolutionising” the adoption of rooftop solar for “everyday consumers.”

The new company, GAF Energy, will work in partnership with GAF – Standard Industries’ flagship company and the world largest roofing and waterproofing manufacturer – to drive scalable adoption of integrated and affordable rooftop solar solutions across GAF’s existing and established distribution network.

GAF Energy’s aim is to provide customers with a streamlined, turnkey approach to residential rooftop solar, providing everything from planning and financing through to installation and permitting.

“As the largest global player in roofing and waterproofing, we will reshape the way clean solar energy becomes a reality for everyone,” said David Millstone, co-CEO of Standard Industries. “We believe that roofing is real estate and we see a future with energy from every roof. GAF Energy’s offerings will empower people to put their roofs to work with technology that is attractive, accessible and affordable.”

A recent analysisfrom multinational investment banking giant Credit Suisse puts 2017 rooftop solar penetration at only 10.5 GW across the country, which is expected to increase to 12.8 GW for 2018 and could reach as high as 41.2 GW by 2025. Further, the report suggests that only around 3% of US rooftops had residential solar in 2017 but that that figure could easily increase – and compared it to the more than 30% that some Australian states currently boast.

The most recent statistics back up Credit Suisse’s report, with 581 MW of new residential solar being installed in the third quarter of 2018, and while we don’t have exact figures yet for each quarter, if the fourth quarter performed as expected 2018 residential capacity growth will fall in line with expectations.

GAF Energy hopes to provide roofing contractors across the United States with a comprehensive and cost-effective approach to installing solar, helped in large part through bypassing the need to commit attention and funds to customer acquisition which makes up such a large share of other pure solar companies’ time and effort.

“We are best positioned to accelerate the growth of residential solar with over a century of waterproofing experience and the largest network of roofing distributors and contractors in the world,” said David Winter, co-CEO of Standard Industries.

“Our team is in the kitchen with the homeowner at the moment a new roof is required: the most perfect time to provide the opportunity to go green. We couldn’t be more excited to have Martin DeBono and a world class team lead the evolution of rooftop solar for years to come.

“GAF Energy capitalises on the historic challenges facing the rooftop solar industry – acquisition and installation costs – and turns them into demonstrable strengths – making it easy for customers to say ‘yes’ to solar rooftops,” said Martin DeBono, President of GAF Energy.

“Our product is smart, integrated and economical, and we hope it will mark a fundamental shift in rooftop solar adoption around the world.”