Local news outlets are reporting that GAF Energy will open a second manufacturing facility in Georgetown, Texas, for its solar shingle product. The city council has approved a development agreement that would allow GAF Energy to build a 450,000-sq.-ft building off I-35, just a half hour from downtown Austin.
GAF Energy says the new manufacturing site would result in 265 jobs over five years in manufacturing, office and R&D.
The company released a solar roofing product in January 2022 and has been making the nailable Timberline Solar shingles out of its 50-MW facility in San Jose, California. The California building has been reported to be 112,000 sq. ft.
The Timberline Solar shingle is approximately 64- by 17-in, while the solar portion (one row of 16 half-cut cells that generates 45 W) measures 60- by 7.5-in. That extra non-solar portion is TPO roofing material and is nailed to a roof. GAF Energy is tapping into its 10,000 GAF roofing dealers to install the solar product.
Earlier this year, Solar Power World spoke to Reynolds Holmes, GAF Energy’s VP of services and product management, about the new product.
“You have to design and develop a great product that has an accessible price point, but you also have to build the infrastructure to scale this product,” he said. “The thing we’ve leaned heavily on and made design decisions maybe against being the highest power is making sure it’s installable by this 10,000-strong network. At the end of the day, if you have a great product that meets all needs but there’s no one who can install it, you might as well not have a great product.”
