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This initially sounded quite surprising to me, how can a high-technology product compete with something as incredibly low technology as roofing material? It tur
by kylecordes 10y ago
This initially sounded quite surprising to me, how can a high-technology product compete with something as incredibly low technology as roofing material? It turns out that I was thinking of the ubiquitous roofing material where I live: asphalt shingles. The solar roof panels might be competitive with concrete and slate roofs, which typically cost (from a few minutes of Internet research) 2 to 3x the cost of an asphalt roof.
(I suspect there are more than just economic and stylistic reasons for the choice of one type versus the other. Here in the Midwest, we randomly get hailstorms causing major roof damage. I wonder if a "hard" roof (asphalt has a bit of give) is even more vulnerable?)
- brianwawok 10y agoA steel roof will last for the life of your house. Kinda ugly though, and people don't love the sound it makes.
- dx034 10y agoI imagine that a steel roof must be horrible in a hailstorm. Rain is bad enough already. But probably good for remote places to avoid maintenance.
- k__ 10y agoI lived right under the roof for a few years and I had a window ledge made of metal on my bedroom window. It was horribly lound when it rained :(
- wott 10y agoYes, I lived in a place where they commonly put a steel sheet on the window sills (not sure of the terminology), probably to protect the concrete from water infiltration, and it was horrible as soon as it rained. And it rained a lot. Like almost always when it was not snowing. In fact, it was worse when the rain was just a drizzle and the drops coming from above the window would fall distinctly, one after the other, on the sheet. In the place where I am now, metal roofs are only used for barns (or industrial warehouse and such, if there was any).
- Vendan 10y agoMy parents specifically had a metal roof installed cause they like the sound of rain on it.
- blacksmith_tb 10y agoI have a steel roof, and I like its aesthetics. I have 14in. of insulation under mine, and I can only barely hear the rain. My sense is most people go for asphalt shingles because they're cheap, and they don't intend to live in their house for more than 15 years anyhow, so the next roof will be someone else's problem (too bad about the enormous piles of waste this approach generates).