FIRST SOLAR SHINGLE CERTIFIED

Dow PowerHouse™ Solar Shingles Receive UL Certification; Revolutionary Technology from Dow is First Solar Shingle to Obtain UL Safety Mark
November 1, 2010 (Dow Sdolar)

"The Dow Chemical Company and Underwriters Laboratories (UL) announced that the Dow™ PowerHouse™ Solar Shingle is the first residential solar roofing shingle with an integrated connection system to receive Underwriters Laboratories (UL) safety certification. The Dow™ PowerHouse™ Solar Shingle is a ground-breaking photovoltaic solar panel in the form of a solar roofing shingle that can be integrated into rooftops with standard asphalt shingle materials. It reduces installation time and complexity using a revolutionary system design that eliminates on-roof wiring, minimizes through-roof penetrations, and allows the product to be installed in the same manner as a standard roofing shingle…

"Given the new and unique nature of the Dow™ PowerHouse™ Solar Shingle, Dow Solar worked closely with [globally respected] UL…to indentify a series of rigorous tests to assess the safety of the unique design and of all the elements of the combined solar and roofing product. The final listing awarded to the Dow™ PowerHouse™ Solar Shingles represents compliance to a diverse sequence of UL's safety and building standards…Over 50 individual tests were conducted to assess the safety…including wind and fire resistance, and electrical code requirements, such as proper wiring and photovoltaic (PV) connections…"

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"In addition to the vitally important design and material safety tests performed by UL, Dow will continue with its own reliability and durability testing in support of commercialization. Dow is currently performing tests on installed systems…[and] individual shingles…utilizing Design for Reliability and Physics of Failure methodologies to measure performance against weather, extreme temperatures and more."

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"Dow has chosen thin-film CIGS (Copper Indium Gallium deSelenide) as the PV material…Global Solar Energy (Tucson, AZ) was selected as the preferred supplier…CIGS technology offers the best balance of low cost and highest sunlight conversion efficiency of the commercialized thin film technologies available…[T]he flexible foil substrate of the Global Solar Energy CIGS cells provides the necessary level of flexural durability to allow the Dow™ PowerHouse™ Solar Shingle to perform reliably in a demanding application environment.

"Breaking the traditional barriers to residential solar adoption – complexity, affordability and aesthetics – this technology offers the missing link needed by the energy industry to drive solar adoption across the U.S., and will bring the possibility of safe and reliable solar power to American households. The Dow™ PowerHouse™ Solar Shingle is expected to be commercially available in select U.S. markets by mid 2011."