Solar Roof Systems President Anthony Sciolino and Vice President Jeremy Warwood install the last two solar panel shingles onto the first solar shingle roof in Montana on Sept. 7, 2017, outside of Bozeman.
Solar Roof Systems President Anthony Sciolino prepares to install a solar panel shingle onto a Montana State University professor's roof September 7, 2017 outside of Bozeman.
Solar Roof Systems President Anthony Sciolino and Vice President Jeremy Warwood stand on the first solar shingled roof installed in Montana, September 7, 2017 outside of Bozeman. Solar Roof Systems is the first company to ever install solar panel shingles onto roofs in Montana.
Solar Roof Systems President Anthony Sciolino and Vice President Jeremy Warwood finish installing the last couple solar panel shingles onto a Montana State University professor's roof September 7, 2017 outside of Bozeman. This is the first solar panel roof in Montana.
Solar Roof Systems President Anthony Sciolino and Vice President Jeremy Warwood install the last two solar panel shingles onto the first solar shingle roof in Montana on September 7, 2017 outside of Bozeman.
Solar Roof Systems President Anthony Sciolino and Vice President Jeremy Warwood carry a solar panel shingle onto a Montana State University professor's roof September 7, 2017 outside of Bozeman.
Solar Roof Systems President Anthony Sciolino and Vice President Jeremy Warwood install the last two solar panel shingles onto the first solar shingle roof in Montana on September 7, 2017 outside of Bozeman.
Solar Roof Systems President Anthony Sciolino and Vice President Jeremy Warwood install the last two solar panel shingles onto the first solar shingle roof in Montana on September 7, 2017 outside of Bozeman.
Solar Roof Systems President Anthony Sciolino and Vice President Jeremy Warwood install the last two solar panel shingles onto the first solar shingle roof in Montana on September 7, 2017 outside of Bozeman.
Solar Roof Systems President Anthony Sciolino and Vice President Jeremy Warwood install the last two solar panel shingles onto the first solar shingle roof in Montana on Sept. 7, 2017, outside of Bozeman.
Solar Roof Systems President Anthony Sciolino prepares to install a solar panel shingle onto a Montana State University professor's roof September 7, 2017 outside of Bozeman.
Solar Roof Systems President Anthony Sciolino and Vice President Jeremy Warwood stand on the first solar shingled roof installed in Montana, September 7, 2017 outside of Bozeman. Solar Roof Systems is the first company to ever install solar panel shingles onto roofs in Montana.
Solar Roof Systems President Anthony Sciolino and Vice President Jeremy Warwood finish installing the last couple solar panel shingles onto a Montana State University professor's roof September 7, 2017 outside of Bozeman. This is the first solar panel roof in Montana.
Solar Roof Systems President Anthony Sciolino and Vice President Jeremy Warwood install the last two solar panel shingles onto the first solar shingle roof in Montana on September 7, 2017 outside of Bozeman.
Solar Roof Systems President Anthony Sciolino and Vice President Jeremy Warwood carry a solar panel shingle onto a Montana State University professor's roof September 7, 2017 outside of Bozeman.
Solar Roof Systems President Anthony Sciolino and Vice President Jeremy Warwood install the last two solar panel shingles onto the first solar shingle roof in Montana on September 7, 2017 outside of Bozeman.
Solar Roof Systems President Anthony Sciolino and Vice President Jeremy Warwood install the last two solar panel shingles onto the first solar shingle roof in Montana on September 7, 2017 outside of Bozeman.
Solar Roof Systems President Anthony Sciolino and Vice President Jeremy Warwood install the last two solar panel shingles onto the first solar shingle roof in Montana on September 7, 2017 outside of Bozeman.
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There was plenty of buzz last fall when Tesla CEO Elon Musk first unveiled plans for the company’s solar roof systems — photovoltaic, tempered glass roofing tiles that can be installed on top of a house in place of traditional shingles.
But Musk and Tesla weren’t the only ones getting into the solar roofing business. Earlier this summer a new Bozeman company, in partnership with SunTegra, a New York-based manufacturer, began installing similar tiles on properties in the Gallatin Valley.
The company, Solar Roof Systems of Montana, is the brainchild of longtime electrical systems designer and contractor Anthony Sciolino and business partner and roofer Jeremy Warwood.
The benefits of a building-integrated photovoltaic system are numerous, Sciolino said, including “curb appeal, aesthetics and the resale value.”
While the price difference between installing a traditional shingle roof and SunTegra’s solar option is not insignificant (Sciolino estimates the photovoltaics cost roughly twice as much overall), customers make much of that back through energy savings and increased property value, the 41-year-old said.
The state of Montana also offers low-interest loans of up to $40,000 to help finance alternative energy projects.
Although the shingles convert sunlight less efficiently than traditional solar panels, each tile generates roughly 100 watts of power, meaning that an average home wouldn’t need its entire roof covered in order to be self-sufficient. The panels come with a 10-year product warranty and are expected to produce power for at least 25 years.
And as for the state’s long winter season, Sciolino said the solar tiles have proven to heat up and melt snow quicker than traditional shingles. NorthWestern Energy’s net metering program means that the summer months, when the panels produce excess energy that feeds back into the grid, will make up for higher energy costs in the winter, he added.
Sciolino views integrating solar cells into building materials as another next step in the transition to alternative energies. Total photovoltaic capacity in the U.S. is expected to triple over the the next five years, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association.
“I believe that houses should be built with the ability to produce their own power,” he said. “Since we have all this roof space sitting there exposed to the sun, we should probably start utilizing it.”
Sciolino, who studied electrical engineering at Montana State University, added that, rather than a complete overhaul, the best way to revamp the grid for a renewable future is to convert one household at a time.
“The idea is to start building a new, secondary grid at a municipal level,” he said. “Every structure has the ability to produce as much power as it uses and this should be the way we go with solar.”
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Kendall can be reached at lkendall@dailychronicle.com. Kendall is on Twitter at @lewdak
Lewis Kendall covers business and the economy for the Chronicle.
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