Midland-based Dow Chemical is announcing the latest in energy independence, the Powerhouse Solar Shingle. Roofers install the solar shingles just like regular asphalt shingles. They are due to be available in 2010 and readily available in 2011.

Dow Chemical says, it’s the first affordable, neighborhood-friendly solar shingle. With it, the company says, it’ll create jobs and reduce our dependence on foreign oil. Dow CEO Andrew Liveris says, “Michigan does have manufacturing capability, and Michigan, especially Dow, has research capability. So I’m very keen to work with Lansing and for that matter, Washington, to keep bringing jobs here.”

Wood and asphalt shingles are so last century! Solar shingles, made of solar cells, function like conventional shingles, but help bring down that nasty energy bill.  Most Solar Shingles are 12 inches wide (when stacked have 5 inches of exposed area) by 86 inches long and can be stapled directly to the roofing cloth. Although solar shingles are more expensive to install than typical PV panels, solar shingles offset the cost of traditional shingles for that section of the roof.

Vaguhn Prost, who works for Missouri Solar Applications, says, “If you had one of these arrays on your home, it would produce about half of your electricity that you’d need for your average home. In the coming years, I think that people will look at solar shingles on their house as something as normal as having plumbing inside their house.”