Inside the concrete walls of GAF Energy’s R&D and manufacturing facility in San Jose, California, roofing is being redesigned. We’re turning roofs into solar roofs.

Inside the concrete walls of GAF Energy's R&D and manufacturing facility in San Jose, California, roofing is being redesigned. We're turning roofs into solar roofs.

Every week, trucks leave the GAF Energy parking lot packed full of award-winning Timberline Solar Energy Shingles (ES™ ). Timberline Solar™ is the only system to directly integrate solar technology into traditional roofing processes and materials. This new system incorporates the world's first nailable solar shingle, the Timberline Solar ES™, which is assembled domestically at GAF Energy's San Jose manufacturing and research facility.

The San Jose factory is 112,000 square feet - 60,000 square feet of which is dedicated to manufacturing space adjacent to the R&D office - and employs more than 180 people in manufacturing, research, and administrative functions all in one building. GAF Energy's parent company, Standard Industries - the largest roofing company in the world - has the goal to scale a next-generation, cutting-edge solar roof product. GAF Energy is also a sibling company of GAF, North America's largest roofing and waterproofing manufacturer. Using the support of these roofing and industrial partnerships, paired with the unparalleled solar expertise of the GAF Energy team, we've created a product that's so simple, it's revolutionary: a roof - with power added.

We've even simplified the development process. GAF Energy builds every energy shingle in-house on its assembly line. From start to finish, it takes just a few hours to produce each energy shingle before it goes in a shipping box ready to be loaded onto a truck, for a destination anywhere from right next door in San Jose to all the way across the country. Once at the site of a home, local roofers can install a Timberline Solar™ roof in about two days - through a process that mirrors the typical turnaround time for a conventional asphalt shingle roof. First, the local roofer removes the original roof to be replaced. Then, the new solar roof system is installed using the traditional nail gun installation process. There's no complicated training needed to install Timberline Solar™, and no special equipment; roofers can even use their chosen, standard underlayment beneath the solar-generation shingle, making for a seamless transition between asphalt roof and solar roof. It's easy and durable for roofers, and affordable, protective, and aesthetically pleasing for homeowners, all while powering their home.

GAF Energy went from creating the company in 2019 to launching Timberline Solar™ in January 2022. To develop, manufacture, and launch an award-winning, game-changing product in under three years is unheard of in the industrial roofing space — such cycles usually take decades. Our success is thanks to the people who chose to help drive GAF Energy's mission of Energy from Every Roof™. The close collaboration between GAF Energy's R&D and manufacturing teams and roofing contractors from across the U.S. allowed us to move quickly and intelligently, yielding something truly groundbreaking and transformative.

The facility in San Jose has helped resolve many of the issues that commonly interfere with innovation. As supply chains continue to suffer significant delays, GAF Energy leaders have found that locating R&D and manufacturing operations all in one location cuts down on external costs typically associated with producing solar roofs in Asian markets, and ensures that a solar roof is assembled to the correct design in real-time. As such, solar roofs represent an opportunity for U.S. solar manufacturing to get a foothold in the U.S. again and symbolize our clean energy future.

With 5 million roofs replaced in the U.S. every year, GAF Energy thinks that solar roofs will transform the solar market, the energy system, and roofing. The thing is: Timberline Solar™ is a roof that functions just like a traditional asphalt roof, while operating as new tech that can make a difference on climate, grid resilience, and solar deployment. And since it's all backed by our Lifetime warranty, the potential for adoption is even greater. Through this business model, GAF Energy has positioned itself to create lasting, truly impactful change for the roofing industry and beyond.

While we're starting in just a few states with select roofers, we aim to be nationwide within a few years. How else do you get energy from every roof?