Roofing

GAF Timberline Solar Shingles vs Solar Panels: Cost, Pros & Cons

There are two main ways to install a solar power system on a residential roof. You can use traditional solar panels, which are anchored to your roof structure with a specially designed racking system, or you can use solar shingles with built-in photovoltaic cells.

High-quality solar panels can last more than 25 years, and they save hundreds of dollars per year. However, solar panels change the appearance of your home, and there are homeowners who don’t like their appearance. Solar shingles are a great option if you want to generate your own electricity but don’t like the look of solar panels on the roof.

GAF has been a leading provider of roofing materials for more than a century. They are currently owned by Standard Industries, and they have a network of over 10,000 roofing contractors across the US. In 2019, they created the GAF Energy business unit to focus on solar power systems for homes and businesses. In 2022, they launched the GAF Timberline Solar Roof, which earned more than 30 awards in less than a year.

In this guide, we will compare the GAF solar roof with traditional solar panel systems, discussing the typical costs of each option along with their pros and cons.

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PVC Roof Options and Costs 2023: PVC vs. TPO Membrane

PVC membrane installed on a flat roof

PVC, technically known as Polyvinyl Chloride is really vinyl roofing, though is routinely referenced as PVC roof.

PVC competes with TPO and EPDM in the synthetic roof membrane arena, and indirectly with all other roofing materials including BUR, modified bitumen, and structural standing seam roofs designed for lower sloped roofs.

Membrane roofs are usually applied to flat or low-slope roofs but using a single-ply membrane on a sloped roof is also possible and common on roofs with slopes between 1:12 and 3:12.

Why not just use traditional roofing materials (asphalt shingles or other tiles) on a low sloped roof? Because they are very likely to leak unless a minimum specified slope for shingles or tiles has been met.

When used with a slope, the overlap of those materials is designed to shed water away from the roof deck. Whereas flat roofs have only a slight pitch, and any standing, or pooling water, could lead to immediate leaks and rotting soon thereafter.

PVC membrane is a kind of roofing material that can withstand pooling or standing water — puddles of water that accumulate on roofs with low slopes.

Cost

Of the three primary membrane roof types, PVC is the most expensive. EPDM is the least costly option, and TPO is somewhere in the middle.

TPO allegedly offers the benefits of both the other types, yet that material keeps undergoing formula changes, and so compared to PVC and EPDM is considered less reliable, particularly when it comes to warranties.

Prices for residential installs can vary greatly. A roofer is likely to quote differently than a professional PVC installer, probably less, but also likely to not have the proper tools. A fair range is between $8.50 and $14.50 per square foot or $850 to $1,450 per square, depending on the project complexity and location, when installed by a PVC expert.

For a typical 1,200 square foot flat roof, you can expect a total average cost range between $10,200 and $17,400 for a new PVC roof mechanically attached to a roof deck. The cost includes all the necessary materials and supplies, professional installation, building permits, and installation warranty.

Asphalt Shingles

$8,500
Average Cost
Metal Roof

$15,500
Average Cost
Flat Roof Membrane

$11,500
Average Cost

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EPDM Rubber Roof Cost, Plus Pros & Cons in 2023

Welcome to the default, or old school, material for flat roof installations. It’s technical name: Ethylene Propylene Diene Monomer is a mouthful. While it is simply a rubber material, we’ll go with EPDM since everyone else does.

EPDM rubber roofs compete directly with TPO and PVC single-ply membranes as a low-slope roofing material. EPDM, though, tends to only be used on flat roofs while PVC and TPO are sometimes used on sloped roofs.

Average Cost To Install a Flat Roof Typical Range: $8,675 - $12,340
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