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“There’s over 30 billion square feet of large, flat commercial rooftop space (in the United States). If we covered that with our solar panels, that would generate 150 gigawatts, enough electricity to generate power for 15 percent of U.S. homes.”

That’s the words of Solyndra CEO Chris Gronet (formerly VP @ Applied Materials for those keeping score — who also got a nod from California Governor Schwarzenegger in the Merc for their latest 2.1 mW parking lot system), quoted from a recent San Jose Mercury news report, Fremont’s Solyndra goes from stealth to solar star. Check out the video after the jump…

Solyndra’s system is pretty interesting and unique - instead of using photovoltaic (PV) panels, these guys are generating tubes covered in PV material, and mounting them a foot above a roof surface. The idea? These panels never have to move or track; their tubular shape will provide relatively uniform absorption throughout the day - and the bottom of the tubes can absorb reflection energy from the roof of the building.

Tack on the fact that these systems can be mounted cleanly without having to drill and bolt everything on to the roof, and the tubes themselves are naturally secure in winds (the tubular shape doesn’t allow the wind to pick them up unlike traditional panels) and you’ve got yourself a pretty straightforward alternative to traditional tracking or south-facing panels. The price-to-output figures aren’t available since installations are essentially custom, but Solyndra does have a lot of support behind it; including billionaire Richard Branson.

Solyndra’s also done some amazing things with robotic-based manufacturing facilities which will hopefully keep their costs low enough to enjoy high production speed, 24×7 manufacturing, and low per-unit production costs that should allow them to achieve economies of scale to meet the cost accounting of most commercial businesses considering opening up their roofs to solar. Take a look at this quick video to see some of their manufacturing in action.