Roofing shingle for collecting solar energy

A roofing system comprising:

• a plurality of solar shingles, each including:
• a substrate positioned beneath an upper material layer of the solar shingle;
• a first photovoltaic string having at least one photovoltaic cell;
• a first connector having a first terminal and a second terminal, the first terminal of the first connector being electrically coupled to the first photovoltaic string, the second terminal of the first connector being electrically coupled to a second line;
• a second connector having a first terminal and a second terminal, the first terminal of the second connector being electrically coupled to the second line, the second terminal of the second connector being electrically coupled to the first photovoltaic string;
• and
• a nail strip extending about at least a portion of the upper material layer, the nail strip not extending over both the first photovoltaic string and the second line;
• and
• a plurality of inactive shingles, each inactive shingle of the plurality of inactive shingles not including a PV cell,
• wherein an upper surface of each solar shingle of the plurality of solar shingles has a texturized surface that has an uneven surface profile, the texturized surface having an appearance similar to a texturized surface of the plurality of inactive shingles.

A solar shingle comprising:

• a substrate positioned beneath an upper material layer of the solar shingle;
• a first photovoltaic string having at least one photovoltaic cell;
• a first connector having a first terminal and a second terminal, the first terminal of the first connector being electrically coupled to the first photovoltaic string, the second terminal of the first connector being electrically coupled to a second line;
• a second connector having a first terminal and a second terminal, the first terminal of the second connector being electrically coupled to the second line, the second terminal of the second connector being electrically coupled to the first photovoltaic string;
• a nail strip extending about at least a portion of the upper material layer, the nail strip not extending over both the first photovoltaic string and the second line;
• and
• a patch assembly removably secured to the first terminal, the patch assembly comprising a jumper and an outer protective layer, the jumper being electrically coupled to the first and second terminals of the first connector, the outer protective layer comprising an electrically non-conductive material.