President Barack Obama will sign the $790 billion stimulus bill Tuesday, and it contains more than $42 billion for alternative energy.

Missouri Solar Applications, a company based in Jefferson City, is collaborating with Dow Chemical Co. to produce solar roof shingles for use in Columbia.

The company is one of three nationwide that has teamed up with Dow Chemical Co. on the $50 million project to produce and distribute the shingles, set to be on the market in 2011.

"If you had one of these [shingle fixtures] on your home, it would produce about half of your electricity that you'd need for your average home," said Vaughn Prost, the chief executive officer for Missouri Solar Applications.

Prost's company has a history with promoting solar energy in Columbia. It built a large solar panel on Bernadette Drive, which more than 90 Columbia residents have paid to have the electricity generated by the panel distributed across the city.

"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," Prost said.

Connie Kacprowicz of Columbia Water and Light said the work being done on alternative energy sources in the city is promising for Columbia's future.

"The solar market in Columbia is getting going," Kacprowicz said. "It's still going to be a few years before we see a huge amount of production, but I think it's important that we're developing a renewable resource right here in Columbia."

The solar shingles would collect the energy and send it through a series of wires and transformers and into the home or power grid. And while estimated costs are high right now, Prost says he is confident that demand will drive prices down once the shingles are on the market.

"Yeah, [the price] is going to be a little higher to start with, but you've got to try and work it and find ways to get the price down, and eventually it will get down," said Prost.

He added that part of the $50 million project will include test roofs in the same location as the current Columbia solar panel.