Tesla introduces Solar Roof. Roof tiles that are solar panel for maximizing coverage, yet are invisible

[GoodBytes]

Tesla announces a new way to put solar panels on your house. Instead of having ugly, large, solar panels that you install on your roof. The roof tiles are your solar panels. At the event, the company showed different tiles styles that can match many homes current styles.

 

 

You can see the event bellow. They also showed the updated version of the Powerwall, called Powerwall 2, which as you can imagine is simply the same as before but better.

 

 

In the video, they show a comparison before and after of model houses with these new tiles.

 

Here are the currently available styles of roof that the company offers:

 

In order from left to right, top to bottom: Tuscan Glass Tile, Slate Glass Tile, Textured Glass Tile, Smooth Glass Tile.

 

The tiles has a special coating that makes the solar cells invisible from the ground, but visible to the sun elevation.

 

What you see once installed on your house:

 

What the sun sees from its perspective during the day:

 

 

The new tiles are said to be made of glass composite developed by the company to make them more resistance to impact than normal fancy roof tiles. the company showed a demo of this in a video showing a heavy weight fall onto the tiles the new new tile replaces. Tesla also says that "all things considered" they are cheaper. Meaning that they are more costly, especially with installation for the first time as you need the equipment and wiring, but it pays itself back over time.

 

 

Source 1: <YouTube video above>

Source 2: https://www.tesla.com/solar

 

[Remixt]

Absolutely in love with Tesla right now. Sexy innovation is the best innovation.

[suchamoneypit]

Some really cool innovations, its a fantastic new invention.

[straight_stewie]

13 minutes ago, GoodBytes said:

The new tiles are said to be made of glass composite developed by the company to make them more resistance to impact than normal fancy roof tiles.

I'm wondering how good they are at dealing with high winds, and how long they last.

Assuming that the average cost of roofing with *normal* shingles is defined by this equation: C = (A/100) * S_CS Where C = cost, A = area, and S_CS = Shingles, Cost/Square. Now, given the average cost of Electricity in cost/year E_c  and assuming that the shingles provide only exactly enough electricity to run your house, the equation for when the electrical shingles will pay off is:

Y = C/E_c where Y = years.

I'm wondering how long the shingles will actually last for: A good roof with architectural shingles can last more than 20 years, even in areas that regularly see extremely high winds and torrential downpours. Basically, what I'm trying to say with all of this is: If Y > 20, then most likely the electrical shingles are not worth it.

[terrytek]

SERIOUSLY hate tesla for trying to force self driving down our throats, love them for this invention. now if only i can get a tuscan style roof with grey tiles.

[Unhelpful]

This is fantastic!

4 minutes ago, terrytek said:

SERIOUSLY hate tesla for trying to force self driving down our throats, love them for this invention. now if only i can get a tuscan style roof with grey tiles.

Eh, as much as I enjoy driving... Self-driving will eventually save thousands of lives in the long run. Ah well.

[Memories4K]

Nuclear energy pls

[FloRolf]

Too bad it'll cost a fortune but I love Tesla for it's innovations and for being one of the few companies that actually move on. 

I hope Tesla makes a whole bunch of new things in the future . 

[straight_stewie]

8 minutes ago, Jorgen297 said:

I think there will be way less complications with roof tile solar panels than road tile solar panels lol

I agree, but that has little to do with what I said. I was discussing the tradeoff between solar roof shingles and architectural roof shingles for the end consumer. Also, your post seems to suggest that you think that either one or the other must happen, when there is totally a third option: Neither could happen. 

IMO nuclear power is, and has always been, the only way forward. Especially now with the new salt reactors that consume nuclear waste as fuel.

[tlink]

im skeptical, these things seem more production intensive and are more installation intensive than normal solar panels. the coating also is going to block some light, it always will just like air will. and since when are solar panels not sexy? wouldn't it be just better to rip of the old roof completely and make it entirely out of solar panel?

[VerticalDiscussions]

Tesla is friggin sick when it comes to innovation o-o and talk about thinking ahead lol.

[GoodBytes]

6 hours ago, tlink said:

im skeptical, these things seem more production intensive and are more installation intensive than normal solar panels. the coating also is going to block some light, it always will just like air will. and since when are solar panels not sexy? wouldn't it be just better to rip of the old roof completely and make it entirely out of solar panel?

 

Well... it is all things that improves over times, not to mention the development of improved installation techniques for such panels. I think it is an exciting first start. Like technology always does over time: things becomes not only cheaper in every way, they become better in every way, making them easier to get, use, and integrate.

 

I see these first gen tiles great for new homes, or people who can afford them. Maybe in a few years we will have a more mainstream solution. The presented tiles are more commonly found on luxurious houses, over your standard mainstream home in any case.

 

Even if the coating block sunlight, instead of having a few large solar panels, you have your roof edge to edge of solar panels which I am sure not only compensates but surpass them if you have a large home, which is common in the US and Canada.

 

[Monkey Dust]

8 minutes ago, tlink said:

im skeptical, these things seem more production intensive and are more installation intensive than normal solar panels. the coating also is going to block some light, it always will just like air will. and since when are solar panels not sexy? wouldn't it be just better to rip of the old roof completely and make it entirely out of solar panel?

Not all houses, particularly old ones, suit solar panels. These could be used on houses that are 100, 200 years old with out looking out of place, probably even older if you don't mind removing the originals.

 

Less convinced about the power wall, we know how those batteries can go up if they go wrong. Having one that size in your house seems like a bad idea.

[suicidalfranco]

on my wishlist 

[BuckGup]

So how do they fair against hail, strong winds, snow, and constant snow load?

[Tech_Dreamer]

Looks good

[Citadelen]

1 hour ago, terrytek said:

-snip-

 

Whether you like it or not self-driving cars will eventually save millions of lives.

[Misanthrope]

But what if your roof is not aligned properly though? I guess this could end up changing real state a bit for the better: forget mindless rows of houses and orient them properly for solar roof panels.

[Citadelen]

1 minute ago, Misanthrope said:

-snip-

 

There isn't even enough demand for the energy created from every house roof, not every house will have them, this is a product they've developed for developers to use.

[Misanthrope]

Just now, Citadelen said:

There isn't even enough demand for the energy created from every house roof, not every house will have them, this is a product they've developed for developers to use.

I realize but presumably Tesla's end game is to change that: they provide you the car, the house battery, the solar panels, the maglev train thing for longer distances and ultimately a nice space vacation.

[ACatWithThumbs]

---

[Citadelen]

2 hours ago, Misanthrope said:

-snip-

 

A mag-lev system would do wonders for connecting America.

As for the solar roof tiles, I doubt energy companies will like this, you can bet they'll lobby as hard as possible to prevent them from becoming common place. It could get to a point where individual homes would be able to satisfy their energy desire. 

[Mr.Meerkat]

Yay, looks soooo much less ugly than usual solar panels .

Maybe the Scottish Goverment will try to push this out to every Scottish home as you can have solar energy without the ugly-ness as 3-4 years ago, they were paying people to get solar panels installed and they were also paying monthly (kinda like how you'd get your wages paid) so it wasn't just an one off payment either...  

[Doobeedoo]

Looks really nice. Maybe one day I get such home hah.

[Sammael]

7 hours ago, terrytek said:

SERIOUSLY hate tesla for trying to force self driving down our throats, love them for this invention. now if only i can get a tuscan style roof with grey tiles.

 

Force self driving cars?  It's not mandatory to USE the self driving feature, it's just baked in in case you want to use it.  What's the problem with that?  This is more options and choice for people, not less.  Maybe you think that one day governments will force a self driving ONLY mode, but that is not in the cards anytime soon, and in the US I don't ever expect it to happen.

 

Also, come on, even if you like driving, imagine being stuck in rush hour traffic, and instead of wallowing in the misery, you put the car into self driving mode, recline your seat, use your phones internet connection to watch youtube videos on your large tesla display or play a pc game running off an electric battery that would give you DAYS of game time, or just lie back and listen to music... Dude, this is a freaking FANTASY world we are about to move into!

 

What human being would toss all that away?  That is likely to be something we can opt into anytime we want, and if we feel like driving ourselves, we can do that too.  Like seriously, there is ZERO downside to any of this, there is only upside.