In October, Billionaire Elon Musk announced that his company, Tesla, would be launching solar roof tiles. Solar panels are nothing new under the sun, but these roof tiles have the solar panels built into them and come in various styles and designs. Like traditional panels, these tiles promise to harvest social energy from the sun. Sounds like a great idea, but going all solar will probably take years to implement because of the price, right? Maybe not.
Originally the tiles were only expected to have a pricey up front cost, but would generally pay for themselves over time with the anticipated savings on traditional electricity. But that's not the most interesting part. The solar roof materials will actually cost less than the traditional roofing materials. It is said that it will cost lesser to produce and install the new solar roofs and Musk was even quoted saying that electricity "is just a bonus" after a sleek design and the durability promised by the new solar roof, as reported by Bloomberg.
If this is true, it could change the housing and energy industries in a very short time. "So the basic proposition will be: Would you like a roof that looks better than a normal roof, lasts twice as long, costs less and, by the way, generates electricity?" Musk said according to the same report by Bloomberg. "Why would you get anything else?" Musk added.
Other than overcoming the price barrier, other details regarding the panels include the following.
If this is true, it could change the housing and energy industries in a very short time. "So the basic proposition will be: Would you like a roof that looks better than a normal roof, lasts twice as long, costs less and, by the way, generates electricity?" Musk said according to the same report by Bloomberg. "Why would you get anything else?" Musk added.
Other than overcoming the price barrier, other details regarding the panels include the following.
- These tiles will replace the entire traditional electrical grid, and allow for true off-grid energy independence. The idea is that you can generate and store energy by day, which then lights up your house at night — without any pollution or environmental damage.
- The solar roof is designed to be used in concert with the Tesla Powerwall 2.0, which Musk unveiled at his Los Angeles presentation. The new version of the Powerwall will cost $5,500 for 14 kWh of storage and 7 kWh peak power draw, which is enough to power a four-bedroom home for one day. It will also provide spare power via the new Powerwall 2 battery in case of inclement weather or other outages.
- The roofs should far outlast the standard 20-year life cycle common for roofing materials used today — by as much as two or even three times.