Tesla announces mind blowing new solar roofs - NeoGAF

[Legend]

I'm not sure how I feel about designing them to look like traditional styles. Maybe in the near future that could become really important for people that don't care about solar but also don't want to be left out without it.

[the-pi-guy]

They're going to have a few month long battery?

Why would you need a few month long battery?  
He doesn't live in Northern Alaska.  

Even in the winter time, you still tend to get fairly good sunlight.  There's even stuff about heating the panel's to melt snow.

I'm not sure how I feel about designing them to look like traditional styles. Maybe in the near future that could become really important for people that don't care about solar but also don't want to be left out without it.

Why sacrifice style?  

[kitler53]

You can do that now. you better hope you produce enough to meet your needs. which is whay scares me because id have to unhook to even think about. but my state said f u on rebates so i cant afford it...

They're going to have a few month long battery?

i don't know where or what information you are basing those opinions on.

in grad school i was working on bringing solar to the mass market so i've got a pretty strong background in solar and it's promise.  the truth is solar energy is massively plentiful.  in theory you could create a 100 by 100 square mile solar cell in the south of the USA and (at 10% efficiency) produce enough power all of the USA's energy consumption x2.  and let me remind you that when i say all of the USA's power consumption i mean all of the USA's power consumption  including things that aren't traditionally electric like gas cars and manufacturing.

anyway,.. the point is that even in places like chicago/new york even in the winter most suburban homes have a big enough foot print to capture enough sun to provide all the power they need even when accounting for poor efficiencies.

some of the higher end silicon has conversion rates in the 80% so the idea is definetly possible.  we'll see how tesla does but they'll probably need to hit the 10% mark to be viable in all markets of the USA with the exception of alaska.  

i've read though plenty of studies that all come to the conclusion that a home needs to be able to have a battery supply of 1 week to have the viability to disconnect from the grid.  that is to cover the stormy periods where sun isn't shining all that much.  this of course wouldn't apply to the parts of alaska where the sun goes away entirely for weeks/months.  all the studies i've read where focused no the USA weather/energy consumption.

of course you'd probably want a back up generator just in case but until cars go full on electric there is a pretty big buffer in the amount of energy you can reasonably collect vs the amount of energy you need.

you guys are over worried about dirt/snow,.. at least on traditional solar roofs.  maybe tesla is different but it's not a huge impact.  snow doesn't stick all that well to solar panels and small heaters can melt it off quite easily.



i could be biased (like i said i worked in it for a while) but i truely believe solar is the future of energy production.  even back when i was working on it the only thing that really was a problem was energy storage.  i haven't kept too close of an eye on that but the progress that has been made in the last 10 years is quite huge.  i think we'll see solar be a pretty big impact on the market pretty soon.   keep in mind that as people disconnect those that havent' disconnected will have to face larger electric bills as there are fewer people to pay for the capital investments of the electric grid.  things will be slow at first and then one day the scales will tip massively in favor of the distributed electric model.

[Max King of the Wild]

You live in Chicago dude. When the roof is covered in snow and it's gloomy and shame sun for months... Yeah

[Legend]

Why sacrifice style?  

It costs more and decreases function.

[the-pi-guy]

It costs more and decreases function.

According to Tech Crunch the current design of the tiles guarantees 98% of the efficiency of a normal solar panel, and Tesla is working with 3M on a new coating that actually increases the efficiency per square meter compared to a traditional solar panel.
They expect to start installations in Summer 2017.
The true breakthrough, however, is the new Powerwall 2: 5500$ for 14kwh of energy storage with an integrated inverter. It's hands down the cheapest solution and it's coming in december/january: true off-grid capability folks.

2% drop isn't too bad for the style.
Probably not a very big cost difference.

You live in Chicago dude. When the roof is covered in snow and it's gloomy and shame sun for months... Yeah

He literally wrote several paragraphs giving explanations for why that isn't a problem as well sharing his credentials (which are fairly impressive).  And you still are convinced you know more.... 

[Mmm_fish_tacos]

I want to know the cost. and if i can install it my self.

[kitler53]

You live in Chicago dude. When the roof is covered in snow and it's gloomy and shame sun for months... Yeah

i don't know how better to respond to this then to say:

math.  science.  engineering. 

I want to know the cost. and if i can install it my self.

i'd bet on:
A) expensive
B) no

current solar roofs cost from 20-40 thousand dollars.  based on the wording from tesla their cost is in the same ballpark as that.

[the-pi-guy]

this of course wouldn't apply to the parts of alaska where the sun goes away entirely for weeks/months.  all the studies i've read where focused no the USA weather/energy consumption.

of course you'd probably want a back up generator just in case but until cars go full on electric there is a pretty big buffer in the amount of energy you can reasonably collect vs the amount of energy you need.

you guys are over worried about dirt/snow,.. at least on traditional solar roofs.  maybe tesla is different but it's not a huge impact.  snow doesn't stick all that well to solar panels and small heaters can melt it off quite easily.

Yeah, it's only really the unpopulated north that would need something very different.

Would need crazy batteries to make solar work there, and very careful budgeting.  

Tesla sounds pretty confident about it being able to handle dirt/snow.  

[Aura7541]

Hopefully, the glass is extremely scratch resistant because weathering can possibly screw up the sunlight's pathway to the photovoltaic cells.

[Mmm_fish_tacos]

I wouldn't mind having a power wall or two but it's still a lot of money for a day's worth of backup power. The only good thing is I could draw from the power company during non peak hours and run off the battery during peak, but I don't know if it would save all that much money.

[the-pi-guy]

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[DD_Bwest]

interesting points,   the man is a visionary

[Aura7541]

Can really change the green energy market if this takes off.

[Legend]

That's insane if it works out. My parent's house will be in need of new shingles so this could be a win-win-win.