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No One Saw Tesla’s Solar Roof Coming

bloomberg.com

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Re: No One Saw Tesla’s Solar Roof Coming

#211

Post by gefh »

jasonlingx wrote: post #154
aerovistae wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Another side note: it always annoys me when people insinuate that Musk using government funds is a bad thing. The government is literally just US....it's our money and a collection of individuals from among us who we've appointed to handle the general administration of us and the space we take up. Why should American entrepreneurs, particularly ones doing such an outstanding job of moving technology in a positive dir…

In this case it's taxpayers subsidising high end roofing for nice houses owned by well off people.

In the short term, yes. In the longer term, they're subsidising kick starting a market that can only come down in price once the volume increases.

Some good ideas need a bump through the 'chicken and egg' stage.

Re: No One Saw Tesla’s Solar Roof Coming

#212

Post by maximilianburke »

I would really like something like this, however the roof of my house has a really shallow pitch which makes it unsuitable for tiled roofs, be it glass (solar), ceramic, or asphalt.

I guess panels are still an option, though it would be nice to never worry about the roof again :)

Re: No One Saw Tesla’s Solar Roof Coming

#213

Post by erikpukinskis »

JoelBennett wrote: post #49

I'm curious - I still haven't seen any details on how these are installed. How are things wired - does the wiring run under the shingles themselves? Also, how does it work with odd sized/shaped roofs - e.g.: something that isn't exactly a multiple of 1/2 a shingle?

There are probably electrified tracks which are screwed down onto the rafters, similar to the way wooden risers* are put down for clay tiles to attach to. The tiles attach using metal clips or nails. SolarCity acquired Zep Solar a while back, who designed quick installation solar mounting systems. I assume they're using that team to design something fully integrated and fast to install. You'll probably just snap the tiles onto the rails after they are screwed (bolted?) down. The tracks would just plug into each other like Christmas lights.

They said they're producing plain tiles without panels inside for edge pieces and north/east/west roof faces.

* http://www.topnotchgenconstruction.com/wp-content/uploads/20...

Re: No One Saw Tesla’s Solar Roof Coming

#214

Post by foxylad »

jdcarr wrote: post #208
WalterBright wrote: post #197

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had a ceramic roof once. Walking on the roof would break the tiles. It made it hard to do maintenance on anything up there. My preference these days would be for a metal roof.

Corrugated iron is infamously loud in rain. What type of metal roof are you considering that wouldn't be such an earsore?

Here in NZ most roofs are corrugated iron, and people love the sound of rain on them. Different cultures...

There is another good reason for our love affair with iron - we get a lot of earthquakes. An iron roof provides a lot of structural bracing, and it's negligible weight provides much less moment than slate or tile alternatives.

Re: No One Saw Tesla’s Solar Roof Coming

#215

Post by DiThi »

forgetsusername wrote: post #182
jasonlingx wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In this case it's taxpayers subsidising high end roofing for nice houses owned by well off people.

Spot on. I'm all for subsidizing industries to incentivize the behaviour we want, but I'm not sure the people who can afford these homes, or $100,000 cars, need it.

They may not need it, but it is worth for the rest of us. Technology becomes much cheaper when it becomes commonplace. If we all pay a bit of that 30% subsidy to rich people, what's the matter? That will allow us to eventually buy it with more than 30% reduction of price without subsidies.

Re: No One Saw Tesla’s Solar Roof Coming

#216

Post by erikpukinskis »

prewett wrote: post #148

Pet peeve: meaningless projections into the far future. The "battery prices keep tumbling" chart is a complete fiction. They took two data points and extrapolated a smooth e^-x function, which portrays a untruthful appearance of accuracy. Two points fit whatever curve you want to fit. Including this graph is worse than having nothing. Question: how would I complain to Bloomberg about this?

The range on the graph isn't necessarily the entirety of the data used for the model.

Re: No One Saw Tesla’s Solar Roof Coming

#217

Post by erikpukinskis »

cybernytrix wrote: post #151

This is an awesome product and a big disruptor. Has anyone done the math on the revenues and profitability for Tesla? On the one hand it will sell for more than the typical 10-20K roof job. But then it is supposed to last 50years. What are the chances that Tesla will even be around in 50years?

The way SolarCity works, you don't own the panels SolarCity does. So ostensibly you would finance the roof and then pay a locked in price per kWh which would be recurring revenue for Tesla even after the roof is paid off.

Re: No One Saw Tesla’s Solar Roof Coming

#218

Post by erikpukinskis »

OliverJones wrote: post #84

"No One Saw Tesla’s Solar Roof Coming" Let's rephrase that headline. "No one to whom a lazy journalist named Tom Randall spoke saw Tesla's Solar Roof Coming."

Everyone knew it was going to be a solar roof. Musk said so. What no one predicted was that what they actually introduced, which is roof tiles indistinguishable from slate or terracotta.

The headline is about the specific Tesla Solar Roof, not the general idea of a Tesla solar roof.

Re: No One Saw Tesla’s Solar Roof Coming

#220

Post by bsdetector »

djrogers wrote: post #76
makomk wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Now think about what will happen after water makes its way into that crack and goes through a few hundred freeze-thaw cycles.

Isn't there a significant difference between a kettle bell and golf ball sized hail?

I think the right question is why are roofs not already made out of high-impact glass? Did nobody ever think about this before Elon? Maybe.

More likely a glass roof is a net negative that has to be offset by the solar cells, making them less cost effective than otherwise.

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