Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Tesla Solar Roof is on life support as it pivot to panels

electrek.co

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

61–70 of 363 posts

Re: Tesla Solar Roof is on life support as it pivot to panels

#61

Post by someluccc »

christoph wrote: post #25

This current crop of tech bros and companies really is the worst for humanity. Failed tech and projects I can understand, but it’s the total, consistent and persistent lack of care and disregard for people, customers & the planet. They never clean up their own mess either, and I even disliked the kids who did that at playgroup 40 years ago!! The sole ambition is always money & power. I read that article aghast at mul…

The monstrous tech bros destroying humanity by bringing about electric cars, intelligent machines, mapping the world, bringing information to anyone anywhere.

I on the other hand, Maximus Virtus, am a net gain to humanity when I hack into tech products for visualizing my home’s data.

Re: Tesla Solar Roof is on life support as it pivot to panels

#62

Post by torginus »

unsnap_biceps wrote: post #9

Did any other manufacturers build their own version? It seems like the right long term idea but the lack of other players seems to indicate there's some underlying issue that isn't solved yet.

I mean in general it could be a right-ish idea. I myself have noticed when buying solar panels after replacing shingles that basically the per sqm cost of solar panels is like 2x of shingles (of the not super expensive kind). It could be easily more economical to use a modern version of this to replace your roof.

On the other hand, Tesla's solar shingles are tiny compared to panels, more in the shape of actual shingle strips, means tons of connectors, wiring losses, dangerous shorts (these things carry 10s of amps) etc. and probably a nightmare to troubleshoot.

I would not get these for any reason other than aesthetics.

Re: Tesla Solar Roof is on life support as it pivot to panels

#63

Post by moffkalast »

peterisza wrote: post #35
winfredJa wrote: post #3

I’m pretty sure solar roof was introduced as a way to pump stock when Tesla was doing poor financially

I think it was a genuine attempt but they failed to find a simple enough solution.

Invisible solar is a genuine use case in areas with shitty power tripping HOAs, but even regular solar takes a decade to break even, so if you sell something like that at inflated Tesla level prices then they simply never will and there is no reason to buy them in the first place.

Re: Tesla Solar Roof is on life support as it pivot to panels

#64

Post by torginus »

hleszek wrote: post #51
ospray wrote: post #2

When they rolled out the product with tiny tiles I always thought musk was being to ambitious. The smaller the tiles the harder a solar roof gets.

Why are tiles small BTW? Could we use tiles as big as normal solar panels?

My guess would be they are the same size as shingle strips, to make it easier to work with for regular installers rather than specialists.

These things carry a lot of current though, so I would certainly not trust anyone without proper tools and training to put them on a roof.

Re: Tesla Solar Roof is on life support as it pivot to panels

#65

Post by ageitgey »

cyberax wrote: post #38
unsnap_biceps wrote: post #9

Did any other manufacturers build their own version? It seems like the right long term idea but the lack of other players seems to indicate there's some underlying issue that isn't solved yet.

The problem is the cost. Tiles are pretty small, and you need to wire them together. This means a lot of small-gauge wires going all through your roof. Multiple tiles also need to be connected in series to get reasonable efficiency, so you get plenty of failure points where one bad connection can cause a significant part of your solar roof to become useless. And you won't be able to easily fix it. You can obviously f…

I looked into it seriously at one point.

Essentially, you are adding another zero to the cost to have hidden solar. A 20k solar install becomes a 200k+ solar roof install.

Even if the final result is great, the economics shrink the possible customer base. Basic solar has gotten so cheap that people aren't worrying if the investment increases the value of the house itself. But very few people are willing to pay 10x for a thing that will never pay itself back in energy or home value. It's like putting a pool in your house - a few buyers will want it, but a lot will run from it because they don't know what to do with it.

So as a result, the target market ends up being super rich dudes in gated communities - the same kind of people buying custom 100k hifi systems and home cinema rooms. It becomes an upsell for people with unlimited budgets.

It's just not a mass market product when the competition is 10x cheaper and dropping daily.

Re: Tesla Solar Roof is on life support as it pivot to panels

#66

Post by echelon_musk »

Veserv wrote: post #21
winfredJa wrote: post #3

I’m pretty sure solar roof was introduced as a way to pump stock when Tesla was doing poor financially

Nah, Elon Musk faked the demo [1] so he could defraud Tesla investors into bailing out his cousins. [1] https://mansionengineer.com/2018/08/10/elon-musk-tesla-and-t...

> Musk unveiled on October 28 at an event at Universal Studios’ back lot in Los Angeles, on an old residential set used in Desperate Housewives

> There’s a reason that they announced the idea on a fake block in a fake neighborhood with fake houses!

Interesting read.

Re: Tesla Solar Roof is on life support as it pivot to panels

#67

Post by queenkjuul »

xingped wrote: post #47
habitue wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm no Musk fanboy but I think this kind of maximally cynical take is tiresome. They thought it would work, they expended significant engineering effort and money making it real and producing it and selling it to customers. The simplest explanation is that they did all that and the market didn't want it. The economics of traditional panels outweighed the aesthetic advantages of tiles and they're pivoting. No conspira…

You're not entirely wrong on it being a maximally cynical take, but I think it depends on where the idea originated. Yes, they expended a lot on engineering to make it real, but you can do that with any idea. I think what matters was if it was a feasible idea put forth from a reasonable source or if it was another grand delusion from Musk that everyone just had to make as real as possible despite their own misgivings…

Imo basically this, the attempt to make it work is downstream of musk deciding it had to be attempted. Musk can decide to spend money on a project whether or not it's genuine or feasible. This seems a clear cut case of musk designing a bad product and engineers doing their best to implement it despite the nonsensical constraints

Re: Tesla Solar Roof is on life support as it pivot to panels

#68

Post by peterisza »

moffkalast wrote: post #63
peterisza wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it was a genuine attempt but they failed to find a simple enough solution.

Invisible solar is a genuine use case in areas with shitty power tripping HOAs, but even regular solar takes a decade to break even, so if you sell something like that at inflated Tesla level prices then they simply never will and there is no reason to buy them in the first place.

What is a HOAs?

Re: Tesla Solar Roof is on life support as it pivot to panels

#69

Post by yread »

riffraff wrote: post #17
unsnap_biceps wrote: post #9

Did any other manufacturers build their own version? It seems like the right long term idea but the lack of other players seems to indicate there's some underlying issue that isn't solved yet.

There are a few companies, I remember Invisible Solar which produces modules which look like traditional clay tiles. The market pitch is different tho, they are aimed at providing less effective solar for places where you have a hard need to keep the old look, old churches, monumental buildings and such.

I came across https://colorsolar.eu/ They can put basically any print on the solar panel

Re: Tesla Solar Roof is on life support as it pivot to panels

#70

Post by gabrielsroka »

peterisza wrote: post #68
moffkalast wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Invisible solar is a genuine use case in areas with shitty power tripping HOAs, but even regular solar takes a decade to break even, so if you sell something like that at inflated Tesla level prices then they simply never will and there is no reason to buy them in the first place.

What is a HOAs?

Homeowners' associations

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homeowner_association

Post reply on HN