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No One Saw Tesla’s Solar Roof Coming

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Re: No One Saw Tesla’s Solar Roof Coming

#131

Post by prefect42 »

wojcech wrote: post #97
jomamaxx wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From a popular perspective - you are maybe right - they 'sexified' something not quite so sexy. However - I suggest this won't work out like the iPhone. Why? Because --> 'new roofs' are not built that often, by that I mean new homes and roofing replacements. And the construction industry has totally different dynamics. Putting on a 'regular' new roof is expensive. Most people won't consider this tech unless their hom…

Interesting points, thank you. EEVblog agrees with some of them and did the numbers on others, I might link it if I remember(it's bed time here soon) One thing where I don't agree:roofs being an unemotional decision. Everything is influenced by emotions. All Solarcity has to do isb make it at least feasible for everyone price wise, then having the combination of the (apparently very fancy) French something style+the…

I'll second that from personal experience, roofs are definitely an emotional decision. They can look great, be artsy, and even cover your house in the most visible of manners.

Re: No One Saw Tesla’s Solar Roof Coming

#133

Post by sctb »

jomamaxx wrote: post #81

Note to HN posters: do not dare criticize Pope Musk or any of his Holy Products, lest you risk a million down votes. FYI - I'm not a building expert, but I come from a large family of builders and grew up in a hardware store / lumber yard. I also looked into getting solar roofing (fleetingly) for a family friend. At least three years ago - the costs were nowhere near manageable for Ontario homes. So we'll see how thi…

The guidelines ask you to please not do this. We detached this subthread from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12841226 and marked it off-topic.

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

Re: No One Saw Tesla’s Solar Roof Coming

#134

Post by gridspy »

sliverstorm wrote: post #98
stcredzero wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Except, unless you are powering a laser pointed offworld, most of that energy is going to end up in your local environment as heat. Or, you meant just your house's greenhouse problem? Running a heat pump or AC would do that.

I'm not enough of an environmental physicist type to know for sure, but I think warm air (produced by various electronics) is preferable to a hot roof emitting blackbody radiation (which radiates at the wavelength that greenhouse gasses absorb).

From a green house global warming perspective, we want as much light (and heat) reflected back into space as possible right now.

Re: No One Saw Tesla’s Solar Roof Coming

#135

Post by TD-Linux »

robterrell wrote: post #77

Side topic, but I wonder if there's a pivot point coming where household appliances could be offered in DC versions. It would be great to avoid the inverter efficiency loss / point of failure. Could there be a standard DC interior wiring system with line voltage for the fridge / dishwasher / laundry machines and let's say LED lights, phone chargers, etc? The need for AC power is just an artifact of long transmission…

Many solar cell installations use maximum power point trackers with an internal high voltage DC bus - you could presumably tap that and distribute it directly throughout the house (often it's also directly attached to lead-acid battery banks, if used). In fact, you can often take ~170VDC and directly power many passive PFC power supplies with it. You still need inverters for AC motors though, which are a big portion of the load (compressors, fans).

Re: No One Saw Tesla’s Solar Roof Coming

#136

Post by __s »

mokus wrote: post #96
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…

I imagine those loud objectors would take issue with the idea that the government is "literally just US" - it's much more literally a small minority of us who are deciding on behalf of us what we are to do with our resources. There's nothing inherently wrong with that - the US was always intended to be exactly that - but it certainly leaves room for the represented to debate about the way they should be represented.…

North Dakota pipeline is nice example of an operation receiving a good dose of government funding that arguably goes against the best intentions of the future population

Re: No One Saw Tesla’s Solar Roof Coming

#138

Post by hinkley »

ChuckMcM wrote: post #130
philipkglass wrote: post #22

I had serious misgivings when Tesla/SolarCity announced a switch of focus to building-integrated PV. Historically, BIPV is where a PV technology goes to die after it's failed to compete against incumbent module designs. But these have far better aesthetics than previous BIPV efforts. They look better individually and they aren't clumped in one odd shiny patch on the roof like past BIPV. Search for images of solar shi…

I think this is exactly right. There is some fudging with the cost (this seems to be a common theme with Elon) by pre-including savings and rebates Etc, but the fact is this makes a solar roof something different than a set of panels across an existing roof. The durability question, and the weight per sq foot will be interesting. That said, the combination of the PowerWall and the roof might actually make it more ame…

Tar shingles are pretty damned heavy. If you've never experienced it, try picking some up at your hardware store, they have a bit of a weigh budget to work with. And then if you want some sympathy for your roofers, imagine slinging a box of those while standing on a diagonal surface 20 feet in the air in the afternoon sun. Yikes.

I'd almost worry more about about the size of the panels making installation problematic in a light to moderate wind, and having them sail off the roof into the neighbor's car.

Re: No One Saw Tesla’s Solar Roof Coming

#139

Post by steego »

whiskers wrote: post #15
olivermarks wrote: post #3

'No one saw Tesla's solar roof coming...' https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_shingle Solar shingles, also called photovoltaic shingles, are solar panels or solar modules designed to look like and function as conventional roofing materials, such as asphalt shingle or slate, while also producing electricity. Solar shingles are a type of solar energy solution known as building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV). There are…

There is no claim that "solar shingles" are new, just that it wasn't what people expected Tesla to be announcing. From the article... "Like previous attempts at solar shingles..."

http://etfdailynews.com/2016/08/11/tesla-wants-to-install-so...

There was buzz about this months ago.

Re: No One Saw Tesla’s Solar Roof Coming

#140

Post by extrapickles »

seanalltogether wrote: post #124
robterrell wrote: post #77

Side topic, but I wonder if there's a pivot point coming where household appliances could be offered in DC versions. It would be great to avoid the inverter efficiency loss / point of failure. Could there be a standard DC interior wiring system with line voltage for the fridge / dishwasher / laundry machines and let's say LED lights, phone chargers, etc? The need for AC power is just an artifact of long transmission…

I believe the biggest issue right now with internal DC wiring is you need much higher gauge wire, which translates to more expensive cabling throughout the house. You also still need a way to step the voltage for each device, so it's not clear what the savings are. It may be beneficial for lights where a clear standard for voltage can be determined, but everything else will still have it's own requirements.

You can use the same gauge wire if the voltage stays the same. The downside is that all of the switches and circuit breakers need to be replaced with ones rated for DC as arcs are harder to break.

Most DC installations are <50v to take advantage of existing DC powered gear and circuits under ~50v don't need a licensed electrician to do the work (in most locations).

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