No One Saw Tesla’s Solar Roof Coming • Hacker News Board

Re: No One Saw Tesla’s Solar Roof Coming

#31

Post by colechristensen » Mon, Oct 31, 2016, 9:26 PM UTC

sremani wrote: post #10

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…

I am not debating this, but this feels eerily like some feature PC/Windows has but when it is introduced by Apple say, tablets becomes the rage. No it does not have to be original, originality is over-rated. Tesla has packaged it well, and to say the least in a non-intrusive and colorful way, just like what Apple (used to do?) does with its products. I looked at DOW solar shingles, there were talk about how unmitigat…

Elon takes things that appeal to hippies, geeks, and the green-industrial complex and makes them appeal to the upper middle class.

Part of the reason he can do that is that he's charismatic (in his own way), resourceful, and driven.

Part of the reason he can do that is that "it's time" with the price of oil and the progress of technology and regulation.

The same sort of thing is true for SpaceX, Tesla cars, and now Tesla solar.

Re: No One Saw Tesla’s Solar Roof Coming

#32

Post by sliverstorm » Mon, Oct 31, 2016, 9:28 PM UTC

jaggederest wrote: post #5

I think it's interesting looking at it from the other end - as a homeowner, I can tell you that roofing is an expensive proposition. If this can be competitive with traditional roofing and have a longer life expectancy, I'd buy in a heartbeat. It has the potential to displace thousands of tons of asphalt shingles per year with the equivalent of recyclable glass, which is pretty fantastic. The embodied energy of produ…

Don't forget that rooftop solar panels reduce HVAC cooling needs in summer, and I would bet they also slash blackbody radiation, reducing the greenhouse problem. Absorbing the light ought to be as good as reflecting it.

a 93-square-metre (1,000 sq ft) white roof will offset 10 tons of carbon dioxide over its 20-year lifetime.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reflective_surfaces_(geoengine...

Re: No One Saw Tesla’s Solar Roof Coming

#33

Post by STRiDEX » Mon, Oct 31, 2016, 9:28 PM UTC

GregBuchholz wrote: post #27

I'm curious if anyone has stats on what percentage of houses have an unobstructed southern roof (for those in the Northern hemisphere)? My house has seasonally adjusted nanotechnology self-replicating shade "panels" that block considerable sunlight in the spring and summer months (MTBF: 100+ years). The big downside is cleaning up the unused panels in the autumn.

https://www.google.com/get/sunroof#p=0

Re: No One Saw Tesla’s Solar Roof Coming

#34

Post by fdgdasfadsf » Mon, Oct 31, 2016, 9:29 PM UTC

lutorm wrote: post #7

sremani wrote: post #2

Roof top solar is critical for electrification of transportation since more demands would be placed on grid. SolarPV and EV go hand in hand. This product addresses many of the objections about aesthetics of Solar. TSLA has solid vision, hopefully they execute it and execute it well.

Home PV and EV doesn't go hand in hand for everyone that uses their EV to commute to work, though. I guess that represents a significant fraction of the vehicle park.

It does if you think at grid level rather than building level.

Re: No One Saw Tesla’s Solar Roof Coming

#35

Post by pseudometa » Mon, Oct 31, 2016, 9:30 PM UTC

austincheney wrote: post #18

Hope it is insured against golf ball sized hail. If so people in Texas will buy this in droves just for the durability. In not it will never sell in Texas.

Yes, yes they are... they are far more durable than their counterparts. Remember there are may types of glass, including 'bullet proof glass'.

Re: No One Saw Tesla’s Solar Roof Coming

#36

Post by makomk » Mon, Oct 31, 2016, 9:30 PM UTC

ne0n wrote: post #25

austincheney wrote: post #18

Hope it is insured against golf ball sized hail. If so people in Texas will buy this in droves just for the durability. In not it will never sell in Texas.

Did you see the announcement video? They dropped a kettlebell on it and all it got was a small crack.

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

Re: No One Saw Tesla’s Solar Roof Coming

#37

Post by jack-r-abbit » Mon, Oct 31, 2016, 9:30 PM UTC

jxramos wrote: post #16

jaggederest wrote: post #5

I think it's interesting looking at it from the other end - as a homeowner, I can tell you that roofing is an expensive proposition. If this can be competitive with traditional roofing and have a longer life expectancy, I'd buy in a heartbeat. It has the potential to displace thousands of tons of asphalt shingles per year with the equivalent of recyclable glass, which is pretty fantastic. The embodied energy of produ…

I've been contemplating the remaining lifespan of this multilayer roof that's been failing some of the carpentry on my mother's roof and wondering about going solar with the next roofing. I wonder how robust these things are for standing on and how they cut around the gas flues and plumbing ventilation pipes and what not. Maybe they deliver blank tiles with no cells on them to cut into odd shapes and what not. If the…

It seems they'll almost have to have non-solar tiles that match. Currently, most people don't cover their entire roof with solar panels if they have sections that don't get enough sun to make panels there worth the extra cost.

Re: No One Saw Tesla’s Solar Roof Coming

#38

Post by wojcech » Mon, Oct 31, 2016, 9:31 PM UTC

I'm sure i'm not the only one who feels like this is possibly the iphone moment of Solarcity/Tesla: an old-ish idea, made sexy and tasty to consumers, together with technology reaching a tipping point(and also Musk again finding a way to maximally exploit government subsidies for clean tech.)

The tesla car itself could count as well, but felt less "design driven" imo. If this fails, everyone will call it obviously due to bad tech. If it succeeds, I'd say it was because the tech was barely sufficient to keep up with the excellent luster.

On a side note, I wonder whether or not the heavy government subsidies will be forgotten in the lore of clean tech, just like silicon valley seems to have forgotten the complete and utter reliance on government funding in it's infancy(or possibly even today)

Re: No One Saw Tesla’s Solar Roof Coming

#39

Post by Jugurtha » Mon, Oct 31, 2016, 9:33 PM UTC

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…

>Search for images of solar shingles and you'll see what I mean about previous attempts.

The first 9 images Google returned in the top 2 rows for "solar shingles" have 2 pictures from Tesla/SC's presentation. (~22%). The 3 top rows (13 images) contain 3 images from the presentation (~23%). It looks like you're right about the change to come.

Re: No One Saw Tesla’s Solar Roof Coming

#40

Post by denom » Mon, Oct 31, 2016, 9:34 PM UTC

smoyer wrote: post #24

If the solar shingles last far longer than my current shingles (which actually need to be replaced soon), what about the degradation of the solar cells themselves? Traditional PV panels degrade and have to be replaced sooner than many roofing materials.

In the linked video Elon mentions a "lifetime" of use. If that's true, then sign me up.