While solar panels have been subsidized in many cities for a while now, the blocky, rectangular panels aren’t heavily implemented in part because they tend to appear as, well, an addition, rather than a constitutive element of home design. That's about to change, as Tesla has announced a (potentially) revolutionary new intervention in the development of self-powered homes.
At a press event at Universal Studios, Tesla CEO Elon Musk revealed a line of glass, photovoltaic cell-embedded roof tiles. And they look strikingly like old-fashioned roof tiles, coming in a four distinct styles: “Textured Glass Tile”, “Tuscan Glass Tile”, “Smooth Glass Tile” and “Slate Glass Tile”. From above, the glass is transparent to the sun. From street-level, the solar cells aren’t visible.
Tesla states that the tiles will cost less than traditional roofing when energy savings are factored in. Manufactured out of durable, long-lasting tempered glass, the roof tiles will “last longer than the house”, Musk asserted during the press conference.
The tiles are expected to generate enough energy to power a household, with excess stored in new Powerwall 2.0 battery units, which were also announced during the press conference. Right now, the tiles have a two percent loss on efficiency (98% of what you’d get from a regular solar panel) but Musk stated that their working to improve efficiency.
Musk stated that the tiles are expected to roll-out by summer of next year in one or two of the styles, with more coming gradually after.
Watch the announcement here:
More on Tesla:
4 Comments
I can't express how much it pains me that one of the styles is named "Tuscan". Skueomorphism influences Elon Musk, even. Ugh.
It's good to see this type of endeavour getting more attention from folks with money. But the cynic in me can't help but wonder about the millions and millions of homes that get covered by snow for 4, 5, or 6 months of the year.
If we just insulated better and swapped out to LEDs when our bulbs burned out, we'd be well on our way to helping out already.
a 100k family car and a multi million dollar house with a tech film roof - a green revolution for the rich.
Agree, Donna. They could have just called it "Barrel Tile" or "Clay Tile". There's nothing Tuscan about it.
Regarding the expense of this... You have to start somewhere with this technology, and the prices have been coming steadily down. The Tesla "family car" no longer cost 100k, by the way.
We often have clients who request back-up electrical generators, which are big, ugly, noisy fuel-fired machines. Tesla is now offering their battery technology for installation in buildings as electrical back up systems. If the power goes out, these systems have enough storage to power basic functions of a large house for several days.
Block this user
Are you sure you want to block this user and hide all related comments throughout the site?
Archinect
This is your first comment on Archinect. Your comment will be visible once approved.