E. ARTAMONOVA: We have a professor from Moscow University in touch architectural institute, Chairman of the Moscow Architectural Society Boris Uborevich. Hello! What's new? Everyone knew about batteries, but no one had invented one like this, integrated into the roof, before Musk?
B. UBOREVICH: Hello! No, before Musk, no one had invented such batteries that are completely integrated into the roof. This is an interesting, new discovery. We know that solar panels are used, including in our region. This separate design, which is mounted on the roof with some distance from the roof so that both the roof and the batteries can be cleaned. Not very effective in our lane, but it works quite well. We have a sunny summer. Some amount sunny days, there is enough radiation to power these batteries and give some effect. This effect is a little unusual for us, because we are not used to saving, we use electricity as we want. We can turn on additional heaters, but here we will, of course, need to switch to economical use of electricity. Incandescent light bulbs are not suitable. Overall an interesting idea. As an architect, I am most concerned about the appearance of the house. If the roof completely matches the image of the house, does not change it, and there are no additional structures, engineering systems, which seem to not fit into the architecture of the house, this is very cool.
E.A.: Will this be in demand among us?
B.W.: It will be in demand, it doesn’t come right away. We're always a little late. We don't really like to save money. We have enough electricity, we have gas. We kind of think that, probably, this shouldn’t come to us. For example, we have some, say, remote villages where, for example, there are power outages, some where there is no gas, and so on. Surely there will be enthusiasts who will try to make a roof from these solar panels. Another thing is what kind of material this is from an architectural point of view. The tiles are not relevant. We kind of love it, but it’s strange sometimes to see a tiled roof in a village near Moscow. We need to look at the choice of materials so that it matches our houses and architecture.
E.A.: Look, slate tiles, Tuscan-style tiles, textured glass and glossy glass tiles.
B.U.: Slate is a well-known material, it has been used here for a long time, it’s probably interesting. Of course, architecturally I would like it to be beautiful. And it often happens that engineering solutions do not coincide with architectural ones. Elon Musk is a modern man, I think he also thought about this, and it will be interesting for us to try to use it.
The idea of placing photovoltaic panels on the roofs of houses and the facades of office buildings seems to the founder of Tesla to be a sure-fire way to quickly and painlessly join renewable energy sources. Presented by Elon Musk, the “solar tile” project - modules with built-in solar panels, hidden under a material imitating the usual roofing, managed to impress and interest the public. On the one hand, installing electricity-generating roofs would allow the homeowner to acquire a free source of energy, and on the other hand, it would also fit into the exterior design without making global changes to the style of the building.
Taking into account the two advantages mentioned above, a logical question arises about the cost of such an upgrade, which could negate all the advantages of the much-touted “solar roofs” developed by Tesla, making them economically unjustified. Questions at the time of announcement pricing policy I did not stand for such a product, although Mr. Musk himself emphasized the need to produce truly affordable products. The cost of such roofs will not exceed the price of a high-quality roof.
After a recent meeting of Tesla shareholders, during which the company’s co-owners voted to acquire the Solar City energy company, Elon Musk assured that their “solar tiles” would not only be the same price as a standard roof, but even cheaper. If we take into account the savings on electricity bills after installing innovative roofs, their mass appearance may not be far off. In addition to this argument, Tesla experts assured that their proprietary “tiles” with a glass layer characterized by voluminous textures will, in practice, be more durable and resistant than the alternative existing in the same price range without built-in solar panels. True, the question of timely maintenance of Tesla roofs, repair of individual sections of it that were damaged by the elements or careless neighbors, as well as complete replacement high-tech roofing if necessary.
“Yesterday I met with engineers from the Solar City team and, despite the lack of 100 percent guarantees in achieving the desired result, we are moving along the path of creating roofs with integrated solar panels and original design solutions with a cost lower than the roofing used today. And in theory, its cost may turn out to be more attractive even without taking into account the savings on electricity bills. Therefore, think about our proposal: would you like to become the owner of a roof that looks no worse than a regular roof, but will last you twice as long, cost less, and also powers electrical appliances?— Elon Musk summed up.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced the release of new products at the SolarCity reporting meeting, which summed up financial results for the second quarter of 2016. The entrepreneur is on the company's board of directors, but his interest in this event is explained by the upcoming deal - at the end of July, Tesla made the final decision to acquire SolarCity for $2.6 billion. The deal has not yet been concluded, although Tesla shares fell by 10% after the announcement of the merger, and experts criticized Musk's decision.
SolarCity is a startup that installs solar energy harvesting facilities and infrastructure. At the meeting, Musk emphasized that the company's next product will not be individual modules that are installed on the roof, but a finished coating - a solar roof. Probably, we're talking about about solar panel roofing.
SolarCity CEO Lyndon Rive noted that the startup will release two products by the end of the year. By this time, the sale of the company will be finalized.
Rive also confirmed that the startup is preparing to release a roof covering. In his opinion, this will open up SolarCity new market. Every year, 5 million new roofs are installed in the United States. As Rive noted, many people are reluctant to invest in solar panels because the roof often needs to be replaced or updated. Ready offer will be perfect for those planning renovations, as they will have the opportunity to renew the roof and, at the same time, acquire a source of solar energy.
The authors of the SolarCity project, including Elon Musk, adhere to a simple concept. It is not necessary to make energy systems for the roofs of buildings, but to construct the roofs themselves from solar panels. For this purpose, roofing tiles were developed in a high-tech format building material. The panel samples presented last Friday imitate ceramic tiles, glass, French slate, textured and curved Tuscan tiles.
The solar panels will be manufactured in a 1 GW factory being built in Buffalo. The SolarCity plant will begin operations in the second quarter of 2017.
They are all opaque when viewed from below or from the side, so you won't know where the roof ends and the solar panel array begins.
As Musk stated, “This is the roof that has better insulation, than traditional construction, generates electricity and at the same time costs less than a roof, plus a solar panel.”
It is durable enough to withstand light impacts and the vagaries of the weather, which was demonstrated at the presentation. However, the head of Tesla did not announce the cost of the product and energy generation indicators.
Elon Musk demonstrated the ideal addition to such a roof: the second generation Powerwall battery complex from the same Tesla company. It holds 14 kWh of energy - the estimated daily requirement of a 4-room household equipped with typical electrical appliances. If you connect a battery to roof panels and build a house in a sunny region, in theory you get endless source energy.