Tesla’s solar roofing tileis now available for pre-order. Should you go for it?
Ultimately, Tesla’s goal is for you to use their products to power your home with 100% clean and renewable energy. Tesla’s solar tiles work in tandem with their Powerwall battery pack to power your home and save you money in the long term.
Though Tesla didn’t invent the solar tile, they have revolutionized it. Other companies have marketed such a tile, but high component and installation costs have prevented the product from rising to the top of the clean energy discussion chamber.
Still, for the tile to be successful its cost must not exceed the value of the homeowner’s current energy costs, plus traditional roofing costs.
特斯拉希望通过长期的节能、100%的清洁能源整合和美学来吸引那些持否定态度的人和好奇的人。
It must take more than roofing tiles to make my home 100% clean energy efficient, right?
YES.
The solar roof will be integrated with Tesla’s Powerwall battery. The battery is designed to store energy to keep your home active day and night. Tesla’s latestPowerwall 2.0battery comes with a 10-year warranty and a $5,500 price tag.
How Do The Tiles Work And What Do They Look Like?
When Muskunveiled the product last October在他的演讲中,他的一个主要观点是,当前的太阳能电池板技术在我们的家中看起来是多么的美学突兀。
Tesla’s solar tile roof differs in that it is as an integrated feature of the structure itself (BIPV), rather than an addition to the structure it is affixed to (BAPV). As a building-integrated photovoltaic product, when the tiles are installed they will create the appearance of a normal roof, hiding the fact they are a massive solar panel.
The tiles themselves are constructed of three layers:
- The tile’shigh efficiency solar cellis what captures the sun’s energy. On Tesla’s website, they claim that the cell produces more energy even at high temperatures.
- The second layer is thecolor louver film. This film allows the sun’s rays to enter the tile’s cell while at the same time hiding the cell from vision at street level. In other words, you’ll only see a tile from the street and not the reflection of the cell inside of it.
- The unit’stempered glassveneer will not block the sun’s rays and will rival, if not exceed, the strength of any other roofing tile on the open market, solar capable or not. If you want evidence of how durable the glass tile is, watch thevideoon Tesla’s website about 13:00 minutes in.
Tile Designs
Tesla unveiledfour unique designs.
How Much Will They Cost?
A Tesla solar roof on an average-sized house, with a 1,700 square foot roof, is priced about $50,000. You canprice out your own house on their page—data from Google Maps gives them the size of your roof.
Tesla’s site also breaks down your cost over time.
Is It Worth It?
In Barry Cinnamon’s greentechmedia.comarticle, he explains a ton of useful information about solar panel energy and how Telsa’s tile must perform to compete.
- An average home solar panel system should be a 6-kilowatt system
- Tesla’s High efficiency tiles will probably generate 6-watts per tile
- 1,000 6-watt tiles will create a 6-kilowatt system
- 由于不同的因素,如遮阳、防火规范、北坡等,所有的屋顶都可以安装假瓦和太阳能瓦。理论上,假瓷砖的价格应该更便宜。
- It’s unlikely that the tiles will be installed individually and more likely in 24 cell units. This will lessen the amount of wire work and installation time required.
- 平均6千瓦的系统每年大约使用9000千瓦小时。
- Considering the above averages, plus the average annual electricity cost of a home, the system could easily save you $2,250 a year.
Mr. Cinnamon’s inquiry appears to be a fair one, but there’s still many unknowns about the product encouraging all to wait until the numbers are in to pass judgement.
A more well-rounded theory comes to us from Consumer Reports, who conjured up a helpful article to gauge the cost-benefit of the Tesla roof. If that’s something that interests you, clickherefor the link. They considered Tesla’s claim that the lifespan of the tile is 30 years, using this information they came up with the figures below based on a 3,000-square foot roof.
- A normal asphalt roof will cost $20,000
- The average annual energy cost of a family home (this is a big approximate considering the variables) is $2000 a year.
- If the tiles last 30 years, we can expect the roof to save the home $60,000 in energy costs.
- Each Powerwall battery is warrantied for 10 years at $5,500 a piece. That’s 16,500 within a 30-year span, depending on the life of the battery pack.
- In sum, depending on the tile, you can expect to spend between $69,000-$100,000 for your Telsa solar roof if they want to compete with price.
- Within 30 years, a home could expect to replace their asphalt roof twice and spend $2000 a year on energy. This totals approximately $100,000 in costs.
As it turns out, the price Tesla has setis well below what analysts were expecting.
这一切都归结为你可以预先支付多少。5万美元作为一项投资是一大笔钱,但对一些人来说,能源独立和环境因素使投资物有所值。
There’s no doubt that this product is a game changer and a step in the right direction for renewable and efficient clean energy. However, it’s still for lack of a better term, a luxury product. With that said, I doubt it’s Tesla’s prerogative to keep it that way for long.
Tesla’s solar tile is likely a giant first step in a market that will continue to expand and compete. It’s our hope that prices drop and within a decade, if not less, the dream of 100% energy efficiency can be realized by all, and not the few.
Josef Olson works in Seattle as a carpenter and keeps busy off the clock with an assortment of DIY projects.
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