Elon Musk: Tesla's Solar Roof Will Cost Less Than a Traditional Roof (bloomberg.com) 428
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Bloomberg: After Tesla shareholders approved the acquisition of SolarCity, the new company is now an unequivocal sun-to-vehicle energy firm. And Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk didn't take long to make his first big announcement as head of this new enterprise. Minutes after shareholders approved the deal -- about 85 percent of them voted yes -- Musk told the crowd that he had just returned from a meeting with his new solar engineering team. Tesla's new solar roof product, he proclaimed, will actually cost less to manufacture and install than a traditional roof -- even before savings from the power bill. "Electricity," Musk said, "is just a bonus." If Musk's claims prove true, this could be a real turning point in the evolution of solar power. The rooftop shingles he unveiled just a few weeks ago are something to behold: They're made of textured glass and are virtually indistinguishable from high-end roofing products. They also transform light into power for your home and your electric car. "So the basic proposition will be: Would you like a roof that looks better than a normal roof, lasts twice as long, costs less and -- by the way -- generates electricity?" Musk said. "Why would you get anything else?" Much of the cost savings Musk is anticipating comes from shipping the materials. Traditional roofing materials are brittle, heavy, and bulky. Shipping costs are high, as is the quantity lost to breakage. The new tempered-glass roof tiles, engineered in Tesla's new automotive and solar glass division, weigh as little as a fifth of current products and are considerably easier to ship, Musk said.
I'll wait for a third party review... (Score:5, Insightful)
If Musk is correct then... Great! Sign me up!
I think I'll wait for a variety of third party reviews before I get too eager though. Of course Musk is going to cheer his own product, but lets see if experts agree with him and if the price really is lower when it really hits the market.
Re:I'll wait for a third party review... (Score:5, Insightful)
Agreed, I still want to find out how this product works in places like Warren Ohio, Joplin, Missouri, Greensburg Kanasas (Most Damaging Tornadoes I can think of off the top of my head) Where tornadoes while not "common" also aren't "rare" and as such roofs need to be able to sustain pre-tornado weather (including hail) at least a few times a year. (to be reliable)
That doesn't even include Cold Weather testing (which those 3 above also face to varying degrees), extreme summer heat, and snow dead weight (weight of snow/ice on roof) capacities, etc....
and that isn't even including any PV testing... like... Ohh how about a minor heating element that can be turned on in the winter to help de-ice/snow roofs... so as to be able to go back to collecting solar (because "normally"(ignoring temps going up) you can get a lot of snow quickly and then days and days of 'sunny but still cold' where roofs are still snow covered. So... a heating element like this would use battery/etc. power for a short time, but then allow PV collection again... ohh and.... yeah... the list goes on...)
Also... I would want to know if I can buy it in small quantities to put it on small sheds, etc... where a LED light and maybe more would be great add ons... because the "issue" with solar roof that I've been told is that you can't just buy the panels from them... you have to get EVERYTHING including installation from them... and a lot of people HAVE to do the lease option... (b/c they (IMHO) buy grid-tie in systems which makes them susceptible to lower power company regulations...) (I'd be glad to know if I'm wrong on any of Solar City's practices...but still the same issues apply)
Re:I'll wait for a third party review... (Score:5, Interesting)
Agreed, I still want to find out how this product works in places like Warren Ohio, Joplin, Missouri, Greensburg Kanasas (Most Damaging Tornadoes I can think of off the top of my head) Where tornadoes while not "common" also aren't "rare" and as such roofs need to be able to sustain pre-tornado weather (including hail) at least a few times a year.
Traditional shingles set a very very low bar.
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Ceramic shingles are cheap. Ever heard the adage 'people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones'? You don't see that many large glass surfaces around for a pretty good reason...
Glass (Score:3)
You don't see that many large glass surfaces around for a pretty good reason...
You mean except for almost every window on every house and car made? [sarcasm] Yeah barely any glass out there. Who would use glass? [/sarcasm]
Re:Glass (Score:4, Informative)
Uhhhh, how much glass is used for horizontal (or horizontal-ish) surfaces? On my house, at least, all exterior glass is completely vertical. When hail arrives, the glass only has to absorb the horizontal component of the force, which is significantly less than the vertical component. Roofing surfaces, however, are much more horizontal than they are vertical, so they will have to absorb more force.
Horizontal glass (Score:5, Informative)
Uhhhh, how much glass is used for horizontal (or horizontal-ish) surfaces?
Quite a lot. Open up your refrigerator and chances are you'll see a rather large load bearing glass surface. Look at atriums of commercial buildings with glass roofs. Look at greenhouses. Glass table tops. Check out the sunroofs in cars. There are glass walkways.
Horizontal glass surfaces are all over the place if you actually bother to look for them.
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Reading comprehension much back at you. You cherry picked the 2 out of the 6 examples that are indoor only, conveniently ignoring the commercial building atrium roofs, greenhouses, car sunroofs, and glass walkways (which can be indoor or outdoor) that were mentioned.
Bullet proof glass (Score:3)
Reading comprehension much? I was not talking about interior surfaces, I was talking about exterior. I will assume that you are genuinely stupid instead of being a troll...
Do you see a lot of indoor atriums, greenhouses, sunroofs, etc or are you cherry picking to just be a jerk? You seem to be the one lacking in reading comprehension in addition to failing to understand anything about materials science. Glass does not intrinsically equal fragile. It's perfectly possible to design glass surfaces to be quite robust and take a substantial impact.
In case you still don't get the point, glass can literally be bullet proof if you want it to be. Who is the "genuinely stupid" one
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Reading comprehension much? I was not talking about interior surfaces
Wow fail. Most of the examples were exterior surfaces.
Anyway my entire office building has a glass roof. We've put glass skylights into every house we've owned because they are stronger than plastic and aren't affected by the sun. The greatest weakness of toughened glass is the edges, and my vertical pool fence is all glass without a frame and regularly deflects large hailstones from the corners, as does my car's sunroof which survived a hailstorm that ruined every other panel on the damn thing.
Speaking of,
Re:I'll wait for a third party review... (Score:5, Interesting)
Not going to be that cheap, having a solar cell built in.
Musk is comparing his roofing to ceramic tile. Not steal shingles, much less asphalt composite shingles (the last is fair, they have shit durability).
Roofs like ceramic tile and slate (in 2016) are architectural elements, not a type that is chosen economically. This will start in botique construction, I bet you see it on northern exposures at high latitudes (where the solar cells are useless).
I'm actually curious to see how they do the interconnect. If you need an electrician soldering each tile to a bus, it's a non-starter. I'm sure it's not that fucked up, but if you just have them 'autoattach' when nailed down you could get welding voltages/amperages on the roof while installing. How do they do edges, valleys and ridges (always the tricky parts of roofing). Also curious if he has lower cost inactive but matching tiles for northern exposures.
Tweaker roofers will just do these jobs at night and continue not sleeping. They will also invent insane contraptions with these, welders, solar vapourizers etc.
Re:I'll wait for a third party review... (Score:5, Interesting)
Your comment alludes to a more fundamental question of whether home owners could install these shingles themselves. While I would certainly rather pay someone to install a new roof, in the rural area I grew up in that was very rare. Even if you didn't have the skills you had a neighbor who could help. Very few people would "waste their money" paying someone else to do their home maintenance.
For people more willing to spend their time than money (or who only have excess time not money) the ability to install it yourself is a huge part of the cost function.
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Now up north snow/ice would be an issue in the winter but they could add some heating elements to melt it off I would guess.
But all that said I SO want this to be true. I need a new roof and would LOVE to get solar since we have sun about 80
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Now up north snow/ice would be an issue in the winter but they could add some heating elements to melt it off I would guess.
Snow and ice tend to melt off due to solar heating. My roof is often exposed and bare when my yard is covered in snow, and I have light colored shingles and good insulation.
Solar panels are dark colored and I would think would tend to warm up and cause heating where they were exposed and fairly quickly melt off, especially if the temperature nosed close or above freezing.
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Grew up in 'the tundra'. That's exactly it. Insulation contractors drive around after snows looking for customers by finding snow free roofs well before the first bright sunny day. Sure sign of a $500/month+ heating bill.
Re:I'll wait for a third party review... (Score:5, Informative)
"Ohh how about a minor heating element that can be turned on in the winter to help de-ice/snow roofs"
It has this [twitter.com].
Re:I'll wait for a third party review... (Score:4, Interesting)
Most likely ok (Score:3)
Your concerns about tornadoes and cold weather and snow loading - these are things off the top of your head that you thought of within 5 minutes of skimming the article. I'm pretty certain the engineers - who spend their entire days working on this project - have thought of all of this.
That being said though, I'm with you. I would wait for a third party review as well. Let's get some objective pricing and usage data before we get too happy.
Re:I'll wait for a third party review... (Score:5, Informative)
They've shown video of dropping calibrated weights on 3 other roofing materials as well as this new product, and the other 3 failed (read: shattered) where this solar shingle thing did not. They claim it is almost as strong as steel.
There is a version that has electric resistive warmers in it for melting snow - remember that SolarCity installs panels in New York, Vermont, and Pennsylvania, which are no strangers to snow.
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A) it you have a loft hatch up into your roofspace,just leave it open and let warmth rising from your living space to help raise the temperature under the roof panels to aid snow melt or
That's a good recipe for creating an ice dam.
If you don't want rivers of water bursting out of your ceiling, you'd have to at least augment that plan with those electric heating cables that people install on their eaves to prevent ice dams.
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Yeah, I'm finding it hard to believe that these glass solar singles are actually cheaper than asphalt ones. The asphalt ones cost about a buck a square foot.
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Asphalt wasn't mentioned in the reveal so I doubt they can match price, yet.
Re:I'll wait for a third party review... (Score:4, Informative)
Asphalt wasn't mentioned in the reveal so I doubt they can match price, yet.
He evidently cherry picked the more expensive "high end" options for comparison, and left out the more common and economical ones. Typical of Musk to gloss over the details. But he's got to hype the product to keep the shareholders at bay for the Solar City acquisition.
He may be able to sell to the very wealthy in certain locations and make good margins on this product.
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I believe the actual cost equation also includes energy costs - the roof may be more expensive than a traditional roof up front, but if it reduces your energy bill to zero for the next 20+ years, the overall cost is lower.
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I believe the actual cost equation also includes energy costs - the roof may be more expensive than a traditional roof up front, but if it reduces your energy bill to zero for the next 20+ years, the overall cost is lower.
From TFS:
Tesla's new solar roof product, he proclaimed, will actually cost less to manufacture and install than a traditional roof -- even before savings from the power bill. "Electricity," Musk said, "is just a bonus."
Re:I'll wait for a third party review... (Score:4, Informative)
From TFS: Tesla's new solar roof product, he proclaimed, will actually cost less to manufacture and install than a traditional roof -- even before savings from the power bill. "Electricity," Musk said, "is just a bonus."
a traditional 'high end' expensive roof product. Not a common roof product like asphalt or metal.
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This ^^
I'm calling BS on being able to produce "shingles" cheaper then traditional. Especially including install...
Same for a car roof? how are you going to get cheaper then sheet metal with paint on it?
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I had the same thought about install... I can't imagine PV panels being installed by three guys on a roof slamming pneumatic nailers down as fast as humanly possible.
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If Musk is correct then... Great! Sign me up!
I think I'll wait for a variety of third party reviews before I get too eager though. Of course Musk is going to cheer his own product, but lets see if experts agree with him and if the price really is lower when it really hits the market.
I wonder if Musk is assuming a 30% tax subsidy for installation, thereby claiming a lower than actual price?
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
In fact, if you just play along, you will hear his comment an analysis during the video after a few minutes into the video.
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will actually cost less to manufacture and install than a traditional roof even before savings from the power bill. "Electricity," Musk said, "is just a bonus."
Which means these shingles are coming in under $2/sq. ft. or he has no idea how it costs to manufacture and install a standard roof.
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Are you aware of what glass is made of???
Lower costs than a traditional roof? (Score:3)
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True but a slate or terracotta roof can last hundreds of years with a bit of maintenance to fix loose tiles. My slate roof is nearly 70 years old now and still going strong. Should easily last another 70 and certainly till I am dead and buried.
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regular shingles last 20-30 years..
these are going to last 40-60 yrs ????
I seriously doubt that. What's the current half life of solar panels 10-20 years ?
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California (Score:5, Informative)
I keep forgetting that there are places in the world that aren't California. Out there, "traditional roofing materials" are asphalt shingles, or sometimes cedar shakes, neither of which is bulky or brittle.
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Or they are slate and terracotta.... or thatch.
Re:California (Score:5, Funny)
So twice as long as slate or terracotta? Heck those solar tiles must be going to last hundreds if not thousands of years. Or is this twice as long as whatever junk is used in the USA which seems to be a lot of asphalt tiles, something which would only be deemed fit for a shed or garage in Europe.
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What can you expect from a country that seems to be allergic to brick or concrete for houses and seems to build most of them out of cheap plywood.
Re:California (Score:5, Funny)
We do NOT build our houses with cheap plywood, sir.
We build our houses with EXPENSIVE plywood.
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Yep, it will cost less to manufacture, but... (Score:3, Interesting)
When the solar cells dropped in price from the hefty China manufacturing of these, people in Sweden tried to purchase a lot of these, then a heftyn anti-dumping 60% import tax "to protect other producers of panels" where quickly introduced to stop this "green madness", hah...
But good on him for trying, now if the governments of the worlds would like to dance to that tune, we'd all be in the green, but I can pretty much promise you, the ones earning $$$ on something else won't have it!
If they can deliver... (Score:2)
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It might be an idea to get in touch with them and find out whether they'll do a deal with you. If they're trying to build a case for these things, they could do worse than having a happy customer telling his neighbours what a great product they've got.
Hyperloop (Score:2)
Ya, and the Hyperloop will be faster and cheaper than flying if no regulations or security are imposed.
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Ya, and the Hyperloop will be faster and cheaper than flying if no regulations or security are imposed.
I don't think that the hyperloop will work period. However, l don't think that means that nothing Musk is behind will work. That's how things go. Not all of Edison's projects worked - in fact he had a number of big failures. But the stuff that he and his team created that did work was pretty important.
One of the best ways to avoid failure is to not do anything, which is failure in itself,
Cheaper than HIGH END tiles (Score:4, Insightful)
Tesla's new solar roof product, he proclaimed, will actually cost less to manufacture and install than a traditional roof -- even before savings from the power bill.
Unlikely that it will be cheaper than an asphalt shingle roof. Not so surprising that it might be cheaper than an (expensive) slate or similar high end tile.
They're made of textured glass and are virtually indistinguishable from high-end roofing products
Umm, no. They are not "indistinguishable" from high end roofing products but they are reminiscent of them and appear to be rather attractive looking on their own merits.
Can you mount a satellite dish on them? (Score:2)
Can you mount a satellite dish on them?
rain fade is still better then comcrap over compressed tv with the lowest number of HD channels of any major system.
Similar looking non-photovoltaic shingles? (Score:5, Interesting)
This seems like a no-brainer, but it also seems silly to put these on north-facing or shaded roofs. It would be nice if there were cheaper, non-PV versions to cover the portions of my roof that aren't going to generate appreciable power. A consistent appearance in the roof, but only pay for the PV where it makes sense.
I guess maybe having two different versions would potentially make both more expensive.
Re:Similar looking non-photovoltaic shingles? (Score:5, Informative)
" It would be nice if there were cheaper, non-PV versions to cover the portions of my roof that aren't going to generate appreciable power"
Elon said that's exactly what they'll do. Not all the panels will have cells, if not needed
Cheaper? (Score:3)
A single clay roof tile costs the equivalent of $0.5 where I live. It's good for half a century, no problem.
I have 5 places that produce clay building bricks and clay roof tiles in a radius of 150 km to choose from.
Transportation is cheap, and even if some tiles/bricks break in transport, they're so cheap that... well, nobody cares if there's a 1% loss in material.
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A single clay roof tile costs the equivalent of $0.5 where I live. It's good for half a century, no problem.
I have 5 places that produce clay building bricks and clay roof tiles in a radius of 150 km to choose from.
Transportation is cheap, and even if some tiles/bricks break in transport, they're so cheap that... well, nobody cares if there's a 1% loss in material.
While we can predict the longevity of traditional roofing materials, it's hard to predict the cost of electricity 20 years from now, especially as homeowners take more revenue away from the electric companies via solar supplementing and more efficient homes and appliances.
Because of this, the TCO is hard to argue against a product that generates electricity for you, and is predicted to last a couple of decades. I know that's not Elon's claim here, but that benefit can't be simply dismissed.
Well, ok... (Score:2)
" Tesla's Solar Roof Will Cost Less Than a Traditional Roof"
Traditional *expensive* roofs.
Which is fine, don't get me wrong, but if you're expecting this to compete with a $3000 re-roof using asphalt, not going to happen. If you do have a home with something more expensive, then the issue there is that they do tend to last longer and won't be a target for replacement as often.
Seriously (Score:2)
Artisinal (Score:2)
By "traditional" I think he means "artisinal", not "standard". Slate and tile are certainly not standard roof materials these days. I'm also skeptical that these could last as long as slate - the slate on my house is 80 years old and mostly going strong.
Having said that, if I were in a suitable location and needed a new roof, I'd give these the old cost / benefit analysis.
Misleading summary, as usual (Score:2)
What they mean to say by cheaper is that solar tiles that mimic the look of high end roofing material will be cheaper than the real thing.
Solar power have nothing to do with it. They could make the tiles without the PV cells and it will be even cheaper. But comparing them with other premium materials is like comparing plastic with leather.
What's a traditional roof? (Score:2)
And somehow I doubt these solar tiles are going to sell for $1 a pop or anywhere close. Modern roof tiles only have to be secured with a single nail so it's hard to see how they're easy to fit unless t
Smart to sell electricity as a bonus (Score:2)
Roofs vs hoods (Score:2)
Would a roof trap excessive heat, thereby heating up the car (especially in summer)? Why not put that solar surface on the hood, where it can get connected directly to the underlying engine, and power certain less energy intensive parts of it? Is it all just about the surface area?
Solar City sucks (Score:3)
I am actually kind of disappointed that Tesla is throwing their lot in with Solar City. Their sales people positively infest all of the Home Depots around here (Boston, MA). They are extremely pushy and act like you are the asshole for wanting to just shop instead of listen to their sales pitch. Any company that employs those kinds of sales tactics doesn't inspire a lot of confidence in me, and I plan to never do business with them. I was planning to consider a Tesla for my next car, but this deal is making me reconsider.
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Re:Color Me Skeptical (Score:5, Interesting)
They have some impressive impact test videos. Tempered glass is amazingly tough. Now, if you manage to break it, it breaks in its entirity (aka, an entire shingle), usually into little bits. But that break takes a pretty severe impact.
Time will tell what the total cost is in the real world, of course. My questions are more concerning how fast real-world installs go, aka what the labour costs are like.
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My question would be more about scratches. I live in upstate NY and when we get snow, I need to take out my roof rake to get the snow off my roof. If I don't, melting snow can form ice dams which, in turn, backs up water under the shingles and into my house. Currently, my shingles aren't damaged by me dragging my roof rake across them. Would the tempered glass shingles break or scratch? If the latter, would it affect their electricity generation? These are the questions I'd need answered before I put their
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No problem, just reverse the polarity and they'll consume electricity and emit a warm glow and melt off all that snow.
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Just send a 'driod down the Jefferie's tube with a sonic screwdriver.
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You're probably joking about the silly "solar freakin roadways" idea of melting snow away, and the fact that the amount of energy it would take makes it grossly impractical. But it actually could be quite practical on a roof. Not through melting the snow away, mind you, but just enough of a melt layer to let it slide off. And indeed, I've seen some articles about the roofing product mentioning that it can be fitted with heating elements for colder climates.
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They have a version with electric resistive heating to melt snow.
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Re, a rake: Absolutely would not break, unless you put the rake handle-down on a shingle and hit the other end with a sledgehammer. Tempered glass is far too strong for that. Scratching - steel is 4-4,5 on the mohs scale, glass is 5,5. That said, you can still sometimes scratch glass with steel if you concentrate enough force onto a small enough point. Seriously doubt a rake will, however.
Also, note that it's not like small scratches stop a solar cell from working.
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Also: are rake tines even steel anymore, or are they aluminum (even softer than steel)?
Also, about the previous comment: tool steels are a lot harder than mild steels and are much easier to scratch glass with. But you'd never make a rake out of a tool steel.
Re: Color Me Skeptical (Score:2)
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They're complete morons if they've designed a roofing product and haven't conducted freeze-thaw tests. Literally sued-off-the-market level morons. I doubt they could even get it certified as a roofing material if they didn't.
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Are you sure? Let me check my windows...
Yep, still there after decades of winter/summer cycles.
Carry on.
Re:And fart unicorns while saving cancer (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:And fart unicorns while saving cancer (Score:4, Insightful)
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I'd like to see solar powered Hyperloops operating on mars one day!
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I'm skeptical but traditional shingles do weigh enough that it *might* be possible. Plausible but unconfirmed.
Traditional shingles are also fragile, and labor intensive to install/remove. As well, they have a tendency to sprout leaks. So many re-shingling jobs I see have ended up with replacing sheathing as well.
There have been a lot of advances recently in solar manufacturing running apace with battery technology. I'm not completely familiar with the specific technology of his batteries, but we need look no further than those smartphones we are addicted to to get a hint.
I won't be an early adopter, just like
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Anyone who's ever had to hoik those bastards up onto their roof, will know exactly how right you are. I suppose uranium ingots would out weigh them, but not by a lot.
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I didn't read TFA
That's obvious. If you had, you'd have noticed that they're comparing the price to terra cotta and slate roofs, not "impermeable sheats of $SOMETHING", and those materials are bulky, heavy, fragile and expensive.
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I didn't read TFA
That's obvious. If you had, you'd have noticed that they're comparing the price to terra cotta and slate roofs, not "impermeable sheats of $SOMETHING", and those materials are bulky, heavy, fragile and expensive.
And asphalt shingles aren't? Just because something is in popular uses doesn't mean it's actually good. The popular roofing materials are just used because they are used, and they used to be used su that's what we use.
In fact, I see one of the hurdles to overcome will be the housing market itself. Very conservative. This makes for a business opportunity for someone who isn't affected by olde farte syndrome.
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Why do people in Texas put on a new roof twice a year?? People in London, UK, replace a roof maybe once every thirty years, or longer.
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Probably because they built their houses out matchwood. Perfect to be blown down in a hurricane or tornado. You know all those news reports of tornado hit towns with only the chimneys still standing? You'd think that might be a clue as to what to build the whole building out of , but nope...
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Maybe he means putting a new coat of paint on his trailer?
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Because like the rest of their houses they are generally not built to last. They use asphalt shingles which is basically cut up flat roofing material. Something that would only be considered for a shed or garage in Europe.
It's probably a got something to do with the rapid build out of America during colonization. Remember ~40% of housing in the UK was built before the second world war and generally we expect the house we live in to be there long after we are dead and buried which as far as I can make out is
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Sounds like Texas is in need of people that know how to build a roof that isn't a piece of shit.
Or, you're lying. I think that's more likely.
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What the fuck are you talking about??
The Earth absorbs 3.85 million exajoules of energy from the sun annually.
All human energy consumption combined is well under 1,000 exajoules.
So why did you say that "There is not enough insolation (sunlight striking the Earth) to power the current energy needs."? Seriously -- it is completely beyond me what you could have meant by that statement.
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There is not enough insolation (sunlight striking the Earth) to power the current energy needs.
Where do you get ideas like this from? It's trivially untrue.
Solar constant is >1kW/m^2.
That's 1GW/km^2
Egypt alone is 1Mkm^2.
So we're talking about 1000TW peak generating capacity
Earths total energy consumption is the order of a hundred thousand TWh/year. Covering Egypt in solar panels would be able to generate that much energy in a few months with current technology, certainly less than a year.
If I remember my
Re:This is a silly waste of resources. (Score:4, Informative)
Take a look at this wikipedia page.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
Pay attention to the picture of the earth with some little black dots on it. That area of the dots is enough to meet the worlds 18TW total energy needs from solar.
The idea that there is not enough solar energy to meet the worlds total energy needs is just ignorant.
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same goes for any roof, depending on the size of the hail...
I have seen asphalt shingles roof with huge 4 inches holes in them...
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The video test shows the weight hitting dead center, making a clear mark- probably a crack in the tile. In addition, the tile was not held down- it was allowed to bounce up, releasing some of the energy- it wasn't a test representative of reality.. Affixed to the roof, the energy of the dropping object has to go somewhere. Furthermore, in a hailstorm- the hail will be hitting *everywhere* on the tile, not just in the center, but on the edges. I've been through a hailstorm with hail that was easily golf-bal
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depending on the area, say you have an historic building closeby, you may not be able to use regular panels. those tuscany tiles however would easily be allowed...
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When a photovoltaic cell collects energy from a Photon, is does not absorb the whole photon, it only increases it's wavelength and re-emits it; basically converting regular light into infrared light.
While the regular light bouncing of a simple white roof could leave the atmosphere, taking it's excess energy with it, the now infrared light gets trapped by the greenhouse effect, heating the atmosphere.
It's 'free' electricity for the owner, excess heat for everyone else.
How the anti-clean energy folks will respond (Score:2)
How are the Global Warming deniers going to turn this into a horrible thing that people should avoid?
Easy: It takes away jobs from hard working coal miners and oil workers. Then they will follow up with something along the lines of "put a GLASS roof on my house? What a stupid idea". Then there will be some idiotic populist argument about baseload power and how solar hurts our power companies by increasing costs to those who can't afford these expensive roofs.
All shitty and stupid arguments but they each make for a nice sound bite.