Back in August when Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced the solar roofs initiative, we didn’t know that we’ll be seeing the idea materialise even anytime soon but now, it seems like we are in a surprise. Tesla shared photographs of four different solar roofs.
This replaces the big panels we add to roofs to generate power from the sun ultimately. The roofs are made of textured glass that have photovoltaic cells embedded in them. The idea is a collaboration between two Elon Musk run organisations; SolarCity and Tesla. The roofs can work with Tesla’s Powerwall 2 battery too.
Now Powerwall 2 itself is the solar concept that has been described above and according to Musk, they look “as good or better” than conventional roofs and even though it looks like the regular roofing tile,, they are transparent to the sun and are hydrographically printed which makes each roof unique in its own way and in his words, “special snowflake tile….. You can take any two roofs that look like that and they will be different.”
With respect to the actual electricity generation itself, the Powerwall 2 can store up to 14KWh of power with a 5KWh continuous power draw and 7KWh peak. The battery warranty is for up to 10 years.
As you may know, Musk’s vision doesn’t just have to do with powering houses, he says the solar vision is in three parts and that’s
Generation of electric power using the panels
Storage of electric power using long lasting batteries
Electric cars
With respect to the roofs though, they’ll come in four types of designs namely: Tuscan, slate, smooth, and textured.
Pricing starts from $5,500
This should be a solution that many African nations should embrace because of the incessant power cuts that has bedeviled most of the continent for years. With respect to the cost, incentives should be provided to companies like Tesla to come and harness the huge amount of sunlight available on the continent to bridge the energy gap. Read the entire case for this here.
Paul Balo is the founder of TechBooky and a highly skilled wireless communications professional with a strong background in cloud computing, offering extensive experience in designing, implementing, and managing wireless communication systems.
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