TheTalkingMule
Distributed Energy Enthusiast
New panels look pretty sweet, but most importantly they're entirely US made. Tesla's going to make a huge impact with these in 2018 as part of a new PPA offering.
Solar Roof update of sorts
- Thread starter brucet999
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We have enough details to cover #1 an #3.
Pictures of the panels being displayed by Elon nearly show two nailing holes near the top edge, just like all other roof tiles. The slate and Tuscan tiles are long from lower to upper edge, so would overlap the previous course by as much as half, just as clay and concrete tiles do, so they could be ripped up fairly easily. The plain and textured tiles are clearly much shorter - probably about 8" - bottom to top, so would overlap only an inch or two; even easier to rip up than wood shingles.
Neither clay nor concrete tiles nor true slate can burn or melt, so they too would hide hot spots as much as SolarRoof tiles would. Wood or composition shingles, shakes, or metal roofs, being much lighter than any sort of tiles, would hide structural weaknesses even better, so I don't understand your concern about that.
I should get a call soon, then. I put myself on the list the first day.
I'll let you all know what I find out.
S3XY
Active Member
They do. But keep in mind, you're looking at a 2 dimensional picture of a mix of 2D and 3D roofing surfaces. I wonder if it looks as good in person.
I contacted the company and asked if there were any installations near mean Orange County, CA. He said that there is an approved contractor nearby and that he would let me know when they had some installations that I could see. That was over a month ago and I've still heard nothing yet.
18seeds
Member
they contacted me to come out and do a site survey for the powerwall. They sent out a solarcity person and he was clueless. All he did was take pictures and measurements.
It's been a few weeks and I can't get an update. My solar city rep has no info nor has access to any and my tesla energy rep hasn't returned my call.
I just canceled my deposit. It was a nice to have. I really just wanted the solar roofs but I can't wait any longer so I'm going with a competitor and a traditional solar system and no battery.
It's been a few weeks and I can't get an update. My solar city rep has no info nor has access to any and my tesla energy rep hasn't returned my call.
I just canceled my deposit. It was a nice to have. I really just wanted the solar roofs but I can't wait any longer so I'm going with a competitor and a traditional solar system and no battery.
I've yet to hear about anyone actually getting a powerall 2 installed. Lots of site surveys but no actual installs that I'm aware of.
After reading about Tesla's plan to delay release of two of the Solar Roof styles until 2018, I was looking for more information and stumbled on this little demo video about the strength of the tiles compared to other materials when a 1.2lb steel ball is dropped from considerable height onto each of them. It was then that I noticed the wood blocks under the various tiles.
The concrete and slate flat tiles are set up with small wood blocks under their corners and the ball dropped near the center. The terra cotta tile has several blocks stacked to raise the back so that it is supported at three points, by those blocks at back center and its two front corners, with the steel ball impacting the center.
The Tesla flat tile, however, is supported by a 1x2 batten across its entire width a little back from the front edge and the steel ball appears to impact on top of that wood batten, that would prevent deflection, rather than in the unsupported middle part of the tile.
I know from experience how fragile concrete and terra cotta roof tiles are, and I think that Tesla glass tiles might be stronger, but I am disappointed to see the unequal conditions of this breakage demonstration.
The concrete and slate flat tiles are set up with small wood blocks under their corners and the ball dropped near the center. The terra cotta tile has several blocks stacked to raise the back so that it is supported at three points, by those blocks at back center and its two front corners, with the steel ball impacting the center.
The Tesla flat tile, however, is supported by a 1x2 batten across its entire width a little back from the front edge and the steel ball appears to impact on top of that wood batten, that would prevent deflection, rather than in the unsupported middle part of the tile.
I know from experience how fragile concrete and terra cotta roof tiles are, and I think that Tesla glass tiles might be stronger, but I am disappointed to see the unequal conditions of this breakage demonstration.
It could be that the blocks are meant to simulate the actual bearing points for each installation, and that extra support on the tesla glass tile could be part of the installed design.
Sigh... Despite what you've read in the click bait articles going around, there is no delay (as far as we know).
In this SolarCity Q&A from November, Elon says they'll start with the most popular option in the summer and then introduce the next 3 styles in roughly 3 month intervals.
If anything they've ACCELERATED the plan by introducing 2 styles upfront.
I should have known better. I read the article earlier today but brushed it off when I didn't see a source referenced. However, I figured there may be something to it after reading brucet999's post above.
TheTalkingMule
Distributed Energy Enthusiast
Since SolarRoof is not available until late 2018, there's no choice to be made right now anyway. Cost of solar roof is supposedly $22 per square foot on average, which for most houses is about three times cost of solar panels added on to an existing roof.
Tesla still, after all this time, has yet to release any specifications beyond physical size of the tiles, so no one knows how much output each tile has. Their so-called online estimator gives the same % active tiles for a wide range of usage inputs, so trying to calculate back from that is impossible.
My advice is to go ahead with solar panels on your existing roof and get them from anyone other than Solar City/Tesla Energy.
3Victoria
Active Member
ElectricTundra
P85D AP1
TheTalkingMule
Distributed Energy Enthusiast
Do we have any hard evidence of the "panel mix" that will come out of the Buffalo factory? I'm hoping a fair amount is their new sleeker standard panels, but all the hype is going to the solar roof.
I guess it makes sense to proceed with caution if you're the decision maker, we may very well see that $.77/W floor put on imported panels in which case you'd want to go 100% traditional and slow your roll on solar roof.
I guess it makes sense to proceed with caution if you're the decision maker, we may very well see that $.77/W floor put on imported panels in which case you'd want to go 100% traditional and slow your roll on solar roof.
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