Tesla Unveils its New Line of Camouflaged Solar Panels
Posted by Big Gav in bipv, energy storage, green buildings, renewable energy, solar power, solar pv, tesla
Wired has an article on Tesla's new solar roof and energy storage (Powerwall including solar inverter) product announcements - Tesla Unveils its New Line of Camouflaged Solar Panels.
Tesla is also noting that their commercial / utility energy storage product, the "Powerpack" is "gaining momentum".
EVER THE SHOWMAN, Tesla CEO Elon Musk took to the stage at Universal Studios in LA this evening promising to make solar sexy. To that end, he unveiled a range of textured glass tiles with integrated solar cells that are nearly indistinguishable from conventional tiling, along with a sleek update to the company’s energy-storing Powerwall.A couple hundred invited guests, mostly Tesla owners, ooh-ed and ahh-ed as Musk revealed that a row of suburban American houses on Wisteria Lane—the old set of Desperate Housewives—were all, in fact, topped with solar roofs. Each house’s old roofing material had been stripped away, and replaced with one of four new styles of solar tile. From the street, it was virtually impossible to tell; the roofs retained a variety of traditional looks, from textured slate shingle to terra cotta tile. ...
The solar roofs are designed to be used with the Tesla Powerwall. Version 2.0, which Musk also unveiled today, is a bright white rectangle, and flatter than the first version, which Tesla released in April 2015. It will cost $5,500 for 14kWh of storage and 7kW peak power draw. That’s enough to power a four bedroom house for a day.