3 ms·

Any idea how much power these things put out when compared with a conventional solar setup? 1:1? .5:1?

ChuckMcM 10y ago
That was my question as well, this from the Techcrunch article: "The current versions of the tiles actually have a two percent loss on efficiency, so 98 percent of what you’d normally get from a traditional solar panel, according to Elon Musk. But the company is working with 3M on improved coatings that have the potential to possibly go above normal efficiency, since it could trap the light within, leading to it bouncing around and resulting in less energy loss overall before it’s fully diffused." Which suggests that on a square footage basis it is similar. The difference being that on a manufactured panel the cells are all exactly next to each other with no seams, and with the Tesla roof they appear to have a moat around them that varies a bit with roof tile style. That said, assuming you cover your entire roof which will include both "ideal" south facing (or north facing in the southern hemisphere) and "non-ideal" north facing parts of the roof you may get enough additional generation from the extra tiles to push it over a more 'traditional' solar install.To be honest I'm thinking about replacing my perfectly fine (if nearly 15 year old) solar panel set up with those roof tiles. That and a couple of power walls and I just might be able to go 'gas only' with PG&E.
- mrfusion 10y ago
  Normal shingles have a lot of overlap right. Wouldn't most of that moat be the overlap?
  - taysix 10y ago
    You're right. In the second tile he shows it look like 60-70% is just the moat.
- TheSpiceIsLife 10y ago
  replacing my perfectly fine (if nearly 15 year old) solar panel I wish someone near me would do this, boy would I snap up those second hand panels. When I was in my early twenties I put together a solar panel + charge regulator + inverter + laptop and run a web server serving a page detailing the setup it was running on. The entertaining things I could get up to with 1kW or more of cheap second hand panels.
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]

That was my question as well, this from the Techcrunch article: "The current versions of the tiles actually have a two percent loss on efficiency, so 98 percent of what you’d normally get from a traditional solar panel, according to Elon Musk. But the company is working with 3M on improved coatings that have the potential to possibly go above normal efficiency, since it could trap the light within, leading to it bouncing around and resulting in less energy loss overall before it’s fully diffused." Which suggests that on a square footage basis it is similar. The difference being that on a manufactured panel the cells are all exactly next to each other with no seams, and with the Tesla roof they appear to have a moat around them that varies a bit with roof tile style. That said, assuming you cover your entire roof which will include both "ideal" south facing (or north facing in the southern hemisphere) and "non-ideal" north facing parts of the roof you may get enough additional generation from the extra tiles to push it over a more 'traditional' solar install.To be honest I'm thinking about replacing my perfectly fine (if nearly 15 year old) solar panel set up with those roof tiles. That and a couple of power walls and I just might be able to go 'gas only' with PG&E.

mrfusion 10y ago
Normal shingles have a lot of overlap right. Wouldn't most of that moat be the overlap?
- taysix 10y ago
  You're right. In the second tile he shows it look like 60-70% is just the moat.
TheSpiceIsLife 10y ago
replacing my perfectly fine (if nearly 15 year old) solar panel I wish someone near me would do this, boy would I snap up those second hand panels. When I was in my early twenties I put together a solar panel + charge regulator + inverter + laptop and run a web server serving a page detailing the setup it was running on. The entertaining things I could get up to with 1kW or more of cheap second hand panels.

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]