10 ms·

The Tesla solar roof looks fantastic compared to sun panels. For the aesthetics you pay a large premium and take a hit in efficiency compared to normal panels.

jackvalentine 7y ago
The photograph doesn't look that good. His whole roof isn't even covered, just a section in the middle that clashes with the border! If that's the aesthetic 'improvement' offered then give me regular large slab panels please.
- radicalbyte 7y ago
  It comes in a number of versions and some of them fit in with the American McMansion style. There are a lot of examples in this youtube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVIf8UMg7Zg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVIf8UMg7Zg
  - jackvalentine 7y ago
    If the guy in the linked article's install cost $100k, I can't imagine how much the house shown in that video cost. Elon truly is the pied piper.
necovek 7y ago
That seems to be a different problem. It seems some of the trouble and cost is with the size (miniaturization, electronic component duplication for each tile...). Why not simply create larger "tiles", a la sheeted roofs? If aesthetics is the only goal, you can take a bit more hit on efficiency and have different patterns on them that are not necessarily energy-producing (eg. you take a current-tech solar panel and paint and perhaps even sculpt anything on parts of it to make it look better). Since the efficiency hit is generally pretty big (your roof is unlikely to be inclined and pointed in a way to get the most of sun rays in your area), they need to be much cheaper than traditional panels per unit of coverage to be even cost-comparable. FWIW, I like this and would gladly install them on my roof. I've actually searched for "solar roof tiles" long before this was announced (didn't come up with anything :)). But perhaps this project needs a stepping stone to regular-looking tiles first (as I said, larger, sheeting-like solar panels for installation on commercial roofs, if designed in a nice way, perhaps even for residential use).
- vladojsem 7y ago
  Larger tiles would probably help a bit. And to be honest, at the beginning I liked the idea of solar roof tiles. The more I think of it the more it seems as a not-so-good idea. You are solving some problems in a very inefficient manner.
vladojsem 7y ago
Exactly, that was my point. I don't know if it makes sense to pay a large premium for the roof aesthetics. From my point of view, it is just a bad design of the product. Maybe it will change in the future, but for now, I wouldn't put those tiles on my roof.

jackvalentine 7y ago

The photograph doesn't look that good. His whole roof isn't even covered, just a section in the middle that clashes with the border! If that's the aesthetic 'improvement' offered then give me regular large slab panels please.

radicalbyte 7y ago
It comes in a number of versions and some of them fit in with the American McMansion style. There are a lot of examples in this youtube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVIf8UMg7Zg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVIf8UMg7Zg
- jackvalentine 7y ago
  If the guy in the linked article's install cost $100k, I can't imagine how much the house shown in that video cost. Elon truly is the pied piper.

necovek 7y ago

That seems to be a different problem. It seems some of the trouble and cost is with the size (miniaturization, electronic component duplication for each tile...). Why not simply create larger "tiles", a la sheeted roofs? If aesthetics is the only goal, you can take a bit more hit on efficiency and have different patterns on them that are not necessarily energy-producing (eg. you take a current-tech solar panel and paint and perhaps even sculpt anything on parts of it to make it look better). Since the efficiency hit is generally pretty big (your roof is unlikely to be inclined and pointed in a way to get the most of sun rays in your area), they need to be much cheaper than traditional panels per unit of coverage to be even cost-comparable. FWIW, I like this and would gladly install them on my roof. I've actually searched for "solar roof tiles" long before this was announced (didn't come up with anything :)). But perhaps this project needs a stepping stone to regular-looking tiles first (as I said, larger, sheeting-like solar panels for installation on commercial roofs, if designed in a nice way, perhaps even for residential use).

vladojsem 7y ago
Larger tiles would probably help a bit. And to be honest, at the beginning I liked the idea of solar roof tiles. The more I think of it the more it seems as a not-so-good idea. You are solving some problems in a very inefficient manner.

vladojsem 7y ago

Exactly, that was my point. I don't know if it makes sense to pay a large premium for the roof aesthetics. From my point of view, it is just a bad design of the product. Maybe it will change in the future, but for now, I wouldn't put those tiles on my roof.