5 ms·
The bit I don't understand is how the tiles are reliably connected electrically? Making the tiles is one thing, but unlike the larger panels (which are now tra
by KaiserPro 7y ago
The bit I don't understand is how the tiles are reliably connected electrically?
Making the tiles is one thing, but unlike the larger panels (which are now translucent so can kickout ~500watts in place of 330) they 10x the number of external connections.
That must have a large impact on efficiency
- walrus01 7y agoI hope that somebody here can provide a URL and prove I'm wrong, but I've never seen a photo of the under side of these or any real schematic/technical diagram showing how they interconnect. It seems to be some sort of trade secret at present.
- amelius 7y agoAren't waterproof installation techniques quite common for things like outdoor lighting already?
- walrus01 7y agoThere's lots of things on the market that are electrical and ip65 through ip68 rated, but none that I know of which are so flat and interlocking.
- londons_explore 7y agoI would take a guess that one part of the back of the tile is much thicker (where not overlapping with other tiles), and regular waterproof connectors connect to it, and short lengths of wire connect to the next tile. That means they don't have to design new connectors, the connectors stay mostly dry and are shaded from the sun, and the tiles can flex/move without breaking anything.
- noselasd 7y agoHere's some info, https://electrek.co/2017/08/30/tesla-solar-roof-tile-system-explained-patent/ https://electrek.co/2017/08/30/tesla-solar-roof-tile-system-... Patents: https://patents.google.com/patent/US9748434B1/en https://patents.google.com/patent/US9748434B1/en , https://patents.google.com/patent/US9966898B1/en https://patents.google.com/patent/US9966898B1/en
- KaiserPro 7y agoHmm, to me that looks like how they join the individual cells, not the slates/shingles/tiles. I could be wrong though.
- londons_explore 7y agoElectrical connectors don't really have any significant efficiency hit. They do have a complexity/reliability/cost hit though.
- KaiserPro 7y agoSorry, I should have been more clear. When you look at a large panel, the cells are joined by a busbar that is the shortest it can be. These tiles have between 1-5 cells in them, so for a given cell number the total distance of wire joining a telsa roof is far higher. But yeah, the secondary is the number and spec of those connectors.