The Tesla Corporation, led by Elon Musk, has unveiled a new product line of glass tiles that incorporate solar cells that are very similar to regular roof tiles.
[Translation by Dr. Nachmani Moshe]
The Tesla Corporation unveiled an entire street of homes that had their roof tiles replaced with one of four styles of solar tiles. Anyone on the street cannot tell this - the roofs have kept their normal appearance and at the same time the tiles are completely exposed to the sun's rays. Ilan Musk, CEO of the corporation, explains that the secret to the tiles' normal appearance is a special coating that becomes transparent, more or less, depending on the viewing angle. He describes the tiles as a series of micro-louvers that act much like the privacy screen on a laptop. The resulting impression is fascinating - from low angles, the tiles appear transparent, but as the viewing angle approaches 90 degrees, the solar cells integrated into the tiles become more and more clearly visible.
The company explains to those who are worried about the fragility of their glass tiles that the tiles are more rigid than materials such as clay or slate, and that thanks to being made of quartz, their lifespan is almost unlimited. "We need to make solar panels as attractive as we did with electric vehicles," Musk said. His vision is to turn every roof into a solar roof thanks to its sided appearance. "The roof should be beautiful, cheap and integrated without seam points". Despite his words, the corporation has not yet provided details regarding the pricing, availability and installation process of the solar tiles.
The solar roofs are designed to make use of Tesla's version 2 electric battery, which was also unveiled by the corporation. The battery, in the shape of a bright white rectangle, is thinner than the first version that was revealed to the public back in 2015. The cost of the battery will be 5500 dollars and the electricity capacity it will be able to produce will be 14 kilowatt-hours (kWh), an amount capable of providing the electricity required for the daily operation of a four-room house . Both the battery and the new tiles are part of Musk's vision to save the world with sustainable energy. The use of solar panels is an efficient technology - from the moment they are installed, they will generate electricity whenever the sun shines, without noise, without moving parts, and except for seasonal cleaning, without demanding maintenance. The problem begins when the sun's rays disappear, in the evening and at night and on days of heavy cloudiness, precisely at times when household demand for electricity is at its peak. Because of this, Tesla intends to connect the solar tiles to a battery that can generate the electricity during daylight hours, store it inside, and use it at night for home needs. Elan Musk's overall vision is that every person will be able to enter a Tesla store and simultaneously purchase the solar panels, the battery and even its electric vehicle, thereby saving our planet.
A video showing the developments
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I wonder if in 2019 such a system can be installed in Israel. Does anyone know how to purchase such a system?
What is the weight per square meter compared to the weight of shingles
What is the cost of a square meter?
About 800 charging cycles, this is true for lithium ion.
But there is a type of lithium that allows several thousand charges - depending on the temperature and charging rate.
The man did very well with the electric car. Although he is in the right direction with the right ideas, he is handicapped by a lack of knowledge. The future technology for storage is get on and nothing else. The global technology in this matter is here in Israel. For all kinds of reasons, there are those who try to convince him to use "improved" batteries, but do not tell him exactly what a capacitor is. Improved batteries have a finite life and get a battery with infinite life on top of that. Even if it is more expensive, there is never a battery change and it pays off in the end. Today, the energy density of a supercapacitor surpasses normal batteries and approaches the energy density of fuel. Regarding the solar panels, there is a company in Israel that develops solar cells with an efficiency of 65% that will soon announce the result. Now add the two results and you will understand.
Cookie, I didn't understand. Why isn't the battery filled with solar energy for free, is it because of the creature? Is a battery a waste of money?
To Kuki: Where did you get the figure regarding a cycle of 800 loads? sounds far-fetched (in the negative section)
Interesting article but…
There is no "Bart". A bar is a unique shape for a single male. It is correct to write "sustainable".
Make tiny shingles instead of shingles that are meter by meter, which complicates the electrical connections and doubles the amount of malfunctions since there are a lot of connections
In addition, each battery can save 14KW per day, which is about $2. A battery holds an average of about 800 charges, so if the battery is filled with free electricity, which there is no such thing as, a 5500 battery will give a loss of about $3000 throughout its life.