Solar roof tiles Elon Musk Tesla

Discussion in 'Renovation & Home Improvement' started by Gockie, 11th May, 2017.

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  1. Graeme

    Graeme Well-Known Member

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    26th Jul, 2015
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    Location:
    Benalla
    Solar roof tiles have been around for a while. This photo is from an Inhabitat article published in 2010.

    [​IMG]

    Solar Century sell a less discrete system in the UK.

    [​IMG]

    My guess is that the Tesla tiles cover the whole roof, so there aren't obvious joins with the more traditional materials, and they're slightly better blended. But it's not a whole new idea. Elon Musk is very good at overselling things as being his own invention.

    The best approach is probably a combined PV and solar thermal panel. The water being heated removes heat from the PV cells, meaning they run more efficiently. The eco-arch on Grand Designs had them, and you can catch the episode on iView for the next few days.
     
  2. Joynz

    Joynz Well-Known Member

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    5th Apr, 2016
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    5,751
    Location:
    Melbourne
    Heard on Radio National recently that there is some interesting work going on in printing very 'thin film' solar - (i.e. 'sheet of polythene’ thin) that could be rolled out and stuck on a roof then removed or a new roll stuck over it.

    Perhaps this product will come in different colors and patterns.