Entrepreneur Elon Musk has tried his hand at space travel, producing electric cars, and churning out home and commercial battery packs. His auto-making company, Tesla, this month paid $2.6 billion in cash to purchase Solar City, the struggling photovoltaic panel supplier that’s run by Musk’s cousin Lyndon Rive.
And now Solar City plans to develop stylish solar panels that would take the place of roof tiles on top of residential homes. These tiles would be manufactured at Solar City’s gigafactory in Buffalo, N.Y., using technology from Silevo, which Solar City acquired two years ago.
Ever the optimist, Musk is positioning his solar shingles as a preferable alternative to tiles or asphalt shingles that are typically used to replace roofs on more than five million houses annually. Solar City says it plans to have two solar products ready by the end of this year, one for existing roofs and the other that will be integrated within a roof, according to trendintech.com. Other details, like prices and production schedules, were not disclosed.
Building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) technology is not new. Photovoltaic shingles first came onto the market in 2005. They even merited a mention in Scientific American, which singled out Dow Chemical’s Powerhouse and CertainTeed’s Apollo brands, both of which introduced in 2011, as the leading solar shingles at the time.
CertainTeed’s Apollo II solar shingle is still available. GAF, according to its website, offers a solar roofing system in the six states that provide homeowner tax subsidies for installation. And last spring a Los Angeles startup called Sunflare came out with solar roofing product that dispenses with a glass substrate, and therefore are 65% lighter than solar panels. Sunflare’s product, which will soon be in production, is unique in that it is flexible enough to wrap around curves, can be cut to fit any roofline, and can be taped to an existing roof.
But Dow discontinued its PowerHouse Solar System 2.0 on July 28, and made its last shipments earlier this month. This sector, in fact, is littered with producers—including Applied Solar, Flexcell, Germany’s Soltecture, and even the oil giant BP—whose BIPV products have come and gone.
The problem that solar shingles have yet to overcome is that they generate electricity less efficiently than solar PV arrays. The shingles weren’t very attractive, either.
Tesla watchers point out that if Musk can make the design of ordinary batteries elegant, why not solar panels? And BIPV technology fits into his larger strategy for Tesla to become a fully integrated home energy company that makes solar roofs that capture energy for the house as well as for the home battery storage system that Tesla’s electric cars plug into for power.
Musk has also discussed installing solar roofs on the tops of Tesla’s cars.
Related Stories
| Nov 9, 2011
Sika Sarnafil Roof Recycling Program recognized by Society of Plastics Engineers
Program leads the industry in recovering and recycling roofing membrane into new roofing products.
| Oct 26, 2011
Metl-Span selected for re-roof project
School remained in session during the renovation and it was important to minimize the disruption as much as possible.
| Oct 17, 2011
Aerialogics announces technology partnership with CertainTeed Corp.
CertainTeed to provide Aerialogics’ Aerial Measurement Services to its credentialed contractor base and utilize the technology in its Roofing Products Division.
| Oct 7, 2011
GREENBUILD 2011: Schools program receives grant to track student conservation results
To track results, schools will use the newly developed Sustainability Dashboard, a unique web-based service that makes tracking sustainability initiatives affordable and easy.
| Oct 5, 2011
GREENBUILD 2011: Solar PV canopy system expanded for architectural market
Turnkey systems create an aesthetic architectural power plant.
| Oct 5, 2011
GREENBUILD 2011: Roof hatch designed for energy efficiency
The cover features a specially designed EPDM finger-type gasket that ensures a positive seal with the curb to reduce air permeability and ensure energy performance.
| Sep 19, 2011
Portland team hired as LEED and commissioning consultants for $5.5B downtown sustainable project in Qatar
The $5.5 billion sustainable downtown regeneration project underway by Msheireb Properties will transform a 76 acres site at the centre of Doha, Qatar’s capital city, recreating a way of living that is rooted in Qatari culture, attracting residents back to the city center and reversing the trend for decentralization.
| Apr 13, 2011
National Roofing Contractors Association revises R-value of polyisocyanurate (ISO) insulation
NRCA has updated their R-value recommendation for polyisocyanurate roof insulation with the publication of the 2011 The NRCA Roofing Manual: Membrane Roof Systems.
| Mar 8, 2011
Real estate investors lose over $2.6B annually in roof system value
CRS Roof Consultants, a leading independent roof consulting firm and authority on commercial roof system Investments, reports that property owners will be loosing between $2.6 and $5.6 billion annually in roof system value by the year 2014.