Tesla a well known car company that focuses on creating
fully electric luxury vehicles has now created a solar roof. Elon Musk, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and creative genius behind the Tesla put forth a proposition to buy out SolarCity.
Shareholders’ unanimously agreed where “about 85 percent of them voted yes.”
(Bloomberg) Musk revolutionized solar panels by putting them into the shape of
normal tile roofing. This allows the appearance of the panels to not take away
from the overall aesthetic of the house and focuses on the consumer benefit of solar
electricity.
Tesla from the very beginning has
been dedicated to their mission which is “to accelerate the worlds transition
to sustainable energy.” (Tesla) In the past solar panels have been unpleasing
to look at and at times customers feel the value of benefits are outweighed by
cost. Tesla focuses on their social responsibility by meeting customers need to
cheap energy, and by reducing pollution associate with nuclear electricity.
Their strategy is to harness the suns energy with the panels, store them into a
battery pack, and allow for the charging of electric cars and give energy for
everyday needs.
In the
video Musk introduces the four types of tiles that are available to consumers through
solar city and Tesla. These roofs can supposedly withstand up to 200 miles per
hour in wind and are stronger than conventional tiles. Solar city felt it was
important to work on product development, a marketing concept, which means to
sell new products to current markets. Although we have seen solar panels
before, never have they been in the shape of normal roofing. The one unique thing about the tiling is that they are see through when pointing at the sun, but from the view of people on the street and driving by they look opaque.
Pics: http://www.solarcity.com/residential/solar-roof
From left to right: Tuscan glass tile, Slate glass tile, Smooth glass tile, Textured glass tile
Here are the four tiles that Solar city will put on the market, other options may appear in the future, but these are the most popular styles. I personally think that this will be a successful product because Tesla and Solarcity put together their skills, resources, and technology to lead to competency within the solar market. Tesla will continue to push their brand forward now promoting the usage of their panels along with the introduction of the Powerwall 2. This product acts as a battery to store the energy created during the day by the panels. “Powerwall 2 can power an average two-bedroom home for a full day.” (Tesla.com)
In the future I am expecting to see these solar tiles on roofs all over the country and hopefully the world. In a world where the demand for energy is increasing on the daily, it is critical that we are reaching for clean energy that is easy and inexpensive to produce. Wind turbines and traditional panels can be invasive to their environment so alternative options are preferable. I hope that Elon musk continues pushing Tesla and Solar city's mission! If we want any chance of combating climate change, it is critical we have the tools do to so.
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Links: https://www.tesla.com/tesla_theme/assets/img/solar/section-hero--touch@2x.jpg?20161025
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWcGRYT-aeE
http://www.solarcity.com/residential/solar-roof
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-11-17/musk-says-tesla-s-solar-shingles-will-cost-less-than-a-dumb-roof
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-11-17/musk-says-tesla-s-solar-shingles-will-cost-less-than-a-dumb-roof
