Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by Fnord666 on Sunday January 14 2018, @02:11PM   Printer-friendly
from the electrifying-news dept.

Tesla Inc. has kicked off production of its long-awaited electricity-producing shingles that Elon Musk says will transform the rooftop solar industry.

Manufacturing of the photovoltaic glass tiles began last month at a factory in Buffalo built with backing from New York State, the company said in an email Tuesday. It comes more than a year after Tesla unveiled the shingles to a mix of fanfare and skepticism.

The appeal: a sleek, clean solar product, especially for homeowners seeking to replace aging roofs. The tiles -- from most angles -- look like ordinary shingles. They allow light to pass from above and onto a standard flat solar cell.

Tesla, the biggest U.S. installer of rooftop-solar systems, piloted the product on the homes of several employees. The company expects to begin installing roofs for customers within the next few months.


Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 14 2018, @05:50PM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 14 2018, @05:50PM (#622212)

    "They allow light to pass from above and onto a standard flat solar cell."

    well that's a lame hack. what i expected was shingles that *are* solar cells and link with each other to transport their bountiful harvest. made tougher and cheaper than normal shingles with better efficiency than "standard" panels. is that so much to ask? if it solves some issue with existing installation methods then swell, but still kind of lame.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 14 2018, @06:20PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 14 2018, @06:20PM (#622224)

    > made tougher and cheaper than normal shingles with better efficiency than "standard" panels. is that so much to ask?

    A merge of two products that's both better *and* cheaper then either one of them? Sure, sure. Maybe they could be even cheaper if they could also wash the dishes and mow your lawn. Heck, if we stack enough functionality, we could make them almost free!

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 14 2018, @08:03PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 14 2018, @08:03PM (#622254)

      Yeah! let's call it the Lawn System. Well, the dishes- the Lawn+Dish System. Well, we might want it to do other stuff - chop logs, start breakfast, let's call it the Doing System. No, that's got no rhythm - how about we call it SystemD?