Tesla opened up orders for its long-anticipated solar roof.
Consumer Reports found that a solar roof needs to be $24.50 per square foot to compete with other kinds of roofs, the Tesla solar roof comes in at $21.85 with 35 percent of the roof being active solar. The solar tiles themselves are $42 per square foot.
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Tomi Engdahl says:
Tesla solar roof tiles already sold out well into 2018
http://www.laserfocusworld.com/articles/2017/07/tesla-solar-roof-tiles-already-sold-out-well-into-2018.html?cmpid=enl_lfw_lfw_detectors_and_imaging_newsletter_2017-08-03
From a story on Investopedia, Tesla’s (Palo Alto, CA; Nasdaq: TSLA) $2.6 billion acquisition of SolarCity might win over the doubters after all. The company’s new solar roof tiles, which were first made available in May 2018, are sold out “well into 2018,” according to Tesla CFO Deepak Ahuja.
Ahuja spoke with analysts at RBC Capital Markets, who wrote to clients about the meeting in a note. The note was first reported on by Electrek, who independently confirmed that “Tesla’s orders over the past few weeks indeed exceeded the company’s expectations and based on their current planned production ramp up, they expect their current demand to last well into 2018.”
Tesla started taking orders from U.S. customers on May 10 for its roof tiles, the ultimate in building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) technology, which come with a 30-year power generation guarantee and potential long-term cost savings.
Tesla, which estimates that its eco-friendly roofs are much cheaper than conventional ones, due mainly to savings generated from cheaper electricity bills, is set to launch two more styles of its solar tiles, Tuscan glass and Slate glass, early next year. It also plans to start selling its solar roof tiles to overseas customers in 2018.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Ikea Now Sells Solar Panels and Battery Storage Systems in the UK
http://interestingengineering.com/ikea-now-sells-solar-panels-and-battery-storage-systems-uk/
Ikea is about to start selling solar panel and home storage battery systems to its UK customers.
The products come from a collaboration with British solar developer Solarcentury. Existing customers can purchase solar storage batteries that integrate with existing Solarcentury products, while first-time customers can get a solar+storage bundle. The bundle includes PV panels and the complete battery system.
The battery will retail for around $4000 USD while the bundle will be about $9000 USD
Tomi Engdahl says:
Tesla has completed its first ever Solar Roof product installations
https://techcrunch.com/2017/08/02/tesla-has-completed-its-first-ever-solar-roof-product-installations/?utm_source=tcfbpage&sr_share=facebook
Tesla has already completed the first installations of its Solar Roof products, which use integrated solar panels to gather energy. The solar tiles were first introduced last year, and are designed to look essentially indistinguishable from traditional roofing materials so that they present an aesthetically attractive option to consumers who might shy away from traditional panel designs.
The first installations have been made on Tesla employee homes
Tomi Engdahl says:
Elon Musk Says Tesla Could Rebuild Puerto Rico’s Power Grid With Batteries, Solar
https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/17/10/06/0141258/elon-musk-says-tesla-could-rebuild-puerto-ricos-power-grid-with-batteries-solar
After Puerto Rico was hit by hurricane Maria, Tesla quickly started shipping hundreds of its Powerwall batteries there to try and get power back on to some houses with solar arrays. Now, Tesla CEO Elon Musk took to Twitter to say that Tesla could rebuild Puerto Rico’s power grid with batteries and solar on a bigger scale. Electrek reports:
Puerto Rico’s electricity rates were already quite high at around $0.20 per kWh and reliant on fossil fuels. After it was pointed out that Puerto Rico’s destroyed grid is an opportunity to build a better one, Musk wrote on Twitter: “The Tesla team has done this for many smaller islands around the world, but there is no scalability limit so it can be done for Puerto Rico too. Such a decision would be in the hands of the Puerto Rico government, PUC (Public Utilities Commission), any commercial stakeholders and, most importantly, the people of Puerto Rico.”
Elon Musk says Tesla could rebuild Puerto Rico’s power grid with batteries and solar
https://electrek.co/2017/10/05/elon-musk-tesla-rebuild-puerto-ricos-power-grid-batteries-solar/
After Puerto Rico was hit by two hurricanes back to back in just a few weeks, along with other islands in the Caribbean, most of their power grid was completely destroyed. Tesla quickly started quietly shipping Powerwalls there to try to get power back on to some houses with solar arrays.
Musk is referring to solar and battery projects that Tesla recently deployed on other islands, like Tesla’s visually stunning Powerpack and solar project in Kauai and a battery and solar microgrid on an island in the American Samoa.
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2019/08/after-seven-roof-fires-walmart-sues-tesla-over-solar-panel-flaws/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Tesla stops taking orders for Powerwall without solar panels
https://electrek.co/2021/03/15/tesla-stops-taking-orders-powerwall-without-solar-panels/
Tesla has stopped taking orders for Powerwall, its home battery pack, if it is not linked to a new solar panel project.
We know that the demand for Tesla’s Powerwall has been through the roof.
Wait times have been increasing despite Tesla’s best effort to increase production, and the company even increased the price of the battery pack twice in just a few months.
One of the fastest ways to get a Powerwall has been to order it as part of a Tesla solar project, either solar roof or solar panel installation.