SolarCity Plans To Release New 'Solar Roof' Product Next Year (computerworld.com)

An anonymous reader writes: SolarCity, the American provider of energy services recently purchased by Tesla Motors for $2.6 billion, is planning to produce a new "solar roof" product next year. Computerworld reports: "Five million roofs are replaced each year in the U.S., so instead of simply swapping out old shingles with new ones, why not turn the whole roof into a solar power generator that's integrated with your home's electrical utility? That is SolarCity's plan for a new product it expects to begin producing next year, according to statements made during the company's second-quarter earnings call last week. During the call, SolarCity Chief Technology Officer Peter Rive alluded to a new product that would be produced at the soon to open Buffalo, N.Y., solar panel manufacturing facility. Then SolarCity co-founder and Chairman Elon Musk interjected and said the product would be a solar roof, 'as opposed to a [solar] module on a roof.' The solar roof also has the advantage that it doesn't 'cannibalize' any existing SolarCity product, such as solar panels installed atop roofs, Musk said." "If your roof is nearing end of life, you definitely don't want to put solar panels on it because you're going to have to replace the roof," Musk said. "So there's a huge market segment that's kind of inaccessible to SolarCity. So, why not have a solar roof that's better in many other ways as well," he continued. "We don't want to turn over all our cards right now, but I think people are going to be really excited about what they'll see."

Comments

How durable?

[Jason Levine]

Here in upstate NY, winters often mean that I need to get out our roof rake to pull snow off our roof. If I don't, ice dams form and then runoff from melting snow gets under our roof shingles and can get into our house. My questions for SolarCity would be: Would these solar shingles hold up to having a roof rake scraped across them? (It would be useless if I had to replace shingles every year due to roof raking damage.) Also, how would they handle snow melt getting under the shingles? Presumably, there will be wiring there. Would moisture under the shingles cause issues?

Re:How durable?

[Ogive17]

I think the intention is the replace the shingles and have your roof made out of solar panels.

I've had this same idea for a long time. There's no benefit of asphalt shingles other than the relatively low cost. If you could replace your roof with a solar panel system that #1 protected your home and #2 provided a significant amount of power generation I wonder what the total cost of ownership would be. At current electricity rates, I'll pay about $20,000 over the next 20 years to the electric company. I would also pay $15,000-$20,000 every 20-30 years to get new shingles.

Re:How durable?

[Anonymous Coward]

They have an inversion mode where rather than generate electricity from sunlight, the voltage is reversed and they consume electricity and produce heat. This melts any snow and ice present. Right now this is a manual switchover by the homeowner, but I would expect an optical sensor in the future that detects when the light is being obscured by snow and acts accordingly.

Re:How durable?

[LunaticTippy]

Fascinating. In dry western wooded mountain areas people are installing metal roofs because it is one of the most resistant to catching on fire during one of the wildfires. A friend was told by the fire department to install a metal roof!

I suppose it could work both ways. A fire that starts inside your house will have no chance to get out (letting water and firemen in) but a fire that starts outside won't be able to get in easily.