Page 26 - Off Grid East Cost Spring 2017

Musk leads effort to build solar panel roofs
A new venture spearheaded by Elon Musk will create house roofs made entirely of solar panels, in a sweeping expansion of Tesla’s clean energy ambitions.
Tesla has finalized a $2.6 billion deal to buy solar power company SolarCity to produce solar “shingles” – photovoltaic material that would be fashioned into the shape of a house roof.
“I think this is really a fundamental part of achieving differentiated product strategy, where you have a beautiful roof,” Musk said. “It’s not a thing on the roof. It is the roof.”
Musk is chief executive of Tesla and is also the chairman and largest shareholder of SolarCity, whose chief executive is Musk’s cousin, Lyndon Rive. The two entrepreneurs devised the idea for SolarCity during a trip the Burning Man desert festival in 2004.
No-brainer
Musk describes the deal, subject to shareholder approval, as a “no-brainer” that would combine
the solar panel roofs with Tesla’s PowerWall home batteries, to store electricity for later use in the evening.
A Tesla and SolarCity statement said they are creating the “world’s only vertically integrated sustainable energy company” and will work on releasing two new solar roof products by the end of the year. SolarCity has, however, reduced its forecast, citing costs, for megawatt installations for this year.
Not new idea
The idea of solar shingles isn’t entirely new – Dow Chemical produced them before deciding to scrap the idea in June. But Musk, an entrepreneur who
has advocated for a global carbon tax in a bid to lower greenhouse gas emissions, hopes the SolarCity venture will allow Tesla to offer a one-stop-shop in clean energy, alongside its batteries and electric cars.
According to Rive, there are 5 million new roofs installed every year in the US. The vast majority of American houses have asphalt roofs, which soak up a lot of heat and can be hard to replace.
“If your roof is about to need to be replaced, you don’t want to invest in solar panels to install on it
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