THINK SOLAR: Roofs that generate electricity coming alive with possibilities

JOHANNESBURG - The sun burns 637million tons of hydrogen atoms into 632million tons of helium and thus creates 38460septillion watts (3.846 x 1026W) of energy per second, which equates to roughly 1386 watts per square metre (W/m²) in the upper atmosphere of Earth or 1000 W/m² at sea level on a clear day.

This is still about 10000 times more than the whole of earth needs at the moment and could over time eliminate the need to burn environmentally-unfriendly resources and as a result decrease carbon dioxide (CO2) emission levels.

As I have illustrated in Business Report over the past few weeks, this realisation is one of the reasons why the solar photovoltaic market has been expanding exponentially. Costs of silicon solar cells have declined considerably in the past few years, making solar photovoltaic systems easily accessible to many house or building owners.

However, one of the biggest complaints against solar is that solar panels installed at a house or building do not look aesthetically or visually appealing. But the ever-innovative Elon Musk and his company Tesla may have solved the problem of aesthetics by totally changing the visual appearance while at the same time providing a reliable source of solar electricity.

The Tesla Solar Roof, consisting of integrated solar glass shingles, is a building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) product that integrates the functionality of solar panels and roof shingles, currently available in Tuscan, slate, textured and smooth glass tiles.

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Although solar roof tiles and other solar modules integrated into buildings have been on the market for some time, the concept of an entire solar roof is new. The full roof coverage approach involves a solution where photovoltaics do not represent just an addition to an existing roof surface, but instead it is integrated into the structure of the house for aesthetic, constructive and electrical purposes.

The Tesla solar system could both convert and store solar energy throughout the day and then make it available when needed such as during the night. To store the solar energy the Tesla Solar Roof incorporated an embedded Powerwall battery system.

A major benefit of the Tesla Solar Roof is the durability of the tiles and shingles made from quartz and therefore virtually unbreakable. According to Tesla the glass tiles are harder and more stable than traditional clay tiles. They have a class 3 hail rating and class F wind rating. It carries a 25-yearwarranty, which is in line with traditional roof warranties.

The Tesla Solar Roof was originally announced to the world in October 2016, but due to some design issues production was initiated only in 2018. The rollout was, however, very limited while Tesla was working on version 3 of the design.

The price of Tesla Solar Roof Tiles decreased by 40percent from version 2 to version 3 (now known as the Solar Glass Roof) due to optimisation and faster installation. Tesla installation took double the time than the installation of a normal tile roof, which usually takes about five to seven days depending on the size of the roof.

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