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by SeaDude 2423 days ago
Back of napkin math is:

- 100ft.2 of solar panels (Qty: 5, off the shelf, ~3’ x ~5’ panels) = ~1kW of AC electricity (post-inverter, in low-sun Seattle)

- At the roof, this represents 10 wires and ~8 roof penetrations (racking lags through flashing into rafters)

AKA: simple setup, proven implementation

Questions:

- How many wires (points of failure) are in 100ft.2 of solar shingles?

- How many roof penetrations?

- How many roofer-electricians do you know?

- Why can we not just embrace existing panel technology and put them everywhere, yesterday?

Rant:

- We don’t need boutique renewable energy, we need ubiquitous RE.

- Elon, get your priorities straight. In the three years you’ve been trying to figure out the perfect solar status symbol, you could have installed megawatts of photovoltaics.

1 comments

> Elon, get your priorities straight. In the three years you’ve been trying to figure out the perfect solar status symbol, you could have installed megawatts of photovoltaics.

They already do regular solar installs and so do a ton of other competitors. This is a boutique product for people who care about aesthetics and are willing to pay a premium for it.