By Claire Bernish | True Activist
Orders have now begun pouring in from around the planet for Tesla Inc.’s radical, renewable resource — solar roof tiles — which blend into to a structure’s architecture to provide energy from the Sun without the garish appearance that makes traditional panels stick out like sore thumbs.
According to Tesla’s website,
“Solar Roof complements your home’s architecture while turning sunlight into electricity. With an integrated Powerwall battery, energy collected during the day is stored and made available any time, effectively turning your home into a personal utility.”
But while Elon Musk’s announcement that his innovative corporation would begin taking orders Wednesday dominated headlines, one phenomenal detail about the solar roof tiles seemed to escape the media’s attention: These little powerhouse tiles are guaranteed, quite literally, forever.
“Glass solar tiles are so durable they are warrantied for the lifetime of your house, or infinity, whichever comes first,” the Tesla website proudly asserts.
To wit, Tesla includes simultaneous video loops at 2,500 frames per second of its Solar Roof and two, traditional roof tiles being slammed with a two-inch hailstone traveling near 100 miles per hour upon impact.
Both traditional materials shatter and disintegrate under the force of the speeding ice ball, while Tesla’s Solar Roof tile acts as an impenetrable shield — to the opposite effect — with the hailstone smashing to pieces against it.
Musk’s Tesla has been subverting the system in order to speed the world toward renewable, sustainable energy sources as a part of everyday life and away from fossil fuels and their pernicious progeny — plastics and myriad other petroleum-based products.
While solar energy at the residence level has indeed become more pervasive in recent times, traditional panels jut out from roofs in obvious fashion — so much so, they have been called eyesores by some. Tesla’s Solar Roof tiles have a far lower height profile, smaller individual size, and are generally less obvious — with exponentially greater stability and endurance against the elements than their unsightly predecessors.
Just one drawback comes with purchasing these revolutionary solar powerhouses — the price tag.
But the sting to one’s wallet, Tesla asserts, is only temporary. Built literally for life — and guaranteed to be replaced should that lifespan be shorter than, well, yours — these durable solar roof tiles more than makeup for costliness through energy savings for the customer.
Interested in a renewable and durable, guaranteed solar roof?
“To get in line for a solar roof,” Reuters reports, “homeowners must put down a $1,000 deposit via Tesla’s website. There, they can also calculate the estimated upfront cost of a solar roof.
“A 1700-square-foot roof in Southern California, with half the roof covered in ‘active’ solar tiles, would cost about $34,300 after a federal tax credit, according to the calculator. Tesla estimates such a roof could generate $76,700 of electricity over 30 years.
“The company said its solar roofs would cost between 10 and 15 percent less than an ordinary new roof plus traditional solar panels.”
Tesla is taking orders from people all around the globe and asserts these amazing solar roof tiles will be delivered to customers in the United States beginning at the end of this year, with 2018 the target for deliveries elsewhere.
