Last Friday Elon Musk dropped in on the set of Desperate Housewives and delivered his future vision of solar power. He announced two new products. The Powerwall 2 ($5500) and the Tesla Solar Roof ($TBD).
When the presentation first started, the first thing you noticed was the odd setting. A suburban street with a huge stage. But everything haD a purpose. Each of the homes surrounding the stage had the new Tesla Solar Roof installed which was barely noticeable. There was no decline in curb appeal, and it could even be stated that at least for one of the homes, it’s curb appeal was improved.
Tesla’s Solar Roof is made up of Glass Tiles that mimic four styles. A Tuscan Glass Tile, French Slate Glass Tile, Textured Glass Tile, Smooth glass Tile. Each of the tiles includes a color louver film that hides the solar cell from the street while making it completely transparent to the sun’s rays. A high-efficiency solar cell that produces energy even during really hot days. And tempered glass that was shown in a video to withstand a weight being dropped on it that broke traditional tiles.
The Solar Roof combined with the Powerwall 2 gives you a complete home solution. The new Powerwall ($5500) stores 14kW of energy, and has 7kW of output. A single battery can power a 4 bedroom home’s outlets and refrigerator for a full day.
Although a price isn’t currently available, Elon suggested that the Solar roof will have a lower cost than a traditional roof when combined with projected utility bill savings.
Kwikset has developed a Bluetooth wireless lock called Kevo ($TBA). Kevo comes with some pretty cool features. The lock allows you to use your smartphone or tablet to unlock or lock your door. The idea is fairly straightforward; the lock uses Unikey, it pairs with your headset via Bluetooth, using an app on your smartphone […]