By Jim Harrison
Tesla’s Energy group has revealed its 2nd-generation home energy battery storage unit and, along with it, a new aesthetic solar roof design. The Powerwall 2 has twice the energy density and capacity of its predecessor and can power a two-bedroom home for a full night. Compact, stackable, and with a built-in dc-to-ac inverter, the new unit costs $5,500 (plus $1,000 for installation and supporting hardware), under-cutting rival battery suppliers. The included inverter is a new design by Tesla. Powerwall capacity is now 14 kWh and it starts shipping in December from Tesla’s new factory in Nevada. Power output is 7 kW peak, 5 kW continuous, weight is 264.4 lbs., and dimensions are 44 x 29 x 5.5 inches.
Fig. 1: Elon Musk in front of the new Tesla Powerwall in Los Angeles on October 28th.
The solar roof consists of uniquely designed glass tiles that complement the aesthetics of any home, embedded with high-efficiency photovoltaic cells. It is customizable for a variety of different home styles, each engineered so that the photovoltaic cells are invisible. Customers can choose which sections of their roof will contain the hidden solar technology while still having the entire roof look the same. Tesla said, “These new roofs will seamlessly and beautifully supply renewable energy to homes and battery storage systems. When combined with Tesla Powerwall, the solar roof can power an entire home with 100% renewable energy.”
Fig. 2: Design house with solar roof.
As the roof tiles are made from quartz glass, they should last much longer than an asphalt tile — or as Musk later said, “They should last longer than the house.” They come in four distinct styles — Textured, Slate, Tuscan, and Smooth. The tiles are transparent to solar, but appear opaque when viewed from an angle and look much like a standard roof. They have 2% loss over a plain solar panel — though Tesla is working with 3M to reduce this loss. The solar roof product should start to see installations by next summer.
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