The versatile American energy storage, automaker, and solar panel manufacturing company Tesla recently announced that it had kickstarted the high-on-demand Solar Roof tiles production from its Gigafactory 2 facility stationed in New York. As confirmed by Tesla, its consumer base can anticipate the first round of customer installations to follow soon, which is wonderful news for its global consumers.
Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla Inc., had already unveiled the glass roof tiles more than a year ago, so the announcement brought up by Tesla today entails the fact of production delays. Tesla had initially anticipated the manufacturing of the solar shingles to roll out during the summer of 2017, for both the smooth and textured types of tiles. But unfortunately, the rollout got postponed firstly to late 2017 and then to 2018, following unexpected delays.
However, spreading over the previous few months, the Tesla community has observed various sightings of Solar Roof installations, albeit exclusive only to particular employees of its automaker and energy company. Tesla’s Fremont factory was also busy manufacturing the glass solar roof tiles at the same time as the solar roof installation sightings. And, despite being highly productive, the Fremont factory was unable to match up to Tesla’s Gigafactory 2 in terms of scale and pace of production.
Tesla has mostly been strategically tightlipped about its Solar Roof production status and progress. Floating news about ramp-ups such as Panasonic, a solar cell manufacturer increasing its employee base to expand its product line, and a report about a Tesla patent presenting an adhesive that can smoothly conduct electricity through the solar tiles were cleared off with Tesla’s recent announcement that makes the timeline for the installations crystal clear.
What’s more, the fact of Tesla Gigafactory 2 undertaking the production of the Solar Roofs affirms the highly efficient and speedy rollout of the photovoltaic tiles, even matching up very well to Elon Musk’s expectations. As affirmed by Musk himself, the 1.2 million-square-foot Tesla Gigafactory 2 can produce up to a huge 10 gigawatts of solar products annually.
Hugh Bromley, Finance analyst, Bloomberg New Energy, opines that there are potentially booming markets for Solar Tiles beyond the US, such as Australia.
The USP of Tesla’s Solar Roof tiles is due to their versatility; their functional and aesthetic appeal. Following collaborative development with Solar City, the Solar Tiles own a unique look distinguishing them from conventional roof tiles, albeit having a full-fledged solar panel. Moreover, the tempered glass of the tiles strengthens their durability and makes them capable of surviving force in contrast to the traditional terracotta and slate roofs. The Solar Roofs, joined with Tesla’s Powerwall 2 unit, is capable enough to make its consumer base do away with the conventional power grids, thus contributing significantly to power usage efficiency around the globe.
With this recent venture, Tesla moves gloriously ahead in its mission to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy through increasingly cost-effective energy products, harnessing the tremendous potential of renewable solar power.
