93 percent savings: TV producer tests Tesla's solar tiles and draws conclusions
Tesla's solar tiles have already made the headlines in Germany, and we have also covered the topic more than once on Trends of the Future. About a year ago, family man and TV producer Austin Flack covered his roof with the comparatively expensive tiles and now draws a first conclusion in a video: as expensive as the purchase was, it seems to be worth it.
The installation cost a total of $33,000
Flack put the third version of the famous solar tiles on his roof and paid $33,000 for it. With other suppliers, he would have received conventional solar panels and a "normal" roof for about 3,000 euros less, but the man preferred to go all out here. His Tesla system is advertised with an output of 9,000 kilowatts, the efficiency is supposed to be 95: will it really deliver?
Tesla guarantees even more than "just" high efficiency. The annual energy production of the solar tiles is not supposed to fall below 95 per cent in the first five years after installation; in the following 20 years, a maximum loss of half a percentage point per year is to be expected. Visually, the roof covering can hardly be distinguished from normal tiles, but it seems to be quite tough: Tesla promises protection against wind, rain and fire for 25 years, as well as against defects in the material and design: this is what the contract Flack signed with the company says.
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The electricity generated was very good despite the ash and smoke
Flack reports that his new solar roof has no micro-inverters, so shadows can dampen energy production. His house is located in California, and it was precisely there that there were devastating forest fires directly in the first year after installation, resulting in smoke clouds and ash deposits - over a period of about 5 months. Despite this, the plant produced just under 8,000 kWh of electricity within 12 months, only 600 kWh less than Tesla had promised (93 percent). The company is not responsible for the extraordinary circumstances; the bricks did well despite everything.
The energy bill dropped from 2,245 to 156.62 dollars, and two-thirds of the electricity generated flowed into the Los Angeles grid. Austin Flack is satisfied with his purchase; his house roof was in need of major renovation anyway and would have cost him several thousand dollars to replace. Unfortunately, we cannot say when Tesla's invention will be available in Germany.
Found on: 93 Prozent Ersparnis: TV-Produzent testet Teslas Solarziegel und zieht Fazit (trendsderzukunft.de)