We’ve seen them on our neighbor’s roofs, and maybe even considered getting them for ourselves — I’m talking about solar panels.
They’re hard to miss… certainly not one of the most inconspicuous things to witness in a neighborhood.
Homeowners are always looking for a way to save some money, and, after all, being a homeowner does mean you’re always enduring some sort of house project — whether it be painting a bedroom or fixing that leaky sink. Either way, those projects always come at the most inconvenient times.
So saving a little money here and there is always a plus. And that’s been one the biggest incentives for homeowners to take the plunge and invest in solar panels.
Right now, they’re cheap, or at least pretty cost-effective. There are even payment options. The benefits are obvious, and it seems like a no-brainer.
However, there is one thing that makes solar panels really unappealing: they’re a huge eyesore.
Homeowners spend their hard-earned money and valuable time trying to create the most perfect and attractive home. And they do this for two reasons: they want to eventually sell their house and/or they want their friends, neighbors, family, etc. to be in awe of their beautiful home.
And for those reasons, people tend to be a little hesitant about getting solar panels, even if it could save them a good chunk of change in the long run.
Solar Power Without the Eyesore
Well, here’s some good news for those people looking to maintain the aesthetics of their home while also saving some much-needed cash.
Tesla Motors (NASDAQ: TSLA) and CEO Elon Musk have taken on the task of designing and developing solar shingles to ultimately produce a “solar roof.”
A solar roof unveiling took place at Universal Studios in Los Angeles last Friday (October 25th). The unveiling was flashy and something of a surprise.
And it comes at a time when Musk is trying to convince Tesla’s shareholders to vote “yes” to the acquisition of SolarCity (NASDAQ: SCTY). Musk believes acquiring SolarCity would benefit Tesla and continue its journey towards being a leader in the clean-energy market… specifically in the solar market.
During the unveiling of the solar roof, Musk said to the crowd:
You’ll want to call your neighbors over and say ‘check out the sweet roof.’ It’s not a phrase you hear often.
The demand for a solar roof would be a lot stronger than any demand for panels, especially if that means eliminating the ugly factor of panels while still maintaining the cost-effectiveness of solar as an energy source.
Tesla’s Plans for Solar Roofs
The rooftops are made of textured glass that allows light to pass through onto a standard flat solar cell. The cells will be able to endure a lifetime of weather conditions. The tiles are made of quartz, and Musk claims they’ll have “a quasi-infinite lifetime.”
During this year’s third-quarter earnings call, Musk said:
In order to have a beautiful solar roof product, we’ve got to be able to iterate rapidly and have them made exactly the way we want them so that they have very high efficiency cells at the lowest cost.
This is where Panasonic Corp. (OTC: PCRFY) comes in — a tech powerhouse and a leading battery supplier.
Panasonic will produce the solar cells, and Tesla will create the glass tiles and everything else that these “shingles” will need in order to create these iconic solar roofs.
Of course, if shareholders don’t approve of the $2.2 billion deal to acquire SolarCity on November 17th, this solar roof venture probably won’t come to life.
Efficient and Attractive
During a call with investors in June, after the proposal to acquire SolarCity, Musk had this to say:
I think there’s quite a radical difference between having solar panels on your roof that actually make your house look better versus ones that do not.
If anyone could bring this project to life, it would be Elon Musk, a man hugely concerned with the aesthetics of all of Tesla’s products… not to mention his ambitions to provide clean energy to the everyday folk.
Jenny Chase, lead solar analyst at Bloomberg New Energy Finance in Zurich, said:
Designers have been reaching for an elegant and simple solar-powered roofing material for more than a decade, and none have been practical because of higher costs and lower power output than traditional photovoltaic panels
Of course, this isn’t the first time a company tried to bring the idea of a solar roof to life.
Dow Chemical Co. (NYSE: DOW) recently abandoned a five-year effort to build a market for its Powerhouse solar shingles, while Energy Conversion Devices, Inc., whose Uni-Solar unit produced flexible sheets of solar for rooftops, unfortunately went bankrupt in 2012.
If anyone can bring to life an attractive alternative to solar panels, it would be Tesla. It’ll be interesting to find out if Tesla’s shareholders agree.
Until next time,
Jennifer Clark
Pro Trader Today