Musk Touts Solar Roofs with Few Specifics
Tesla Motors CEO and SolarCity Chairman Elon Musk touted his new solar roof tiles on Friday’s Squawk Box on CNBC.
Musk boasted of making solar roofs “large scale,” and making them “[look] better” and last longer than current solar panels. Musk even made the bold claim that his solar shingles will “last longer than the house[s]” they’re on.
Of course, Musk has promised big and fallen short before.
Even the liberal Vox points out that Musk is short on details:
Musk had nothing to say about how much energy they would generate, how much they would cost, who would sell or install or repair them, how they could be prevented from overheating in intense sunlight, or when they would be available.
Greentech Media makes the same argument:
And yes, Musk released the most elementary details about the new Powerwall 2.0. But he failed to address any of the serious, foundational challenges facing a car-company-turned-battery-and-solar-installer that wants to get a roof product to market.
It seems Musk has to win over quite a few skeptics before his solar roofs, short on specifics, succeed.