Elon Musk’s Promise of “Solar Roofs” Has Echoes of a Rust Belt Failure

[OKIsItJustMe]

https://www.technologyreview.com/s/602147/elon-musks-promise-of-solar-roofs-has-echoes-of-a-rust-belt-failure/

[font face=Serif][font size=5]Elon Musk’s Promise of “Solar Roofs” Has Echoes of a Rust Belt Failure[/font]

[font size=4]SolarCity’s chairman dropped hints that the company is planning a new product—but it’s been tried before.[/font]

by Michael Reilly | August 10, 2016

[font size=3]As leader of two flashy green-tech companies, Elon Musk has a habit of doubling down on bold claims. And he played to form in SolarCity’s most recent earnings call, dropping an oh-by-the-way mention that the company will be adding “solar roofs” to its product lineup of rooftop solar panels.

As Musk said, those are two distinct things: SolarCity already sells solar panels that go on your roof. With solar roofs, as he says, “It's not a thing on the roof, it is the roof.”

Another word for solar roofs is “solar shingles,” and it’s been tried before. In 2011, Dow Chemical launched its product, Powerhouse Solar, with the aim of adding a new offering to the residential solar market. It was highly touted at the time; as the company’s CEO Andrew Liveris said, it was “integral to Dow's transformation, and a key part of its strategy to invent and innovate new technologies.” The company built a plant in Midland, Michigan, to manufacture the shingles. Former autoworkers were retrained, and hundreds of people were hired.

…

The trouble is, it didn’t work. Last month, Dow announced that it was stopping its Powerhouse Solar program and shutting down manufacturing. The last shingles were scheduled to ship on Wednesday, and the “majority” of 130 workers in the company’s Dow Solar division would be laid off in Midland and Cupertino, California—part of an overall planned layoff of 700 jobs in Michigan and 2,500 globally.

…[/font][/font]

[Squinch]

1. How many versions of cars were made before they came up with one that worked well enough

to catch on?

Same difference.

[MattP]

2. Musk has a track record of making good on extreme promises

His release of patents has revolutionized the ev car industry

[nationalize the fed]

6. Which companies are using TSLA patents?

Can't find any actual confirmation.

His release of patents has revolutionized the ev car industry

One would think that Tesla would want others to know exactly how their patents have "revolutionized the ev car industry".

There is this though:

Musk didn’t confirm which companies are currently using Tesla’s patents, but it would be interesting to know if they are established automakers or startups and to see if not only new electric vehicles utilizing Tesla’s patents will come out in the future, but also if Tesla will be able to access new patented technologies for future implementations through the Patent Pledge agreement…
https://electrek.co/2015/11/10/a-number-of-companies-are-now-using-teslas-open-source-patents-and-it-has-some-interesting-implications/

"We have had a number of inquiries from other car companies and we've told them to go ahead and use them," Musk says.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2014/10/14/tesla-musk-patents/17247723/

Honda, GM, Dismiss Tesla Electric Car Patent Giveaway. Are Others Following Suit?
https://transportevolved.com/2014/06/30/honda-gm-dismiss-tesla-electric-car-patent-giveaway-others-following-suit/

Perhaps Musk has tweeted about the patents and I missed it

As for his promises- many people still think there are going to be battery swap stations everywhere, with a 90 second swap of a 1,300 pound liquid cooled battery which always was absurd.

The Tesla battery swap is the hoax of the year

What California says about zero-emission vehicles, and why Tesla is committing fraud
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2013/12/21/the-tesla-battery-swap-is-the-hoax-of-the-year/

[greenman3610]

3. look at all the internet companies that went bust

obviously total failure of the technology

[Schema Thing]

4. Good news, since Dow has done the testing.

It gives Musk solid data to work with.

[CaptainTruth]

5. In the industry it's called BIPV, Building-Integrated Photovoltaic ...

... where the PV "panels" are integrated into the building's structure, as opposed to BAPV (Building-Applied Photovoltaic) where PV panels are added onto the building, as typical rooftop arrays are.

[pscot]

7. We just need to clap harder

and it will all be true.