Electric vehicles will increase solar adoption
Solar power has been around for quite sometime now. If you look around your neighborhood some of your neighbors may have already be running on solar for their homes. These solar systems are often leased from a company for several decades or more. Residents get reduced electricity costs while having little upfront costs. But over the next decade what you think of solar power is going to change. These bulky components that are placed on top of existing roofs will be obsolete when compared to solar roofing. The home building materials space will have a radical transformation as technology is implemented within these products. Tesla has begun rolling out its solar roof products for customers. These glass tiles have more strength than most traditional roofs. The roof is designed to last for centuries not decades. The combination of building materials and solar will likely grow in the coming years. I expect these innovations to come from Tesla and don’t see any formidable competition to Tesla as they grow their solar building material products. Solar siding and solar composite decking are two products that could change the way we power our homes. Stand alone solar for residental homes could be disrupted by these new technologies.
Many who purchase these Tesla solar systems also purchase a Tesla powerwall system. The powerwall is a product we expect to come down in price considerably as Tesla gets the cost of lithium ion batteries down substantially with the Gigafactory. We expect these powerwall packs to eventually get towards 1/2 the price they are at currently for a similar capacity battery in the future. The biggest advantage of the powerwall is the ability to remain independent when the grid goes down. After hurricanes and other natural disasters. Residents without power might remain that way for days or weeks. Some homeowners choose to set up a generator. Many of these systems are run by natural gas. One disadvantage this can have during a serious disaster is that natural gas can be turned off by emergency officials because of the dangers in surrounding areas. If you had a solar powered system with a powerwall you may not have any issues continuing to use and produce electricity while everyone else is without power. Situations like this is where you’d be greaful you purchased that powerwall.
Solar building materials and battery power systems will continue to grow as costs decrease. We expect more technological breakthroughs to come from Tesla in the building materials space. This company is not just a car manufacturer but a clean energy disruptor.