The news of the possible purchase of SolarCity by Tesla owner, Elon Musk, initially raised some proverbial eyebrows since Telsa had also announced its plan to offer lithium-ion batteries for home use. These batteries, dubbed the Powerwall, would enable homes outfitted with PV (photovoltaic) systems, such as sold and installed by SolarCity, to store energy for true around-the-clock energy independence. In addition to allowing energy collected during the day to be used at night or nonproductive days, Tesla states the batteries could also be used for non-PV equipped houses to supply power during outages and for what it calls “load shifting,” which is switching to energy collected during low rate times when rates are high. You can read more about the Tesla Powerwall system here. And, you can see what Fine Homebuilding and Green Building Advisor senior editor Martin Holladay has to say about the current viability home batteries here (GBA membership required).
The above mentioned deal seems to have gotten even more interesting, however. Musk recently described SolarCity’s plan to offer a solar roof. Instead of the PV modules that are being fitted on top of exiting roof assembles, the proposed solar roof surface would be entirely solar gathering with the promise of more PV area and better looks. SolarCity stated it plans to unveil the product later this year. You can read more about this announcement at TechCrunch.
While the vast majority of PV systems are add-ons, some new construction builders are now building with solar in mind. The current ProHOME project is a great example. You can read here about how designer Michael Maines maximized solar production in the design of ProHOME. Another example of building to go solar is found in Florida where a developer is looking to make an entire community, known as Bobcock Ranch, solar powered. The goal is to have this be the world’s first solar-powered town. Solar energy will be harnessed, not from roof-top units, but from a solar farm. The developer, Syd Kitson, stated, “During the day when the sun is shining, all the power at Babcock Ranch will be solar energy. Then at night when the sun goes down, the grid will take over and it will be natural gas.” You can view the story about Babcock Ranch here.
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I feel we are on the edge of the new power revolution. When we have developers talking about utilizing solar power as the daytime power source with the grid powering the night time requirements, then the balance of cost vs. gain has been reached. The developers have all the numbers crunched and they won't do anything until the numbers add up.
Searl Magnetics has a device that will power a home without any solar component. It is a series of magnets about the size of a "D" battery suspended in a magnetic field. No friction. It responds to the electrical demands as needed. The result is the magnets spin around faster as greater demand is placed on the unit.