If you have been planning to replace your roof, then Tesla has brought a great new product for you. Tesla provides roofs with solar cells to give electricity to rest of your home. However, we really don’t need to change are roofs for a long time and this is where the Kickstarter campaign from a Startup introducing the product called SolarGaps comes into play. As it uses the window blinds to replace with solar cells so that you can generate your own renewable source of energy.
This is a great idea as the per square feet area taken by windows is larger than the roof area. Hence, it will create a better opportunity to assimilate sun’s energy into electricity. The company has started slick Kickstarter campaign where it shows what it’s true visions for the future are. SolarGaps is an innovative approach which makes it easy by connecting the smartphone with the solar window panels.
It also allows the user to sync with apps such as Google Home, Amazon Echo and Nest Thermostat. The SolarGaps are able to provide continuous electricity or store it in a battery system similar to Tesla Powerwall. Moreover, on top of all this, the company has claimed that this product is custom made and cost just as much a non-solar motorised blind would cost.
As an estimate, it will take 4 to 6 years to earn back the amount that you spend on SolarGaps. It costs $385 and produces 500 Kilowatt per year if it is sunny all year around saving you $88 per year in electricity charges. Therefore, the assumptions are that you live in a place where it is perfect sunshine all throughout the year with perfect conditions to produce solar electricity.
There is one more concern as the sides of the window not always receive the sun lights. Although, you can adjust its angle to receive ample sunlight most of the time. The build quality of the SolarGaps is solid and it must be able to withstand heavy weather conditions as well.
The company is confident that it can increase the efficiency of the SolarGaps buy up to 20% through software update alone. Moreover, there are further updates to the system in the pipeline.
The SolarGaps are a good solution for those areas where there is extreme heat and air conditioning costs are high. The company has been able to raise $60,000 through Kickstarter campaign beating its own milestone of $50,000. The success of the campaign proves that it has the potential for success in the long term. If it’s a success then it will pave a new way towards a healthy life and cities will be less polluted and environment-friendly.