特斯拉正式推出太陽能屋瓦 Tesla Starts Taking Orders for Its Solar Roof Tiles

文/Nikki Lu

特斯拉五月開始接受預購太陽能屋瓦，不同於架設於屋頂上的太陽能板，新的太陽能屋瓦，可直接替代現有屋頂，兼具美觀與環保功能。特斯拉CEO Elon Musk說，太陽能屋瓦強度是一般屋瓦的三倍，價格具競爭力，並提供終身保固，它可能成為市場主流嗎？

進入本文前，想想以下單字英文怎麼說：

 (A) 嵌入 (B) 美感的 (C)預付的 

The Clean-Energy Ambition對乾淨能源的野心

"The rooftop shingles are virtually indistinguishable from traditional high-end roofing products, with discreet solar cells (A) embedded beneath a glass surface. From most viewing angles, they look just like ordinary shingles, but they allow light to pass through from above onto a standard flat solar cell." -Bloomberg

「（特斯拉的）屋瓦和傳統高端屋頂產品幾乎沒有差別，玻璃表面下嵌入了不明顯的太陽能電池。大部分角度看來，它們就像普通屋頂，但是陽光能穿越表面，進入裏頭的標準平板太陽能電池。」彭博報導。

How much will it cost?太陽能屋瓦多少錢？

Tesla began taking $1,000 deposits for its solar roof tiles in May. All-in cost for active solar tiles is about $42 per square foot, and inactive tiles will cost $11 per square foot.

特斯拉於五月開始接受預訂，收取一千美元訂金。太陽能屋瓦的全部費用約為每平方英尺42美元，而一般屋瓦為每平方英尺11美元。

"Tesla is tapping Google's Project Sunroof here, which uses some 3D mapping trickery to give them a rough idea of how much roof area (square footage) you've got, and how much of it is actually good for solar use. That gives them a (1) ballpark estimate for the roof cost (including materials, installation and the cost of removing your old roof), at which point they factor in the cost of a Powerwall battery. Then they wrap in offsets like local tax credits and the money saved on your electric bill to give you a final cost after 30 years."

TechCrunch報導，特斯拉與Google的 Sunroof計畫合作，運用3D地圖技巧，讓消費者了解屋頂面積大小（平方英尺）、其中多少面積可利用太陽能，由此大略估出屋頂費用（包括材料、安裝及拆除舊屋頂），據此計算Powerwall 電池的費用，然後計入可抵消費用，如當地稅收可抵免金 額和省下的電費，算出三十年後的最終花費。

Tesla CEO Elon Musk also (2) shed a bit of light on how the ordering process works: Once you've placed your order and made your way up the waiting list, they send out an engineer who works out exactly what your roof needs. How much square footage of tile? How much of it should be solar versus non-solar?" -TechCrunch

特斯拉CEO Elon Musk也說明訂購流程：當你下了訂單加入等候名單，他們就會派出工程師，計算出你的屋頂確切的需求，如需要多少平方英尺的屋瓦？太陽能與非太陽能屋瓦應各占多少？

"Tesla's solar shingles may open doors to wealthy American suburbs, where a pleasant (B) aesthetic is often mandated and visible solar panels are sometimes prohibited. But they're not yet for everyone. The solar roof still comes with a considerable (C) upfront price tag. Replacing the roof of a 2,000 square-foot home in New York State - with 40 percent coverage of active solar tiles and battery backup for night-time use - would cost about $50,000 after federal tax credits. It would (3) pay for itself with $64,000 of energy produced over 30 years, according to Tesla's website calculator, but that requires a bigger mortgage and some long-term planning." -Bloomberg

彭博報導中也指出，特斯拉的太陽能屋瓦有機會進入美國富裕郊區，這樣的區域對住宅美感有要求，有時甚至禁止可見的太陽能板。但是特斯拉屋瓦的價格並非人人可負擔，前期費用仍相當可觀。一個紐約州兩千平方英尺房子，覆蓋百分之四十太陽能屋瓦、具夜間備用電池，聯邦稅後需五萬美金費用，儘管在特斯拉官網計算，這樣的屋頂三十年將產生值六萬四千元美金的電力，安裝花費可回本，但仍需更龐大貸款和長期計畫。

1. ballpark 大概的

If you can't tell me the exact cost, please give me a ballpark number.

假如你不能告訴我確切的成本，請給我一個大約的數字。

2. shed light on… 讓...比較清楚

The discussion has shed some light on the problem.

討論後問題比較清楚了。

3. Pay for itself 回本，使損益相當

The advertising should pay for itself.

廣告帶來的收益應可回本。

參考資料: Bloomber.com, Tech Crunch

 #embedded #aesthetic #upfront 

本文收錄於英語島English Island 2017年8月號  

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