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| Elon's on the far right, looking like he's auctioning the building. Actually, it's one of the houses on the set of "Desperate Housewives", and he's showing off the roof tiles, which are solar! |
"Check out the sweet roof", said Tesla boss Elon Musk, introducing their new solar roof tiles to the public ("Now Available in Other Colours", 2 November).
This brings to mind a question I've long had. Why do we see no solar panels on buildings in Hong Kong? One reason might be that in such a vertical city solar can deliver only a small fraction of our electricity needs. But surely some is better than none. In my own village of Discovery Bay we have a lot more medium and low-rise housing that would benefit from solar power.
In Siena village we even have exactly the same Tuscan roof tiles that Mr. Musk is promoting in California: "Tetti dolci"! ("Sweet roofs" in Italian).
And yet Hong Kong has no incentive for solar, such as the elsewhere common provision for excess solar power to be sold back to the grid.
How about it, Hong Kong government? Surely promoting solar is at least one thing that all folk in the fractious Legco could agree on?
Peter F
This brings to mind a question I've long had. Why do we see no solar panels on buildings in Hong Kong? One reason might be that in such a vertical city solar can deliver only a small fraction of our electricity needs. But surely some is better than none. In my own village of Discovery Bay we have a lot more medium and low-rise housing that would benefit from solar power.
In Siena village we even have exactly the same Tuscan roof tiles that Mr. Musk is promoting in California: "Tetti dolci"! ("Sweet roofs" in Italian).
And yet Hong Kong has no incentive for solar, such as the elsewhere common provision for excess solar power to be sold back to the grid.
How about it, Hong Kong government? Surely promoting solar is at least one thing that all folk in the fractious Legco could agree on?
Peter F
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LATER: SCMP, 3 November 2016: Solar tiles and Powerwall 2.0 to be available in HK next year
LATER: SCMP, 3 November 2016: Solar tiles and Powerwall 2.0 to be available in HK next year
