The New Hybrid Solar-Storage Concept Module

A New Kind of Solar Panel That's Smart, Stores Energy, and Even Talks; Will Customers Buy It?

Katie Fehrenbacher, September 22, 2016 (Fortune)

“…[SunCulture Solar, led by entrepreneur and inventor Christopher Estes, has] redesigned the solar panel, integrating batteries into the panel itself, overlaying it with smart sensors and software and wirelessly linking it to a computing hub and cell phone app…[SolPads] are supposed to be sold late next year in a system for a rooftop, or as a stand alone panel that can be propped up on a back deck or balcony…SunCulture Solar says it can sell a home rooftop solar system for half of the cost of currently available solar panel and battery system combos…[Estes says the panel is the solar industry’s smart phone because it can also respond to finger taps and talk]…Few solar panel makers are really thinking differently about the aesthetics of panels, or are integrating [batteries or] computing intelligence and user experience design into the panel itself…Instead most are thinking about cost…But as low cost panels get cheaper and cheaper, and as the technology becomes more mainstream, a few companies [including SolarCity/Tesla] are trying to differentiate solar panels by making them higher-end, more efficient, and more tied to batteries…” click here for more

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