Elon Musk has done it again! The founder of electric car company Tesla has just launched an amazing new roof system in the UK after a successful launch in America.
It’s based on the concept of tiles that convert sunlight into electricity, doing away with the need for solar panels, which can cause problems or fail planning constraints.
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Using the tiles, which look identical to normal roofing materials, power generated from the roof is fed into batteries and used to power heating, lighting and other energy systems, with the excess fed back into the national grid.
It’s the latest step towards creating smart buildings – homes, factories and offices that are self-sustaining, have diagnostic abilities and where integrated systems communicate with each other to keep the building running efficiently.
Home owners are increasingly turning to bolt-on options, such as voice-activated AI systems, which can be used to control lights, heating and entertainment systems from a distance.
Cameras are taking the place of alarms in helping to provide home security and, in off-grid situations, customers who use the latest automated generators may find repairs have been made remotely by engineers hundreds of miles away, alerted to problems by integrated monitoring systems.
Many new homes have this technology built-in and, if you work in construction, your job will increasingly involve the use of smart materials to make buildings energy-efficient and extend their lifespan far beyond traditional methods.
Find a position in construction with s1jobs and chances are you’ll quickly find yourself getting hands-on with these new building materials and ways of working.
In some cases you could even be off-site altogether, constructing modules in factory conditions that can then be rapidly and efficiently locked in place on location.
As an electrician you could be doing far more than just wiring lights and sockets, instead, putting in the cabling for complete home management systems.
Work in roofing and you’ll have to get to grips with Elon’s tiles that turn sunlight into energy.
No trades are exempt from the changes ahead and every area of construction will soon be transformed for the better by the adoption of smart systems – these will continue to deliver information and benefits long after you’ve moved on to your next exciting project.
So what are you waiting for? Do the smart thing and find yourself a new role in Construction/Trades with s1jobs.