The cost estimator lets you pick 0% solar, so I don't see why they wouldn't allow it. I suspect that some people would go for that option since it has a lifetime warranty and should reduce their house insurance costs. (Especially in high wind/hail prone areas.)
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The cost estimator lets you pick 0% solar, so I don't see why they wouldn't allow it. I suspect that some people would go for that option since it has a lifetime warranty and should reduce their house insurance costs. (Especially in high wind/hail prone areas.)
Time for Tesla to get Boring. Huh? Huh?
everman
Member
Not me. I'm quite excited. I think folks are going to have to get used to the idea that Tesla is going to be in quite a few businesses, especially as they relate to energy generation and use.
Fortunately they just purchased an entire company that has a decent percentage of the expertise required, so there's that!
No. It is consistent with their mission statement. And I feel this is the only way to get around monopoly utilities trying to block rooftop solar - introduce a compelling product that customers want and one which cannot be sabotaged by political lobbying.
larmor
Active Member
Making the MS/X were hard, and will remain that way as a luxury item. Lots of stuff was learned making this car as well as the roadster. M3 is all about making a car efficiently, not really about the car.
The mission of tesla is energy and renewables-solar. The M3 as a high volume car helps this mission. Solar roof tiles will definitely help, and the look of the house matters, or cheapo solar panels would be everywhere.
RobStark
Well-Known Member
I think Tesla nailed it again. When I was househunting a few months ago one of my main criteria was that the house has a dilapidated roof (only half joking). I think Tesla will have another $1000 of mine shortly.
I guess a lot of people don't like that the SolarCity business is labor intensive and will get (or is) dwarfed by the vehicel busness and to a lesser extent by the utility storage devices. I don't mind that, as you say, the solar business counters the " but EVs are powered with coal" alarmists and yes being a big employer is certainly annoying but on the other hand it gives a lot of political leverage, which is a good thing.
mmd
Active Member
Hold your horses, brother/sister!
1. The comparable tile roof replacement cycle is 30-40 years. My two homes still have original clay and concrete tiles from 1976 and 1979. It is not like the 3 year (or less) car replacement cycle for the Tesla owners' club. May be, there will be a 'trade in your roof' scheme to increase sales
Just kidding.2. The count of Tesla owners seems wrong, as many are just repeat buyers who traded in their first or second car for newer ones. So, the current Tesla owners could be less. Then, there are several families with multiple Tesla cars, but just one roof.
3. $60k for roof is too large. The website quoted $34K for roof for a 2000 sq. ft, two storied house.
4. The energy savings it is showing is most likely wrong. If I produce excess energy, I will be paid at 3-4 cents/kwh. It will take me a lot longer to recoup the investment. Not to mention, the lost income from the invested amount.
Let me put out a very optimistic estimate: 5000 roofs in first year, 3000 in second year. If Tesla actually produces and sells them.
There are only ~70M single family houses in US, who may be the total available market. The rental properties are not going to bother with installing expensive good looking roofs. That's more a business (cash flow) decision than aesthetics.
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RobStark
Well-Known Member
Today Tesla ~30k Employees: General Motors 209k Employees ( getting rid of European Employees shortly)
2030; "Tesla is the largest industrial employer in the US. What is good for America is good for Tesla and what is good for Tesla is good for the US of A"
SunCatcher
Member
Here in Arizona, the company that installed our rooftop solar project 8 years ago was called "American Solar Electric". Now they are called "American Solar and Roofing", as they realized that the businesses went hand in hand. Why the roof? Because that's where the sunshine is. Personally, I believe this aspect of Tesla's business model could be truly massive. Like Elon has said; every home needs a roof, and every year, umpteen million homes needs their roofs replaced. As do commercial buildings. Developing, selling, and installing a roof that also captures solar energy is brilliant. I can't wait to see the orders coming in for this, as well as the effect on Tesla's bottom line.
And regarding the product itself: these roof tiles could be one of the easier products for Tesla to produce using full automation. They are really quite simple, and now that the technology has apparently been proven, it seems like Tesla could easily mass produce them in great numbers. Then, they would only have to be installed.
Asked why he robbed banks, Willie Sutton replied; "Because that's where the money is". Elon, using first principles, is just taking the legal approach.
Can someone summarize the federal tax incentives that apply to PV panels and point to their source?
Giving people affluent enough to buy 60K roofs a 15K tax break sounds high given the right wing crying over 7,500 credit for EVs.
Thanks.
mmd
Active Member
Umm, bullet proof? We need to wait for independent verification of the strength of these tiles. I quoted this message from @brucet999 earlier, who seems to be related to roofing industry. Don't get misled by marketing demo videos. We have seen the self driving video last October, charge gate, counter gate, second row fold gate. I will do thorough research and ask for third party verification before parting with big money for the solar/non solar roofs. That 4 side by side videos can easily be created by slowing down the different videos, or many other tricks.
@brucet999 also makes some other interesting comments in that thread, which are worth reading before ordering a glass roof.
BTW, asphalt roofs are really easy to fix for leaks. Just go up and put some tar. Not so easy for glass roofs, I would think. Walking on them in rainy weather (when people detect the leaks usually) can be a deadly game. Insurance cost can shoot up just because of that.
After reading about Tesla's plan to delay release of two of the Solar Roof styles until 2018, I was looking for more information and stumbled on this little demo video about the strength of the tiles compared to other materials when a 1.2lb steel ball is dropped from considerable height onto each of them. It was then that I noticed the wood blocks under the various tiles.
The concrete and slate flat tiles are set up with small wood blocks under their corners and the ball dropped near the center. The terra cotta tile has several blocks stacked to raise the back so that it is supported at three points, by those blocks at back center and its two front corners, with the steel ball impacting the center.
The Tesla flat tile, however, is supported by a 1x2 batten across its entire width a little back from the front edge and the steel ball appears to impact on top of that wood batten, that would prevent deflection, rather than in the unsupported middle part of the tile.
I know from experience how fragile concrete and terra cotta roof tiles are, and I think that Tesla glass tiles might be stronger, but I am disappointed to see the unequal conditions of this breakage demonstration.
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having done 6-7 roofs in my life, falling off the last one, and almost dying and almost breaking my neck, i can definately say it's more than annoyance ("am i paralyzed? can i wiggle my toes?", yes! whoohoo!) ...and that thrice "blessed" roof needs reshingling AGAIN after 17 years, protected by BP PV panels, drat
Yet another industry ripe for disruption and a redundancy solved imo, just hope it doesn't displace all the family owned roofing businesses. Hard to believe that five years ago Tesla barely had a foot in the door in one industry and now it is basically the leader of 3.
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Just put in my deposit. I actually screwed up and did the tuscan tiles first, had to cancel and reordered smooth. FWIW, here's the order numbers in case there's any insight:
Tuscan: EN39901XX
Smooth: EN32477XX
Tuscan: EN39901XX
Smooth: EN32477XX
Dave, I would love to hear your concerns on this.
I am very excited because I think Tesla will generate a lot of interest, both from current home owners and particularly from new home developers who are always looking for a way to make their development stand out to buyers. A Tesla roof could be a huge selling point.
What I like best about it is it seems so much less complicated that cars. Of course the roof cannot leak and the solar panels need to keep working but for now I'll trust the the company has done a good job engineering this product. But hey, the roof doesn't seem to have a lot of the risks and complexities that go hand in hand with manufacturing cars. There is no need to build out service centers. There is no need to build out superchargers. There are no safety-related recalls for defects that could kill you. Just durable glass tiles that sit on your roof and look pretty while moving some electrons.
And the capital requirement is much lower than for building cars.
I hope they raise the price and put limits on the warranty.
I wish Tesla would get into more businesses requiring less capital, lower intrinsic risk, and potential for high returns.
What am I missing? Other than a lot of money that I could have had if I didn't sell those calls last week.
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everman
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