Curious about something. I know with solar panels, you can later add new panels on a separate system essentially. What about with solar roof though? As tech improves, or even just you decide you need more generation, can you replace the tesla roof tiles (just glass) with tesla solar tiles (PV)? Would you need a new inverter or would they tie into existing? Again, assuming it's even possible.
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Adding to a Solar Roof
- Thread starter dhquigley
- Start date
I think this question has come up before, but I don't think there can be a definitive answer until somebody calls Tesla and tries to do so.
From a technical perspective, it should be possible - the tiles can be removed and replaced, and since the PV and blank tiles are the same size, they should be swappable. As you mention, a larger or additional inverter might be needed, and there might be other challenges running the new cabling to the inverter.
The bigger issue that will likely result in the answer being "no" is on the practical side. It's not clear this is something Tesla will do at all since it might have impacts on the existing warranty, and if they are willing, they may charge a premium since it would probably be a smaller job, in addition to the other challenges of adding to the existing install. This also seems like something that would be requested several years down the road. At that point, it will be interesting to see what the state of the technology is - who knows, for example, if the "v4" solar roof uses a different size of shingle or is otherwise incompatible with the v3 roof. While Tesla would need to retain v3 stock for warranty issues, they may not be willing to do any additional installation at that point.
From a technical perspective, it should be possible - the tiles can be removed and replaced, and since the PV and blank tiles are the same size, they should be swappable. As you mention, a larger or additional inverter might be needed, and there might be other challenges running the new cabling to the inverter.
The bigger issue that will likely result in the answer being "no" is on the practical side. It's not clear this is something Tesla will do at all since it might have impacts on the existing warranty, and if they are willing, they may charge a premium since it would probably be a smaller job, in addition to the other challenges of adding to the existing install. This also seems like something that would be requested several years down the road. At that point, it will be interesting to see what the state of the technology is - who knows, for example, if the "v4" solar roof uses a different size of shingle or is otherwise incompatible with the v3 roof. While Tesla would need to retain v3 stock for warranty issues, they may not be willing to do any additional installation at that point.
I asked a slightly related question in August:
Solar Glass Repair / Replacing Tiles
What might be of interest there is @jboy210 's comment about the difficulty he observed in replacing a few problem tiles on his roof.
Also kind of related ...
I asked my Tesla advisor if I should/could get extra non-solar tiles because I might want to add a screened-in area to my deck in the future. My HOA has a rule that all roof areas for a given house must be made of the same material. The advisor said that it would be possible to get tiles for a future small roof, but only for a roof that has a pitch greater than 10 degrees (to prevent leak problems). The advisor suggested that I instead try to get HOA approval for "matching" black asphalt shingles since that would be less expensive.
Solar Glass Repair / Replacing Tiles
What might be of interest there is @jboy210 's comment about the difficulty he observed in replacing a few problem tiles on his roof.
Also kind of related ...
I asked my Tesla advisor if I should/could get extra non-solar tiles because I might want to add a screened-in area to my deck in the future. My HOA has a rule that all roof areas for a given house must be made of the same material. The advisor said that it would be possible to get tiles for a future small roof, but only for a roof that has a pitch greater than 10 degrees (to prevent leak problems). The advisor suggested that I instead try to get HOA approval for "matching" black asphalt shingles since that would be less expensive.
Interesting. And there are a number of threads on a related issue. I went with a black, single seam metal roof on a smaller area of my house and it looked really good with the solar.
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