Pennsylvania Solar Roof and Powerwall Canceled

[phsoccer]

Cost is indeed a factor for anyone considering a project like this, but of course it's a bit different depending on individual circumstances. I'll share a bit more detail about the relationship between cost and my own.
I did not borrow to do this, so no interest rate or cost of carrying capital was involved. I haven't figured my financial side of it with any of those influences, but I imagine they could be significant. Tax credits only help if you have or can create sufficient liability, and that took a little effort and planning for me. Fortunately they can be spread across more than just one year, but I'm sure that not everyone will have the flexibility in this area that I do.

So here is the list I've come up with, not a salesman list but my own, based on a combination of reality and estimated projections. All in today's dollars, so I've let performance degradation over time balance future cost increases. Should be a good enough trade. Performance estimates have only been validated by a short time of actual operation, but so far real data is showing they are more accurate than I had hoped. Payback years are based on today's kwh price (16 cents for me), nothing else:

Project full cost: $127,551
Tax credits/rebates: $48,015
Project net cost: $79,536
Payback years: 27
Avoided costs
Backup power sys. $20,000
New roof install. $18,000
New Calc cost: $41,536
New payback years. 14

Pretty hard for anyone considering such a project to credibly characterize the above as "crazy expensive" but without the tax credits/rebates it looks quite different, more than doubles the eventual cost figure. Not sure I would have pulled the trigger without them, didn't have to get into that. As always, each case is a bit different....

My numbers were similar in 2021. ~$75K for Solar Roof, PWs $17K, with ~$25K tax credit. I avoided $25K to replace my asphalt shingles (multiple bids at that price). If I neglect the PWs since I would have put in a back power system anyway, so my out of pocket cost was only ~$25K for the solar part. I'm saving ~$2500 per year on my power bill so far.

I was lucky since I was able to get the old, lower Tesla price before they raised it so high. They tried to double my price, but I waited Tesla out and they finally agreed to install the roof at the original agreed upon price.

 

[p993tt]

This just happened to me as well. After spending countless time following up on my solar roof order over a year, Tesla recently cancelled my order abruptly. I was at the stage that Tesla was working on a permit to my town. After receiving the cancellation email, I quickly reached out to Tesla and they emailed and called me that my order was cancelled due to a mistake and they would be reinstating my order in few days and there is nothing to be concerned. Today after about a week later, my project advisor just called me and gave me a complete different story. She said that they are not doing solar roof installation in my area(NJ) any more and the contact said that they can cancel an order any time before the installation begins. There is nothing they can do about it. I was aware of the cancellation clause in the contract and have heard that this is happening to other people, but didn't realize that the same thing was going to happen to me. I own two Tesla vehicles and have been a huge fan ever since I got my first Tesla Model Y with FSD. What a waste of time. This completely throws off my construction project in progress and now I have to struggle to find an alternate solution quickly. This is really terrible! Please share if you had a similar experience.

 

[traxila]

This just happened to me as well. After spending countless time following up on my solar roof order over a year, Tesla recently cancelled my order abruptly. I was at the stage that Tesla was working on a permit to my town. After receiving the cancellation email, I quickly reached out to Tesla and they emailed and called me that my order was cancelled due to a mistake and they would be reinstating my order in few days and there is nothing to be concerned. Today after about a week later, my project advisor just called me and gave me a complete different story. She said that they are not doing solar roof installation in my area(NJ) any more and the contact said that they can cancel an order any time before the installation begins. There is nothing they can do about it. I was aware of the cancellation clause in the contract and have heard that this is happening to other people, but didn't realize that the same thing was going to happen to me. I own two Tesla vehicles and have been a huge fan ever since I got my first Tesla Model Y with FSD. What a waste of time. This completely throws off my construction project in progress and now I have to struggle to find an alternate solution quickly. This is really terrible! Please share if you had a similar experience.

Preach, brother!

TSLA shareholder since 2013.

First Model S March 2013.

My whole project was based on Tesla Solar Roof and passive / near passive construction.

Two years later I have everything ready to go but the roof.

 

[Beasts]

We just got an estimate for a Tesla Solar Roof. It is just a verbal estimate but it does include tearing off the old roof (1 layer) and does not include replacing the gutters. A more accurate estimate would have cost us $150.00 Before doing that I worked up some figures:
Total cost $350,000.00 calculated by Tesla as 10 times just a roof replacement
Tax credit -$105,000.00 30%
Cost of roof only -$35,000.00
_______________
Cost of solar part of roof $210,000.00 the figure I used to calculate payback
Our cost for electricity is about $500.00/month, $6,000.00/year. Using those figures our payback time would be 35 years and that does not include any Powerwalls, at $12,000.00 each, and the contractor suggested getting 6 ($72,000.00), adding 12 more years to the payback time. A total of 47 years!!!
I subtracted the roof only figure since we would have to pay that anyway. All of the figures were given to me by Tesla. The system they would be installing was 30 KwH. Their estimate for payback was 17 to 20 years. When I discussed my figures with them their only comment was that they took into account inflation of electricity costs. In the 20+ years we have lived in this home there has been very little price increase and we are at $.11 per kWh plus service charge and tax of $.02 per kWh.
Please consider everything above and tell me why anyone would consider such a purchase.
I spoke with a representative of our electric coop today and he offered information which further strengthened my choice to say no. Taking our usage into account and that the system described above would only provide 82% of our needs he figured that only half of our monthly bill would be covered. How that math makes sense I have no idea but I think that maybe he wasn't taking the Powerwalls into account. It may also be because we live in the third worst state for solar (Ohio). With the figures calculated by the coop rep our payback time would increase to somewhere around 90 years!
Another comparison he made was the cost difference between purchasing and setting up solar panels in a field - $2.25 to $2.50/KW - and doing the same with a solar roof - $7/KW without Powerwalls and $9.40/KW with - again, subtracting the cost of a normal roof, $35,000 in our case.
Well hell, (pardon me) even without the coop's input my decision was made but the individual from the coop took over an hour with me, carefully answered all of my questions and had well considered responses. We had an excellent conversation regarding the electric providers situation regarding replacing coal and gas with renewables. I still think that they have to put more effort into the change but I appreciate their situation better.
I did offer to let them put a wind turbine on our property but they are about $3,000,000.00 each so I passed.
Beasts

 

[BGbreeder]

Given Ohio's low power costs, and NW Ohio's tendency toward sustained overcast, I don't think solar is a great option, and certainly not at those prices. I think that you are considering the right things!

Good luck!

BG

 

[p993tt]

Preach, brother!

TSLA shareholder since 2013.

First Model S March 2013.

My whole project was based on Tesla Solar Roof and passive / near passive construction.

Two years later I have everything ready to go but the roof.

@traxila What did you decide to do for your project?

 

[traxila]

@traxila What did you decide to do for your project?

Appreciate you asking.

We are floundering. We have plywood up now and are trying to figure out how to move forward.

We are considering a metal standing seam roof as a good option for attaching Solar panels, which of course we still want. The problem now is we are scrambling to find contractors for roofing and solar, preferably combined, and it is difficult to even get a response. And everyone wants to talk to you for an hour instead of giving estimates based on the plans we can provide and the building that we already have.

And then there is the battery issue which we absolutely want as well.

So short answer is nothing...