Solar roof - amazing - crowd mysteriously quiet - awkward

[JohnSnowNW]

The solar roof is going to be expensive. Musk is comparing his roof to having no solar because of aesthetics. I think some people are getting the idea that the roof will be considered affordable by the typical homeowner.

Musk's value proposition is that the cost of Tesla solar roof minus electrical saving is less expensive than a new tile or slate roof. That cost is likely far worse than the ROI of adding conventional solar.

It seemed pretty obvious, to me at least, that the choice of roof design meant that it would only be cost comparative to the types of roofs they emulate. Anyone thinking it's going to be cheaper to install a solar roof instead of asphalt shingling needs to discover context.

 

[mikevbf]

The solar roof is going to be expensive. Musk is comparing his roof to having no solar because of aesthetics. I think some people are getting the idea that the roof will be considered affordable by the typical homeowner.

Musk's value proposition is that the cost of Tesla solar roof minus electrical saving is less expensive than a new tile or slate roof. That cost is likely far worse than the ROI of adding conventional solar.

I think he said something like "no brainer" for people who need to replace their roof and want solar (or maybe he said just electricity). I would agree with you that people who do not need a new roof will probably find it cheaper to install conventional roof mount solar, but would add they might be willing to pay more for the aesthetic benefits.

 

[McRat]

So Elon is unveiling actual roof tiles which match traditional shingles, Spanish tiles and even slate tiles - trick magic - and the crowd is just all quiet.

This is AMAZING - I thought the Solar roof would simply be a giant black slab instead of a roof.

I personally am dumbfounded because building an attractive roof has always been the challenge - until now there have been almost not solar tiles - and certainly not a whole product line which blends in with traditional roofs.

Does this audience not get how innovative this is?

Hmmm, 15 minutes and Elon is off stage - no Powerwall 2 introduction?

I have a 20 foot x 16" sample of the roll on roof material that looks like asphalt shingles, but is not. Looks just exactly like a normal non-tile roof. It is at least 5 years old. The company either collapsed or dropped the product. It would be very easy to install, you can walk on it without slipping in the rain, as the surface is heavily textured like shingles are. Since the rolls are about 20' long and flexible with a wide nail margin, the install would be very fast with few electric connections.

Apparently there was not a market for it. I certainly hope times have changed and will allow the Tesla tiles to be a grand success. Elon has proven history wrong before, he could do it again.

I bought the roll to put on the roof of my motorhome, but we quit national level racing, so sold the MH before I installed it.

 

[lklundin]

Curious... what's the meaning behind your screen name, if you don't mind me asking?

In my understanding it is the biological phenomenon directly responsible for the existence of the adjective part of your user name.

Apologies for interjecting.

 

[AmpedRealtor]

What is the generation capacity? What inverters are paired with this system? What is the cost? Where and when can I get them? No Q&A? I went to Tesla's web site where no such information was forthcoming either. I'm remodeling a house right now and blowing up the roof, I might be interested in this, yet Tesla offers no useful information.

Even at 14 kWh it seems to me that the capacity is severely lacking for anyone who wants to go off grid. Short of severely curtailing your consumption, most Arizona households would need 5 of these to meet their off-peak energy needs.

 

[msnow]

What is the generation capacity? What inverters are paired with this system? What is the cost? Where and when can I get them? No Q&A? I went to Tesla's web site where no such information was forthcoming either. I'm remodeling a house right now and blowing up the roof, I might be interested in this, yet Tesla offers no useful information.

Even at 14 kWh it seems to me that the capacity is severely lacking for anyone who wants to go off grid. Short of severely curtailing your consumption, most Arizona households would need 5 of these to meet their off-peak energy needs.

I thought they published the power generation capacity during the presentation. It's only meant to power a refrigerator and all of your wall sockets for a day. The Powerwalls are also stackable but at $5500 each I dont know how practical that is. The roof tiles look awesome but I was also surprised they didn't reveal the cost per square foot. Perhaps they are just trying to drum up support for the acquisition? << sceptic in me.

 

[aesculus]

It seems possible that the Powerwall 2.0 could have a way to plug a Tesla UMC cable into it directly. But since the Powerwall capacity is only a fraction of the vehicle battery capacity, I don't see why that would be a good approach. Maybe the Powerwall 2.0 could include a pass through from the grid but then you have to position the Powerwall within a certain distance of the car. It seems like a separate HPWC charging unit gives you more flexibility in positioning, and they aren't expensive.

I think the goal is to remove the DC(solar)-AC(house current)-DC(battery)-AC(house current)-DC(car) conversion overhead. So it could still be three components, but all on a DC bus with no conversion losses.

 

[SCW-Greg]

Equivalent tile roofs like that (In our region - NW) run approx $50-60k for homes of those sizes shown - including engineering that supports the weight of real tile. Then add in say 10, 15, or 20 years of electricity, should approx the general range of costs he seems to be insinuating.

 

[J1mbo]

Lots of missing detail, like how does the energy get from the tiles to the battery; is it a single inverter model where one underperfoming tile can bring the perfomance of the whole system down; tile heating was mentioned on Twitter - what powers that if the whole roof is under snow...

 

[EV-lutioin]

They should post info regarding how many years it would take for the roof to pay for itself. That would alleviate the sticker shock.

Sticker shock? Have they posted the price for installing roofs yet?

 

[EarlyAdopter]

They should post info regarding how many years it would take for the roof to pay for itself. That would alleviate the sticker shock.

Why? Does anyone expect their non-solar roof to pay for itself?

I think the better comparison would be to post info regarding how many years it would take for the solar roof to pay for its premium over a standard roof. Then, power production past that point is gravy.

The market for this product is clearly aimed at (and stated for) for the 5 million people a year who buy a new roof.

Retrofit on existing good roof will still remain a market for add-on unsightly panels which I'm sure Tesla/Solar City will continue to cater to.

 

[diamond.g]

I think he said something like "no brainer" for people who need to replace their roof and want solar (or maybe he said just electricity). I would agree with you that people who do not need a new roof will probably find it cheaper to install conventional roof mount solar, but would add they might be willing to pay more for the aesthetic benefits.

Elon said as much during the presentation.

 

[NAVALARCHITECT]

It looked amazing, beautifully executed and integrated into a homes. Excited to see what the future brings, great start.

 

[SΞXY P100D]

Sticker shock? Have they posted the price for installing roofs yet?

It's the Model S of rooftops, so of course I assume it will be pricey. I haven't seen any pricing info yet.

 

[SΞXY P100D]

Why? Does anyone expect their non-solar roof to pay for itself?

I think the better comparison would be to post info regarding how many years it would take for the solar roof to pay for its premium over a standard roof. Then, power production past that point is gravy.

Why not? It's standard practice nowadays, especially when it comes to selling energy efficiency retrofits such as insulated siding, spray foam insulation, etc. A solar roof should fall under this category.

Although, I sort of agree with you on your second point above but roof pricing and quality may vary and not sure if it would be real apples-to-apples comparison. A Tesla roof seems to be vastly different from a standard roof IMO. It's akin to pairing an iPhone vs. a Motorola StarTAC; same "thing", yet totally different.

 

[ReversePolarity]

Maybe its just me but I was somewhat surprised there was no solar roof product thats geared toward commercial buildings.

Understandably, ROI of solar on commercial buildings is probably in the 4-6 year range, but one big problem is that if the roof to your warehouse/office is degraded, the panels can't go in until you've fixed it. So instead of doing a double hit (tens of thousands to replace a roof plus tens of thousands to put up solar panels), it would make sense to just rip the whole roof off and doing a solar roof. I might be over simplifying it in a bit but it feels there'd be much higher volume in commercial due to roofing and such being bigger, as well, as, well, corporate budgets to do this sort of thing.

 

[Rarity]

Looks much better than I thought it would. The slate and the Tuscan tile are very nice especially. The others are a little shiny for my taste -- I prefer matte. In any event, perhaps this will be the first compelling building-integrated photovoltaics product ever on the market.

Slate roofs are super expensive, so I can imagine that there is room in that part of the premium market. Other companies that have been unsuccessful have seemed to go after the cheap fiberglass shingle market.

I don't know how they will sell it -- through roofers? Direct? I do know that the premium market may value different factors, such as reputable workmen who do what they say they will when they say they will, over strict dollars and cents.

I also am interested in whether the tax credit is applicable to the entire roof. Great, if so.

 

[Dr. Smoke]

Well they're glass tiles, so it's a cinch they won't be coming in rolls, which means individual connectors, maybe designed to be daisy-chained.

Probably 3 of the 4 styles are made from the same base glass tile and photocell, so economy of scale in production.

Did no one else notice he said the 'slate' tiles have that look with hydrographics? For those who don't know, this is a thin friggin' decal. I can't believe it would last more than 5 years on a roof.

There's no commercial version because commercial rooves are almost always not visible, so cheaper PV panels are fine.

 

[pthill65]

@Dr. Smoke
I think the graphics might be under the tempered glass; looks that way on the website. If not, I share your concern.

 

[FlatSix911]

What is the generation capacity? What inverters are paired with this system? What is the cost? Where and when can I get them? No Q&A? I went to Tesla's web site where no such information was forthcoming either. I'm remodeling a house right now and blowing up the roof, I might be interested in this, yet Tesla offers no useful information.

Even at 14 kWh it seems to me that the capacity is severely lacking for anyone who wants to go off grid. Short of severely curtailing your consumption, most Arizona households would need 5 of these to meet their off-peak energy needs.

I thought they published the power generation capacity during the presentation. It's only meant to power a refrigerator and all of your wall sockets for a day. The Powerwalls are also stackable but at $5500 each I dont know how practical that is. The roof tiles look awesome but I was also surprised they didn't reveal the cost per square foot. Perhaps they are just trying to drum up support for the acquisition? << sceptic in me.