Solar roof and battery info

[Larry]

We are building a new home and I will need a roof etc in late summer early fall 2017. I've called Solar City and Tesla and they have no clue on anything other then existing homes to add on solar. As well, they were not helpful at all regarding directing me to the correct department.
Does anyone have any idea where or whom I can contact? It seems absurd to put out a video that lets us know how incredible the roof is then not have any service reps that can help.
Thanks

 

[pilotSteve]

They will have comprehensive answers, price and spec sheets "soon".... Elon time!

 

[ecarfan]

It seems absurd to put out a video that lets us know how incredible the roof is then not have any service reps that can help.

Cast your mind back to the Tesla Energy launch event in May 2015 when the Powerwall was launched. That night I submitted my name and address to be put on the list to get a Powerwall. 9 months later I got a phone call saying one was available, and now I have one on my garage, connected to my solar.

My point is that Tesla announces products long before they are ready to sell them. They are not the only company to do this, of course. So does Apple.

You are going to have to wait, and you won't be given any information as to how long you will have to wait.

 

[miimura]

We are building a new home and I will need a roof etc in late summer early fall 2017. I've called Solar City and Tesla and they have no clue on anything other then existing homes to add on solar. As well, they were not helpful at all regarding directing me to the correct department.
Does anyone have any idea where or whom I can contact? It seems absurd to put out a video that lets us know how incredible the roof is then not have any service reps that can help.
Thanks

Honestly, I think your timeframe is too soon to count on Tesla Energy. I would make sure the house is engineered for roof loads equal to tile plus conventional solar. I would also look into NSHP. However, it will require some additional paperwork and whole house performance significantly above Title 24. I did not push for it and regret it now. The solar installer I chose had not done one before and did not put in the paperwork for a reservation before it ran out of funding in 2012. At that time, I could have had a 9.7kW system for less out of pocket than the 4.3kW system I ended up with. I probably also would have had to specify better insulation for the whole house, which I regret not having now.

About the New Solar Homes Partnership - Go Solar California

 

[sbanks]

Has anyone seen any specs on these solar tiles? Specifically their power production?

Last July my house burned down just as I was selecting which solar installer I wanted to use. Now that Tesla's Tiles are on the horizon there is really only one choice for me assuming the specs are right. I have a MS85 (90 mile daily round trip commute) and heat my house (Massachusetts) with a geothermal heat pump so I use a quite a bit of electricity; especially in the winter when my car and house are trying to keep up with cold temps.

That said I would like solar panels (or tiles) that produce a higher than average Watts/inch. If the Tesla tiles are not particularly efficient then I could cover my entire roof and still not produce enough power for my daily needs.

I'll be ready to roof my house come March but can put on a cheap temporary covering while I wait for the tiles to become available however I would hate to do so if their not a viable solution for my power needs.

Any info would be appreciated.

 

[ecarfan]

Has anyone seen any specs on these solar tiles? Specifically their power production?

Tesla has not released any details on their solar roof tiles. And as the OP states, neither SolarCity nor Tesla (now the same company, of course) are willing to provide any information if you call them.

See my post just upthread.

 

[Larry]

Cast your mind back to the Tesla Energy launch event in May 2015 when the Powerwall was launched. That night I submitted my name and address to be put on the list to get a Powerwall. 9 months later I got a phone call saying one was available, and now I have one on my garage, connected to my solar.

My point is that Tesla announces products long before they are ready to sell them. They are not the only company to do this, of course. So does Apple.

You are going to have to wait, and you won't be given any information as to how long you will have to wait.

Makes sense. For me the roof won't work but doesn't mean I can't get a PowerWall. Why did you decide to do the Wall? Primarily as a backup or to get off the grid?
Thanks

 

[WannabeOwner]

We are building a new home and I will need a roof etc in late summer early fall 2017

Just in case of interest: We built an extension a couple of years back; no Solar Tiles available then. Instead of conventional roof (usually tiles or slate over here) we put the solar panels on "wriggly tin", and where then able to fit the surrounding slate roof "flush" to the solar panels. It looks OK (i.e. compared to bolt-on solar panels protruding above the roof surface) and was cheap to do.

heat my house (Massachusetts) with a geothermal heat pump so I use a quite a bit of electricity; especially in the winter when my car and house are trying to keep up with cold temps.
...
I could cover my entire roof and still not produce enough power for my daily needs.

You are 10 degrees South of London so probably much better off than us Brits? For us we get about only 10% [Solar Insolation] in mid-Winter compared to mid-Summer which is not really enough to do anything with, and at a time when we use the most. I'm contemplating a wind turbine, to supplement the solar panels (obviously it will provide during night too, as well as more-in-Winter than Summer), just not sure that my wind is good enough to make a "Wind Flower" worthwhile

 

[Ampster]

Has anyone seen any specs on these solar tiles? Specifically their power production?

A general rule of thumb for solar installations is 20 Watts per square foot. I dont imagine the solar tiles will be more dense or more efficient than that.

 

[Swampgator]

Larry,

Did you sign up on Teslas website? I would do that and given that you are in the SF bay area I do think you could get your roof by next fall. Now, what style they release first is anyones guess. I'm guessing slate.
As another poster stated just engineer the roof to support slate tiles and you should be in good shape. You could have the contractor tar paper the roof and it should be good enough to allow dry-in although I'm not sure what the local codes are regarding that. Some areas will not allow the interior work to proceed until an actual roof is on.

 

[Larry]

Larry,

Did you sign up on Teslas website? I would do that and given that you are in the SF bay area I do think you could get your roof by next fall. Now, what style they release first is anyones guess. I'm guessing slate.
As another poster stated just engineer the roof to support slate tiles and you should be in good shape. You could have the contractor tar paper the roof and it should be good enough to allow dry-in although I'm not sure what the local codes are regarding that. Some areas will not allow the interior work to proceed until an actual roof is on.

The timing is just too iffy for me, especially given Tesla time. I'm just going to go with the conventional solar

 

[brucet999]

We are building a new home and I will need a roof etc in late summer early fall 2017. I've called Solar City and Tesla and they have no clue on anything other then existing homes to add on solar. As well, they were not helpful at all regarding directing me to the correct department.
Does anyone have any idea where or whom I can contact? It seems absurd to put out a video that lets us know how incredible the roof is then not have any service reps that can help.
Thanks

You can sign up to get on the waiting list at the bottom of the Solar Roof page on Solar City website:

Our solar roof has integrated solar you can’t see | SolarCity

 

[Larry]

You can sign up to get on the waiting list at the bottom of the Solar Roof page on Solar City website:

Our solar roof has integrated solar you can’t see | SolarCity

Thanks. It's a link to SC evaluating your home for solar. I signed up so we shall see