Solar roof proposal

[marty2112]

Hello,

Curious to see if folks have been successful negotiating their solar roof quotes/proposals. Seems like I'm getting a "max" design cost up front. Which leads me to believe there is room for discounting?

Thx.

 

[jboy210]

Hello,

Curious to see if folks have been successful negotiating their solar roof quotes/proposals. Seems like I'm getting a "max" design cost up front. Which leads me to believe there is room for discounting?

Thx.

Are we talking a SolarGlass roof or solar on an existing roof. Pretty sure the SolarGlass roof is like the cars. The price is the price. Adding solar panels to a existing roof might be a bit more negotiable because there is competition.

 

[jboy210]

You can surely adjust size and features which will change the bottom line.

 

[marty2112]

Sorry. This is for the SG Roof. I've confirmed price is the price. Going down the path of adjusting system capacity as needed. Thx

 

[jboy210]

Sorry. This is for the SG Roof. I've confirmed price is the price. Going down the path of adjusting system capacity as needed. Thx

Best of luck. With PG&E doing PSPS every fall for the next decade of so, I think Tesla knows that have a captive market for PWs and SG roofs

 

[Tomkat]

Sorry. This is for the SG Roof. I've confirmed price is the price. Going down the path of adjusting system capacity as needed. Thx

Will you be getting a new roof decking material under the tiles as well? I’ve contacted Tesla a number of times about whether that is part of the “installation cost” or if I would have to pay for new decking on top of the installation but no one had a clear answer for me.

 

[jboy210]

Will you be getting a new roof decking material under the tiles as well? I’ve contacted Tesla a number of times about whether that is part of the “installation cost” or if I would have to pay for new decking on top of the installation but no one had a clear answer for me.

I am pretty sure new decking is not quoted as part of the base quote online and initial plan. Once you commit to buy that plan they will send someone to your house to go up in the attic and check out the decking from underneath as best they can. They will also go up on your roof and see if there are issues with trim, water damage, etc. And open your electrical panels and see if you need to get an upgrade. After they did this on our house there were a couple new items for repair of trim and service upgrades. So if you need new decking sheets I would expect to see extra costs.

 

[Tomkat]

Sorry. This is for the SG Roof. I've confirmed price is the price. Going down the path of adjusting system capacity as needed. Thx

Will you be getting a new roofing material under the tiles as well? I’ve contacted Tesla a number of times about whether that is part of the “installation cost” or if I would have to pay for new

I am pretty sure new decking is not quoted as part of the base quote online and initial plan. Once you commit to buy that plan they will send someone to your house to go up in the attic and check out the decking from underneath as best they can. They will also go up on your roof and see if there are issues with trim, water damage, etc. And open your electrical panels and see if you need to get an upgrade. After they did this on our house there were a couple new items for repair of trim and service upgrades. So if you need new decking sheets I would expect to see extra costs.

thanks for the info.
I am likely going to need a new roof soon and also want solar so I guess I’ll just factor the extra stuff into my budgeting.
Where are you located. I’m in the north east and have only seen installs in warm climates.

 

[jboy210]

thanks for the info.
I am likely going to need a new roof soon and also want solar so I guess I’ll just factor the extra stuff into my budgeting.
Where are you located. I’m in the north east and have only seen installs in warm climates.

We were in the same situation, needed a new roof and wanted solar. And my wife was not a fan of panels on the roof.

I am in the SF Bay Area of California. It is already high 60s/low 70s here but it is still raining every few days.

If you are someplace where it still gets wet often you can expect the install to be slowed down at times. The roof when wet is like wet glass (since it is glass). Therefore, once they get a lot of panels of glass on the roof and are forced to walk on them the roofers need to ensure the surface is dry to prevent falls before getting to work.

As far as installs experience goes, Tesla had subcontractors from around the country here in the Bay Area until the state locked down. I heard there were crews from the Midwest and all along the East Coast working here and getting experience.

 

[Tomkat]

We were in the same situation, needed a new roof and wanted solar. And my wife was not a fan of panels on the roof.

I am in the SF Bay Area of California. It is already high 60s/low 70s here but it is still raining every few days.

If you are someplace where it still gets wet often you can expect the install to be slowed down at times. The roof when wet is like wet glass (since it is glass). Therefore, once they get a lot of panels of glass on the roof and are forced to walk on them the roofers need to ensure the surface is dry to prevent falls before getting to work.

As far as installs experience goes, Tesla had subcontractors from around the country here in the Bay Area until the state locked down. I heard there were crews from the Midwest and all along the East Coast working here and getting experience.

I’m in NJ.
I know they’re still trying to get more contractors trained out here. I’m curious how the tiles fair in the winter.
With the extra repairs and upgrades how much more was the roof for you compared to when your first looked it up on the site?Twice as much?

 

[jboy210]

I’m in NJ.
I know they’re still trying to get more contractors trained out here. I’m curious how the tiles fair in the winter.
With the extra repairs and upgrades how much more was the roof for you compared to when your first looked it up on the site?Twice as much?

The cost was exactly what they quoted initially. The repairs/mods they thought they needed turned out to be very minor. Took the guys maybe an couple of hours to extends some rafter tails and put up a 8 X 1 sheet of decking. The rest of the decking was pristine.

Are you expecting to have to replace the decking? Do you have leaks? Is the plywood/OSB decking shot?

They include removal of your old roof down to the decking as part of the replacement roof price. This was the same in all the roof bids we got. Then Tesla puts this underlayment (or an equivalent) on top of the plywood which acts as a water barrier. They then install the solar glass on top of the underlayment. So in the end our roof from our attic out is rafters (2X8 or bigger), Plywood or OSB decking (4 X 8 sheets of wood), underlayment, and solarglass.

 

[Tomkat]

The cost was exactly what they quoted. The repairs/mods they thought they needed turned out to be very minor. Took the guys maybe an couple of hours to extends some rafter tails and put up a 8 X 1 sheet of decking. The rest of the decking was pristine.

Are you expecting to have to replace the decking? Do you have leaks? Is the plywood/OSB decking shot?

They include removal of your old roof down to the decking as part of the replacement roof price. This was the same in all the roof bids we got. Then Tesla puts this underlayment (or an equivalent) on top of the plywood which acts as a water barrier. They then install the solar glass on top of the underlayment. So in the end our roof from our attic out is rafters (2X8 or bigger), Plywood or OSB decking (4 X 8 sheets of wood), underlayment, and solarglass.

Oh that’s great, thanks for breaking down the whole thing.
I recently purchased my house which is 90 years old and I have the paperwork from the last reroofing which was 20 years ago and only mentions partial repair of decking. So I’m assuming most of it is old decking.
I don’t have any evidence of leaks and the attic is somewhat finished with drywall on the rafters so I can’t check the condition of the decking without tearing the drywall up and I don’t wanna do that unless I have to.
I think after this situation clears up I’ll just cave and pay the $100 for a full quote/roof survey from Tesla. They just make it seem like you have to commit 100% from the get go.

 

[jboy210]

Oh that’s great, thanks for breaking down the whole thing.
I recently purchased my house which is 90 years old and I have the paperwork from the last reroofing which was 20 years ago and only mentions partial repair of decking. So I’m assuming most of it is old decking.
I don’t have any evidence of leaks and the attic is somewhat finished with drywall on the rafters so I can’t check the condition of the decking without tearing the drywall up and I don’t wanna do that unless I have to.
I think after this situation clears up I’ll just cave and pay the $100 for a full quote/roof survey from Tesla. They just make it seem like you have to commit 100% from the get go.

Sounds good. After you have the site survey you will then get a proposed layout of the roof with a quote detailing the work and costs. You can then make a buy or pass or negotiate change decision.

 

[Tomkat]

Sounds good. After you have the site survey you will then get a proposed layout of the roof with a quote detailing the work and costs. You can then make a buy or pass or negotiate change decision.

Oh awesome. I wish they had told me that on the phone. Thanks again.

 

[jboy210]

Oh awesome. I wish they had told me that on the phone. Thanks again.

No problem. Also, on our they gave us a couple of pre-defined options.

If you are bored sometime you might want to scan through this thread. There are several people that have posted their configurations plans and quotes. My configuration is there.

 

[pilotSteve]

Any new updates? I've just submitted my order for Solar Roof and 4 PowerWalls for a new (to us) home in AZ that requires a roof replacement.

The initial estimate from Tesla is:

17.25 kW Solar Roof +4 Powerwalls
Price before incentives $. 88,307
AZ Solar Credit $ -1,000
Fed Tax Credit $-19,460
Price after Incentives $70,507.67

Does this seem realistic?

I estimate a replacement composition roof would be $15-18k, and 16.3kw panels + 4 Powerwalls installed by Tesla was $56,500

So beak-even would suggest a budget of about $14k for a conventional re-roof.

Probably does not save much (if any) but I think the aesthetics of solar roof is nicer than panels+racking on top of composite roof.

Thoughts? Suggestions would be welcome!

 

[wjgjr]

Any new updates? I've just submitted my order for Solar Roof and 4 PowerWalls for a new (to us) home in AZ that requires a roof replacement.

The initial estimate from Tesla is:

17.25 kW Solar Roof +4 Powerwalls
Price before incentives $. 88,307
AZ Solar Credit $ -1,000
Fed Tax Credit $-19,460
Price after Incentives $70,507.67

Does this seem realistic?

I estimate a replacement composition roof would be $15-18k, and 16.3kw panels + 4 Powerwalls installed by Tesla was $56,500

So beak-even would suggest a budget of about $14k for a conventional re-roof.

Probably does not save much (if any) but I think the aesthetics of solar roof is nicer than panels+racking on top of composite roof.

Thoughts? Suggestions would be welcome!

I think that is Tesla's goal - to price solar roof roughly equal to solar panels + new (basic) roof. We went with the solar roof because we preferred the look and we needed a new roof in the next few years. (Coming from an older home with slate roof, we still compared the price to a basic asphalt shingle, though we may have chosen a more expensive roofing material had we gone with new roof + panels.)

It seems like you are getting a slightly larger system (though probably better to compare estimated annual production) for slightly less than roof + solar, and - at least in my opinion - the look of the roof with integrated solar is a bonus.

 

[jboy210]

Any new updates? I've just submitted my order for Solar Roof and 4 PowerWalls for a new (to us) home in AZ that requires a roof replacement.

The initial estimate from Tesla is:

17.25 kW Solar Roof +4 Powerwalls
Price before incentives $. 88,307
AZ Solar Credit $ -1,000
Fed Tax Credit $-19,460
Price after Incentives $70,507.67

Does this seem realistic?

I estimate a replacement composition roof would be $15-18k, and 16.3kw panels + 4 Powerwalls installed by Tesla was $56,500

So beak-even would suggest a budget of about $14k for a conventional re-roof.

Probably does not save much (if any) but I think the aesthetics of solar roof is nicer than panels+racking on top of composite roof.

Thoughts? Suggestions would be welcome!

Your system is considerably larger than ours (12kW + 2 PW) and we will end up paying close to $75K before incentives and credits. And even at our price just the solarglass roof and inverters was close to a 9kW Panasonic panel system plus a new cement tile roof from a large roofing and solar contractor.

So the prices have really dropped quite a bit. Definitely looks like good value for the money.