Solar Roof Underlayment Change?

[MXDogCrate]

Thanks for posting all of this! Makes me wonder what underlayment originally got installed for the guy in Florida who had so many problems.

Reached out to the editor/author of the article asking if he knew what brand of underlayment was used especially in light of the Firestone pics.

also fits with the trend of using more-and-more Tesla, or Tesla-branded, product line, and less and less third party branded equipment.

It’s definitely FT Synthetic’s product, but the branding is good marketing. Everyone in the neighborhood is asking about Tesla Energy now.

 

[Jbizzel29]

Hi all,
I live in central Florida, and am having Tesla Solar Shingles Installed for my new roof. I am currently in limbo as we are waiting for an installation date. We are being told that Tesla is switching the underlayment from Firestone to a product called Cobalt. My Solar advisor is telling me that we are in a holding pattern as we are waiting for this new underlayment to be approved in state of Florida. Product requires a Florida approval Code. Is anyone else hearing the same thing in Florida??? My advisor also is saying that Tesla is expecting the product to become approved very soon. Anyone else having any delay issues??

 

[Jbizzel29]

I am in Central Florida (Orlando area) and I’m just a few days from stating a Tesla roof install. They quoted Firestone roof material, I wonder if they will try an substitute another type.

I also got a generic email asking me to re sign the quote, they have raised my price from $72k to over $80k without any explanation. No one will return a phone call or respond to email. I was able to text the Tesla employee that did the on-site inspection Oct 1st 2020, he has no clue and asked me to email him the “details”. Still no response from Tesla.

Their solar sales process is a nightmare. I started the process a full year ago.

 

[trautmane2]

Anyone else having any delay issues?

My install (in Northern Virginia) is still scheduled for mid-November. I haven't heard any mention of delays because of the underlayment change, but as you probably already know Tesla's communication with customers is limited. I've seen others mention that building code regulations are more stringent in Florida because of the hurricanes - so it's not surprising that there is wait for approval.

In case you are interested, there's a bunch of discussion and pictures about some recent installs (and underlayment) on @MXDogCrate 's thread here:
Solar Roof Installation Tips

 

[rebel1996]

Hi all,
I live in central Florida, and am having Tesla Solar Shingles Installed for my new roof. I am currently in limbo as we are waiting for an installation date. We are being told that Tesla is switching the underlayment from Firestone to a product called Cobalt. My Solar advisor is telling me that we are in a holding pattern as we are waiting for this new underlayment to be approved in state of Florida. Product requires a Florida approval Code. Is anyone else hearing the same thing in Florida??? My advisor also is saying that Tesla is expecting the product to become approved very soon. Anyone else having any delay issues??

So I kicked off Tues Oct 20 - Sat Oct 24 , so 5 days of tear off, new plywood sheathing, and they did use Firestone underlayment with 2 layers. Tesla started Monday Oct 26 - Nov 3 just 7 working days, for the full solar roof install. 12 days overall. That doesn’t include the actual inverters or powerwalls, that’s starting next week.

 

[trautmane2]

Looks great!

new plywood sheathing

It's interesting to me that you needed new plywood, since I was guessing that the plywood step would be more patching a few problem spots than replacing everything. How much of your plywood was replaced?

 

[rebel1996]

Looks great!



It's interesting to me that you needed new plywood, since I was guessing that the plywood step would be more patching a few problem spots than replacing everything. How much of your plywood was replaced?

They noticed in their first on-site visit, just 6 days before scheduled start date, that my roof was build on 6” boards, mostly in perfect shape but the gap between boards made it unsuitable for solar attachment, now I have thick 6” boards AND ~1/2” of plywood, then 2 layers of Firestone underlayment

 

[jboy210]

They noticed in their first on-site visit, just 6 days before scheduled start date, that my roof was build on 6” boards, mostly in perfect shape but the gap between boards made it unsuitable for solar attachment, now I have thick 6” boards AND ~1/2” of plywood, then 2 layers of Firestone underlayment

Did you have wood shingles before?

 

[trautmane2]

FT Cobalt FR got delivered to my driveway last night, so I suppose that's the new standard for east coast installs too.

The packing label shows it was shipped from British Columbia to Hayward, CA (and then across the country to me in northern Virginia).

The label looks very similar to @MXDogCrate 's here:

Pictures attached. The driver stated this was the “new, improved underlayment”

The Gross Weight of 1278 LB is wrong - at least for this pallet, but maybe I just don't understand what it represents.

The "MADE IN CHINA" label is also interesting since the FT Synthetics web site (https://www.ftsyn.com/about-us/) gave me the impression that their manufacturing was in North America.

 

[trautmane2]

Said they made the switch for two reasons: 1. They do not need to overlap and can put it down in single ply; and 2. It has a texture on it to allow them to move around easier.

Just to wrap this up ... my installers mentioned these justifications for the new underlayment plus one more: 3. the adhesive backing for the new underlayment is viable at lower temperatures allowing for more winter installs.

Everyone I spoke to on my job - the teardown/underlayment install guys and the Tesla solar roof install crews - said they prefer working with the new underlayment. As someone else mentioned, the marketing aspect of having the Tesla label all over the place is also a great idea since the underlayment can sit exposed for weeks before it is completely covered by tiles.

Here's what that looked like on the back of my house:

 

[slave0418]

Hi all,
I live in central Florida, and am having Tesla Solar Shingles Installed for my new roof. I am currently in limbo as we are waiting for an installation date. We are being told that Tesla is switching the underlayment from Firestone to a product called Cobalt. My Solar advisor is telling me that we are in a holding pattern as we are waiting for this new underlayment to be approved in state of Florida. Product requires a Florida approval Code. Is anyone else hearing the same thing in Florida??? My advisor also is saying that Tesla is expecting the product to become approved very soon. Anyone else having any delay issues??

My underlayment was installed yesterday and it is Firestone. Central Florida.

 

[jboy210]

My underlayment was installed yesterday and it is Firestone. Central Florida.

interesting. That is the stuff they put on our roof. So far, so good.

 

[jjwhatyousay]

Just getting our water & ice underlayment installed for the Tesla roof. They are using a Cobalt Ultra (synthetic) product, not the previous Firestone underlayment.
Anyone have any experience, good or bad with this?

(moderator note: moved to thread on solar roof underlayment)

 

[gigawatt1010]

Just passing time and surfing through and found this. I am in the middle of my roof install in NY and the guys said they still use the Firestone underlayment in areas that don't get snow or freezing cold. For us in the North East, they are using the FT Synthetics/Tesla branded underlayment due to the cold weather resistance of the glue.

As far as the branding, between the 2-3 Tesla branded work trucks in my driveway everyday and workers with Tesla hard hats and Tesla clothes, it has our whole development buzzing and curious about the product. The guy that owns and develops our community even inquired and would like to use Tesla Solar Glass in all of his future build in our development. I gave him my referral code, if he uses it for every house that he builds going forward, I'd be set.

 

[Powderkeg]

I live in Central Florida and had my solar roof installed the middle of March.

The installers stated they only use the Tesla brand now and discontinued the Firestone stuff around the first of the year.

Not sure if that is nationwide or just in this area.

 

[jboy210]

Just passing time and surfing through and found this. I am in the middle of my roof install in NY and the guys said they still use the Firestone underlayment in areas that don't get snow or freezing cold. For us in the North East, they are using the FT Synthetics/Tesla branded underlayment due to the cold weather resistance of the glue.

As far as the branding, between the 2-3 Tesla branded work trucks in my driveway everyday and workers with Tesla hard hats and Tesla clothes, it has our whole development buzzing and curious about the product. The guy that owns and develops our community even inquired and would like to use Tesla Solar Glass in all of his future build in our development. I gave him my referral code, if he uses it for every house that he builds going forward, I'd be set.

If the developer uses your code everywhere I see a Roadster in your future.

 

[jboy210]

Just getting our water & ice underlayment installed for the Tesla roof. They are using a Cobalt Ultra (synthetic) product, not the previous Firestone underlayment.
Anyone have any experience, good or bad with this?

If you search there are several threads on this change. The consensus seems to be that it works fine and is less slippery for the installers to walk on. Also, Firestone seemed to have some issues with using their underlayment in residential construction.

 

[gigawatt1010]

"From your words to Elon's ears..." LOL

Sadly, I don't think the New Roadster is still up for grabs via referrals. I don't even benefit that much from my referrals with Supercharging miles since I have FUSC on both cars. Last I heard, I get entered to a monthly or quarterly drawing for a Model Y if people use my code, but I honestly haven't heard from anyone that won a Model Y through referrals.

Good to dream though

 

[MP3Mike]

Last I heard, I get entered to a monthly or quarterly drawing for a Model Y if people use my code, but I honestly haven't heard from anyone that won a Model Y through referrals.

I have heard of a couple winners. One was trying to sell his Model Y on TMC and got a lot of grief over selling his prize. (I suspect most winners don't announce themselves.)

 

[gigawatt1010]

I have heard of a couple winners. One was trying to sell his Model Y on TMC and got a lot of grief over selling his prize. (I suspect most winners don't announce themselves.)

Good to know the raffle was actually real. I guess they just covertly contact the winners?