Solarglass Roof - V3 - any customers?

[jerjozwik]

@BlackM3 @woferry i was not going to bother uploading my house because it seems i was the odd one out here, with a home smaller than average.

since tesla told me they were not interested in working with me i had called a local solar company.
just got their proposal on friday and was surprised to see they fit nearly a 10kw system on my property.

im going to be re building my roof soon so i asked them to add another two panels where the roof ventilation pipes are, since those can likely be rearranged.

 

[jboy210]

@BlackM3 @woferry i was not going to bother uploading my house because it seems i was the odd one out here, with a home smaller than average.

since tesla told me they were not interested in working with me i had called a local solar company.
just got their proposal on friday and was surprised to see they fit nearly a 10kw system on my property.View attachment 502786

im going to be re building my roof soon so i asked them to add another two panels where the roof ventilation pipes are, since those can likely be rearranged.

Looks nice.

Is that your garage or mother-in-law suite in the lower part with panels on all roofs?

 

[jerjozwik]

Is that your garage or mother-in-law suite in the lower part with panels on all roofs?

it seems tesla thought it was an occupied structure, hence the pathetic kW system size they proposed. rather then talking to me and discussing the property they just said "TOO SMALL, NEXT!"

It is a detached garage, which does not have the same fire code requirements so the solar company was able to fit as many panels as physically possible there.

 

[jboy210]

it seems tesla thought it was an occupied structure, hence the pathetic kW system size they proposed. rather then talking to me and discussing the property they just said "TOO SMALL, NEXT!"

It is a detached garage, which does not have the same fire code requirements so the solar company was able to fit as many panels as physically possible there.

Interesting point about the fire codes. So the number of panels would be restricted by the fire code. Also, did you communications with Tesla include the availability of the garage? We called and spoke for 20 minute the rep before they did the planning on our house.

Although having my X and wife's Model 3 LR in the garage I would hope the fire proofing was just as good as the rest of the home. We have the garage walls all wall boarded and are having custom cabinets installed in there and the floor epoxied.

 

[charlesj]

Boy, that is great. Glad they are using those micro inverters. I Have them, not those, and I think you will likewise like them.
You will be able to monitor each panel's output and be amazed how they are easily affected by who know what.
You'd think that at high noon or close to it, all panels will be almost the same. Not the case though.
I observe them to be the closes when the light is diffused and very even, surprisingly.

Will you be adding batteries? Now is the time to plan for them, what and where to have the breakers.

Enjoy.

ps. what will be the roof covering

 

[boed]

This is a great thread - thanks for sharing so much info! I was having a hard time finding any forums on V3 with people who had good info.

 

[Saizzz]

Although work isn't starting until tomorrow, a crew of eight rolled up today in rental cars to scope out the install. They were all flown in from CT. My wife and I were both working from home and we came out of the house surprised they were here a day early. They confirmed they were only checking out the location details and each of them introduced themselves and shook our hands. Impressed so far with the process and the people involved. I'll upload images and timelapse here for those who might want to see more details.

 

[jboy210]

Although work isn't starting until tomorrow, a crew of eight rolled up today in rental cars to scope out the install. They were all flown in from CT. My wife and I were both working from home and we came out of the house surprised they were here a day early. They confirmed they were only checking out the location details and each of them introduced themselves and shook our hands. Impressed so far with the process and the people involved. I'll upload images and timelapse here for those who might want to see more details.

Looking forward to following the progress. Thanks for sharing the info with all of us!

 

[jjrandorin]

Looking forward to following the progress. Thanks for sharing the info with all of us!

+1 . Bookmarked the photos page.

Thanks for sharing!

 

[CSFTN]

@BlackM3 @woferry i was not going to bother uploading my house because it seems i was the odd one out here, with a home smaller than average.

since tesla told me they were not interested in working with me i had called a local solar company.
just got their proposal on friday and was surprised to see they fit nearly a 10kw system on my property.View attachment 502786

im going to be re building my roof soon so i asked them to add another two panels where the roof ventilation pipes are, since those can likely be rearranged.

Is south to the right?

 

[jerjozwik]

Interesting point about the fire codes. So the number of panels would be restricted by the fire code.

occupied structures need the 3 feet clear along any roofing edge (peak, creases, step changes). so they can smash the *sugar* out of your roof if you are on fire and are in need of assistance. im sure the rest of the fire code still applies to all structures on the property, just not the 3 feet smash walking zone.

i sure as hell hope tesla knows the fire code and they did know it was a detached garage. i even told them that should be the primary generator, everything else is secondary.

Will you be adding batteries? Now is the time to plan for them, what and where to have the breakers.
ps. what will be the roof covering

roof is going to be a 30 year standard roof. still deciding of the roof contractor so the covering is still up in the air.
we would like to add some batteries but this is already a hefty sum, i need to be saving up for my triple motor!!!

Is south to the right?

south is down in my attachments.

 

[jjrandorin]

Having just had powerwalls installed, I could no longer envision ever having solar without SOME sort of battery storage (and consumption monitoring).

 

[jerjozwik]

i was a little surprised that the powerwall can only run a "few" breakers in the panel. so its not like you can run your whole house on it. just... the kitchen, or the lights, or my water heater.

 

[jjrandorin]

i was a little surprised that the powerwall can only run a "few" breakers in the panel. so its not like you can run your whole house on it. just... the kitchen, or the lights, or my water heater.

Where are you getting that (incorrect) information from? My entire house is backed up on my 2 powerwalls, with the exception of my 60amp breaker for my car charger. Multiple people here have whole home backup, including pool pumps etc.

Now, maybe you mean "with only 1 powerwall"? For whole home backup you will need 2 or maybe 3 powerwalls depending on your loads but it powerwall(s) can absolutely back up an entire house.

 

[patrick40363]

i was a little surprised that the powerwall can only run a "few" breakers in the panel. so its not like you can run your whole house on it. just... the kitchen, or the lights, or my water heater.

2 powerwalls run my whole house.

 

[jboy210]

i was a little surprised that the powerwall can only run a "few" breakers in the panel. so its not like you can run your whole house on it. just... the kitchen, or the lights, or my water heater.

5Kw is the continous rating per PowerWall (7Kw peak for 10 seconds). If you have an all electric kitchen, A/C, and water heater I could see those loads consuming that.

We have natural gas cooktop and on demand water heater (still use electricity for fan). And 2 Powerwalls were enough to meet the demands of the rest of the 5 bedroom house even with electric oven and warming drawer, A/C, and heated bathroom floor.

 

[jboy210]

occupied structures need the 3 feet clear along any roofing edge (peak, creases, step changes). so they can smash the *sugar* out of your roof if you are on fire and are in need of assistance. im sure the rest of the fire code still applies to all structures on the property, just not the 3 feet smash walking zone.
.

Interesting. I always thought the 3 foot ridge clearance was for fire dept to smash ventilation holes to get the heat out of the structure. I can't imagine they would want me to escape or rescue via hot attic versus going in or out a window.

 

[boed]

I'm starting to design a new house from scratch. While I don't have any gables, there are a number of angles. Has anyone here gotten approval for a v3 with such a roof? I can't explain why but I really want a Tesla roof and might consider changes based on my likelyhood to get approval.

 

[jboy210]

I'm starting to design a new house from scratch. While I don't have any gables, there are a number of angles. Has anyone here gotten approval for a v3 with such a roof? I can't explain why but I really want a Tesla roof and might consider changes based on my likelyhood to get approval.

The issues seems to be the 3 feet on each side of a ridge line required by fire codes (to cut vent holes) to be free of solar panels. If you have a lot of ridge lines and small contiguous roof spaces there many be issues. After you subtract the ridge offset space it may not leave a lot of room for the active panels in the roof. That coupled with the slightly lower yield for the solarglass roof active panel/tile versus traditional solar panel can lead to not enough power yield to make the Solarglass roof a viable option.

Also, you may want to check into the time lines for you location. Right now California seems to be the only place where Solarglass roofs are being installed.

 

[wwhitney]

The issues seems to be the 3 feet on each side of a ridge line required by fire codes (to cut vent holes) to be free of solar panels.

The requirements have recently relaxed somewhat, at least in California. You can read the current requirements here: Searchable platform for building codes

It used to be 36" on either side of any hip or ridge. Now it is only horizontal ridges, and it's 18" on either side if the projected area of the solar array is not more than 33% of the roof projected area, or 36" if it the array is larger.

Cheers, Wayne