Tesla Glass Tile Solar Roof Update

[PhatCat]

I placed a reservation for my house in Big Island, Hawaii. The house sits on the side of a hill with the main portion facing south with wings facing SSE and SSW, so pretty much optimal for constant power production. The recommendation is for 40% coverage and 3 PW. As others have noted, i could find no way to get the kwh produced, but i strongly suspect it well exceeds my needs. When we priced a PV system with Solar City last year, I figured 2 PW would give me room for all the expansion of electrical use I could imagine and would effectively take me off grid with room to spare.

The cast of roof before all the financial vagaries of the Tesla "analysis" was an even 100K. Not cheap but about what I expected. The one thing I noticed is that the choice of tiles did not effect the cost or coverage. I wonder if this will hold because I would guess the Tuscan tiles are harder to install and generate slightly less output that the flat tiles.

Figured I'd reserve to get to the head of the HI queue. I'm sure there will be plenty of time for things to sort out before they get to HI.

 

[timpierc]

$100k for a roof? Are these guys smoking crack?

 

[MP3Mike]

Usual Tesla games...anyone manage to reverse calc the output per sq ft?!?

My guess is 2.8W per sq ft.

 

[JohnSnowNW]

$100k for a roof? Are these guys smoking crack?

A $100k roof that more than pays for itself over the lifetime, and produces clean energy...

I'm more than happy to smoke whatever it is that they're on.

 

[timpierc]

A $100k roof that more than pays for itself over the lifetime, and produces clean energy...

I'm more than happy to smoke whatever it is that they're on.

The average American stays in their home for a total of 7 years. So taking into account the average premium of a house with solar is only around $5-7k there is no way you can make a return on investment this roof. And they're assuming the net metering laws will stay the same over the span of a third of a century which is highly unlikely. Too much risk and costs for too little of a reward.

 

[electracity]

The average American stays in their home for a total of 7 years. So taking into account the average premium of a house with solar is only around $5-7k there is no way you can make a return on investment this roof. And they're assuming the net metering laws will stay the same over the span of a third of a century which is highly unlikely. Too much risk and costs for too little of a reward.

You are forgetting that this product is on a million dollar house with a premium roof. A plain tile or slate roof costs money too.

This really isn't a product for people concerned about a $5-10K swing in price in a possible future home sale. This is a product for people who are comfortable with $1000+/month car leasing.

The model 3 solar roof comes a bit later

 

[JohnSnowNW]

The average American stays in their home for a total of 7 years. So taking into account the average premium of a house with solar is only around $5-7k there is no way you can make a return on investment this roof. And they're assuming the net metering laws will stay the same over the span of a third of a century which is highly unlikely. Too much risk and costs for too little of a reward.

It also assumes you save on electricity...

That said, there is obvious risk with this investment, if you're looking for a return. I'm personally interested in it to have a nice looking roof that will last the length of time we're in the house, and also produce RE.

 

[timpierc]

You are forgetting that this product is on a million dollar house with a premium roof. A plain tile or slate roof costs money too.

This really isn't a product for people concerned about a $5-10K swing in price in a possible future home sale. This is a product for people who are comfortable with $1000+/month car leasing.

The model 3 solar roof comes a bit later

Dude I hope so. I was expecting around $45k (usual quote I'm given for a solar system is around $30k) and the cost of an asphalt roof. Let's hope all the rich dude bring the cost of this system down quickly. I've been waiting for them to do so with the LG OLED TV's for a couple of years meow

 

[ElectricTundra]

$100k for a roof? Are these guys smoking crack?

Depending on what part of the country you're in (wages, need for ice shields, etc.), how large your roof is, and what material you choose (slate is 10 to 20 times more than basic asphalt), it can easily be much more.

How Tesla shingles compare to comparable non-solar and if it's worth it is another thing.

 

[electracity]

Dude I hope so. I was expecting around $45k (usual quote I'm given for a solar system is around $30k) and the cost of an asphalt roof. Let's hope all the rich dude bring the cost of this system down quickly. I've been waiting for them to do so with the LG OLED TV's for a couple of years meow

Unfortunately the new Tesla roof will likely always cost more than the common permanent roofs in your area. Labor is a big part of the price. Eventually there will likely be PV standing seam roofs. But even plain high quality standing seam roofs are expensive compared to asphalt/fiberglass.

 

[FlyF4]

Is Tesla using Solaredge with Powerwall II DC, or did they make an inverter?

Probably. Efficiency doesn't matter if there is sufficient roof space to meet the production goal. All that matters is cost.

Although a low calculated efficiency will keep the Seeking Alpha writers busy.

Right.... assuming one has a good solar orientation and pitch.

 

[Skotty]

Here's what's good:

Available in all states. This was the major disappointment I had with SolarCity.

The warranty. Roof forever, solar power for 30 years. Most solar installs only warranty for 20 years.

The look. It's one of the big selling points.

It's actually for sale. I was concerned it would take them an eternity to figure out how to wire all those tiles together in a reasonable way that works. They must have figured it out.

It will probably get cheaper over time. They expect to initially be supply constrained, and they have a lot of uknowns to account for yet. Once they have everything running smoothly and supply increases, they can likely make it cheaper.

They still have traditional solar panels in the works. It remains to be seen what the cost will be, but I expect it will be a better value than the solar roof tiles, and likely available in all states, just like the tiles. I find this exciting and a possibility for my home, even if I decide to pass on tiles.

 

[D-egg-O]

A $100k roof that more than pays for itself over the lifetime, and produces clean energy...

I'm more than happy to smoke whatever it is that they're on.

Cost for my roof is $103k. 20.8k net cost over 30 years!! Something better glitchy. No one in their right mind should sign up for that.

 

[EVCollies]

Roofs in our area need to be replaced every 7 years due to weather. If I factor in the cost of 4 standard roof installs that hopefully the Tesla roof would avoid over a 30 year period, the cost comes down quite a bit.

 

[doubleohwhat]

Available in all states. This was the major disappointment I had with SolarCity.

Available in all states *eventually*. If they're going the same "certified installer" route as the powerwalls then you might be in for a wait. After months of being told "soon" on my powerwalls, Tesla finally admitted that they have no clue when an installer will be available in my area. I asked them point blank if I could expect my powerwalls to be installed by the end of the year and I was told they couldn't guarantee that.

If they're not even reasonably confident in being able to have powerwalls available in every state by the end of the year, I seriously doubt the solar roof will be available in all states before 2018. I would love to be wrong.

 

[KidDoc]

My house in Texas came to $200,000 before rebates. That is with 4 PW and no net metering. My house is currently valued at $445k and I am not wealthy so there is no logical way to justify a roof that costs 50% of the house cost. The prices need to drop significantly if the Tesla tile roof is going to be successful IMO.

 

[hockeythug]

Tax credits for this is disgusting

 

[brucet999]

I want to the order page and put in my address. The system fed in a roof size 150% of actual. It put in a monthly electric bill 3 times actual.

When I put in actual roof square footage and played with the monthly electric bill for 2400 sq ft:
I found that entering $150 (twice my actual monthly) it recommended 30% solar, displayed $48700 roof cost ($20.29/sq ft), $70,100 value of energy and $25,600 net savings over 30 years.
Entering $160 monthly electric bill yielded 40% solar, $56,200 cost ($23.42/sq ft) , $87,700 value of energy, and $38,700 30-year net savings
$170 monthly yielded exactly the same numbers as $160; as did $180 and $190.
Only when I entered $200 per month did the calculations change; 50% solar, $63,600 cost(26.50/sq ft), $102,600 energy value, and $49,200 net savings.
At that point I was maxed out at 50% of roof and even at $300 monthly electric bill still yielded exactly the same numbers, including energy value and net savings.

It would be more useful if the calculator gave us kWh of power. It can't know how much of my roof faces south, west or east, nor which of four SCE rate plans I am on. Given the over-estimation of my electric bill at three times actual, I don't trust the assumptions used to estimate energy value and net savings numbers either.

 

[oktane]

$200,000 up front to save $200/mo in electricity for possibly the next 20 years is a no brainer. Think of the planet for once.

 

[brucet999]

Well the one thing I checked was that if I adjusted the % of solar tiles to 0 on a 3000ft2 roof I got roof cost of 33000$. Then going to 10% I got 42300$. This means that 300ft2 of solar tiles costs 9700$ more than the glass tiles alone. So the solar tiles extra cost is 32.3$ / ft2. Now if someone else has a good idea how to use the calculator to derive the total tile cost of the equation we might be getting somewhere.

I'm getting a cost of $11 per sq ft of plain tiles, $31/sq ft of solar.