Tesla Glass Tile Solar Roof Update

[JohnSnowNW]

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.

How much would a conventional roof cost you over 30 years?

 

[Barklikeadog]

Wow, mine only came in at a hair under $131,000. What a fool I was to consider investing that money over 20 years. Durrrrr

 

[doubleohwhat]

I'm getting a cost of $11 per sq ft of plain tiles

If that's with labor then that's actually not a horrible price for the plain tiles. I imagine the cost of the solar tiles might come down a bit as they scale up production over the next couple of years.

 

[brucet999]

Where can I find the kW capacity of the Solar Roof calculated from my inputs?

$88,600 Value of energy

-$53,000 Cost of roof

-$12,500 Cost of 2 Powerwall batteries

+$17,300 Tax credit

1,791 Roof square footage

$200 Monthly electric bill

2 Powerwall batteries

$40,400 Net earned over 30 years​

... so I can compare the Solar Roof to the 6.3kW (19 x 330W Panasonic panels) and 6.1kW (19 x 320W LG panels) conventional solar system estimates I received.

You can't. There is no way of knowing the electric rate value they are using. Maybe someone at Solar City will tell kW rating of tiles.

 

[MP3Mike]

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

It is $42/sq ft for the solar tiles. ($31 extra)

 

[MP3Mike]

You can't. There is no way of knowing the electric rate value they are using.

They tell you exactly where they got the rates from: EIA - Electricity Data

 

[brucet999]

I played with several

Here comes the buzz kill.

I wonder if Tesla has obtained a private letter ruling from the IRS regarding the amount eligible for the solar energy credit. Tesla's promotional example assumes the 30% income tax credit applies to the entire cost of the roof. I am not convinced that this was Congress' intent when they passed the legislation last decade. Clearly, Congress did not contemplate the fact that perhaps one day some clever entrepreneur would design roof tiles with photo-voltaic cells therein.

Code Section 25D defines "qualified solar electric property" thus:

(2) Qualified solar electric property expenditure


The term “qualified solar electric property expenditure” means an expenditure for property which uses solar energy to generate electricity for use in a dwelling unit located in the United States and used as a residence by the taxpayer.

The section goes on to state

(2) Solar panels


No expenditure relating to a solar panel or other property installed as a roof (or portion thereof) shall fail to be treated as property described in paragraph (1) or (2) of subsection (d) solely because it constitutes a structural component of the structure on which it is installed.

It is this part of Section 25D that is really ambiguous. It is unclear whether solar tiles are considered a "solar panel" or "other property installed as a roof." It is more unclear whether the plywood base, felt, flashings, non-solar tiles and other ordinary roof materials would be considered "other property." Personally, I would read the "other property installed as a roof" narrowly; just those costs associated with securing the tiles to the roof safely. But then, I am not a contractor or electrical engineer.

It would seem prudent business sense to me for Tesla to pony up the $5,000-$10,000 to request a private letter ruling as to how much of the cost of a solar roof would be eligible for the credit. While private letter rulings only apply to the taxpayer who requests them, they do provide guidance for the rest of us peasants as to how the IRS thinks about the situation.

Methinks the marketing department at Tesla did not consult with their income tax advisors.

Good question.
I played with several roof sizes, all at 50% solar and came up with lots of variations, all of them at less than 30% of total price. Tax credit for PV will include solar tiles/panels, wiring, inverters, and power walls.

 

[EarlyAdopter]

My calculator came up with something pretty reasonable.

Cost of roof with 60% solar estimated at $48k. That's before tax credit and electricity savings. Add in 1 Powerwall and subtract tax credit and 30 years of electricity, net cost is $9k. That also gets us effectively a whole-house backup generator in the deal, which we sorely need.

For comparison, our neighbors recently replaced their aging cedar shake roof with high end composite shingles with a 25 year warranty for $25k.

Our roof will need replacement sometime in the next few years and Tesla's solar roof pencils out nicely for us.

 

[Sir Guacamolaf]

One more thing to consider - pretty good chance that insurance won't cover the cost of a Tesla roof. I know Tesla covers it with infinite warranty, but over a period of 30 years,
- Hail
- A stray ball from a close by park
- A jealous person with a stone

May not be a big deal if replacement and repairs are quick and easy.

 

[D-egg-O]

How much would a conventional roof cost you over 30 years?

Nothing. The most expensive conventional solar quote I got was $53,500 for a 10.4kW system. Payback period would be 16 years (not counting any tax incentives). I'm definitely not the target market for solar roof V1.

 

[mhan00]

Reserved also to see how this goes. I was expecting a lot lower price when they were saying the cost without the power generation benefit would be comparable to a replacement roof. Well, I can get a replacement shingle room from between $5K-$10K for my 2500 square foot-two story house. So, that's nowhere close. For a great looking roof, power generation, and Powerwalls, it may be a good deal.

But not exactly as rumored. The room itself is estimated at $60K (70%, but why not 70% coverage if you have it...). (No credits, that ends up with $300 over 30 years, lol.)

You can't really compare this to shingles, which are meant to be cheap. This is more in line with luxury roofs, which cost considerably more. I went with shingles myself since I didn't want to spend more than around 7k for my new roof because I didn't really care about the appearance, but people who don't mind spending money on upgraded roof options can spend three or four times as much as I did, depending on the material. But even taking that into account, the solar roof looks pretty expensive and, as Elon said during the reveal, it's only the gain from electricity generation that brings the cost down to below what an equivalent luxury roof would cost, and even then it would be more cost effective to buy a separate solar system, at the sacrifice of aesthetics.

These look to be marketed to people who hate the look of solar panels on their nice roofs and are willing to pay a premium to get solar and not have panels on top. They won't be even close to cost effective for anyone who doesn't mind solar panels on their roof.

 

[D-egg-O]

How much would a conventional roof cost you over 30 years?

Sorry. I misread your post and thought it was in reference to a conventional solar system. I have a dimensional single roof, probably $15k to replace it when the time comes. I don't have a tile roof.

 

[u00mem9]

I have to agree that absorbing the HMS SolarCity was very accurately described at a 'no-brainer'. Nepotism usually is...

Just remember folks, these aren't the premium tiles. Just wait until you see the prices for the other 2 styles! Lol.

 

[boaterva]

You can't really compare this to shingles, which are meant to be cheap. This is more in line with luxury roofs, which cost considerably more. I went with shingles myself since I didn't want to spend more than around 7k for my new roof because I didn't really care about the appearance, but people who don't mind spending money on upgraded roof options can spend three or four times as much as I did, depending on the material. But even taking that into account, the solar roof looks pretty expensive and, as Elon said during the reveal, it's only the gain from electricity generation that brings the cost down to below what an equivalent luxury roof would cost, and even then it would be more cost effective to buy a separate solar system, at the sacrifice of aesthetics.

These look to be marketed to people who hate the look of solar panels on their nice roofs and are willing to pay a premium to get solar and not have panels on top. They won't be even close to cost effective for anyone who doesn't mind solar panels on their roof.

Yes, I know... but it was stated all along that the roof would be cheaper than 'a replacement roof' (never saying if any of the tiles were 'excluded' because asphalt shingles are too cheap); and, recently it was stated it would be cheaper even without the power savings. All of which is a bit too much of a stretch.

 

[cizUK]

" as the others have cracked over much longer lengths than the Solar Roof Tile can"

This is the precise reason the others failed the way they did. They where unsupported along the entire length. The Tesla cell set sideways is supported at least 40 percent better, which didn't allow it to flex and fail. I know why they didn't show the cell arranged the same as the others....it would of failed.
Come you structural analysis engineers out there, lets here what you think.

Jeff

Haha no... I believe you are wrong...

I have highlighted the areas of the tiles which are under pressure from the hailstone. The widths are identical.
As you can see, the SR Tile has a much smaller area in which to dissipate the energy and therefore has a greater chance of breaking.
Think of a force being directed at a wire vs sheet steel of the same thickness - the one with the smaller area will break first

They where unsupported along the entire length.

They are supported the same - the rails are the same distance apart, all other supports are irrelevant

 

[Xenoilphobe]

My roof will cost $95K! 4X what I paid for my solar array and 5X what I paid for my roof! No idea what the generation capability is and if they are covering all my surfaces with solar or if there is a battery solution included.

Somebody in the pricing department is smoking crack and sniffing glue at the same time.

 

[nativewolf]

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.

How/why would a roof need to replaced every 7 years?

 

[electracity]

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.

Those of us living in multi-story houses are pretty smug right now If you are in a sprawling ranch with an attach garage this roof system is only going to seem reasonable in areas with very high housing prices.

 

[flamingoezz]

I'm due for a new roof and would love to go solar -- but I can't find a way that this makes financial sense for me.

The earth is essentially taking a loan from you at 0% interest that it'll pay back over 30 years so that it can improve its health. There are no real savings for the customer, despite what Elon may say or put into his calculator tool.

 

[boaterva]

Anyone know how they are estimating the roof info if your address isn't in Google's Project Sunroof? Just guessing what a x sqft house with y stories has for a roof?!

Edit: I found this site, which gives interesting numbers for Northern Virginia; I assume we need to take the 70% of all of them. This gets me a total roof of 1500, smaller than Tesla's estimate.
(Total 13 kW and 60 kWh, with 70%: say 9 kW, 42 kWh).

Whoops, URL: Solar Roof Calculator

And perhaps now 60% since Tesla has lowered my max since yesterday and earlier today? Anyone seeing that?