Solar roof install started last Friday and I just checked with crew lead regarding solar tile installation. He showed me an installation plan and it was having less tiles (originally 256 tiles for 14.97 kW) than my contract but he was saying new tile has more power so that might be reason though he did not know exact spec on new tile. Anybody know about this ?
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Tesla new solar tiles (v3) producing more power ?
- Thread starter jk732
- Start date
That would be interesting, if accurate. Are there any boxes around or other way to validate the model number of the tiles? The active PV tiles we had installed are part "SR60T1", which is 58.47 W, and that matches your original plan (256 tiles ~= 14.97 kW.) And, I believe the boxes that Tesla delivered had the part number on them (along with a lot of other boxes for non-PV tiles and different part numbers.)
Tesla has not generally provided the specs for the solar roof on their website in easy-to-find places, but under the first responders section (First Responders | Tesla) for solar roof, the only PV part number mentioned is "SR60T1". But, that just may not have been updated yet. And maybe it is listed somewhere I am just not seeing.
A big issue with the solar roof has been the lower density of PV modules possible per roof area, so it would certainly be good news if they did find a way to pack more PV into each tile (without increasing the size.)
Tesla has not generally provided the specs for the solar roof on their website in easy-to-find places, but under the first responders section (First Responders | Tesla) for solar roof, the only PV part number mentioned is "SR60T1". But, that just may not have been updated yet. And maybe it is listed somewhere I am just not seeing.
A big issue with the solar roof has been the lower density of PV modules possible per roof area, so it would certainly be good news if they did find a way to pack more PV into each tile (without increasing the size.)
In the meantime, you could reach out to your advisor - at some point it would be good to have an electronic copy of the updated layout (and depending on the AHJ, they may need to submit the updated plans at some point as well.) We did also receive a one-page Datasheet on the modules as part of what they had to submit to the county/utility, so you might be able to get that from your advisor, which should indicate whether the capacity has increased. If they have more powerful tiles, that is great, and if not, best to address it as soon as possible.
One other thought in favor of getting clarification sooner.... The (original) v3 tile strings are limited to 35-36 tiles per string (I think I've seen both mentioned.) Our roof has four 35-tile strings on it. I would be concerned that the change to 209 could be an attempt to limit the size to six strings and limit the number/size of the inverters. Hopefully it really is more powerful tiles, but the number jumped out at me.
It could be but I am getting 3 PW ( guess 2 PW+ and PW 2) so I should have 2 investors which are part of PW+. Electric work was supposed to start this morning but I heard they only have 1 PW+ and trying to locate additional PW+ So electrician is not here yet so I will find morel. BTW, how many strings can be attached to invertor ?
Nice - based on the lack of search results for that part and lack of other posts, you may be one of the first installs with the new tile.
With a ~23% increase in output per tile (presumably same size tile,) that really starts to close the gap on their solar panel offering. It is still less, but getting much closer.
Tesla is spec'ing the new tiles for my current roof design as well. Here's the datasheet sent from the solar advisor. Can’t find a link on their website yet. Tiles are the same physical size & use the same mounting & wiring hardware as the SR60T1 tiles, just improved efficiency. I'm assuming that they look identical to the SR60T1 tiles. No photo in the datasheet.
Thanks for posting this. Looks like similar specs to the original (v3.0?) tiles, but lighter as well - 3.1 psf vs. 3.4 psf.
Can you post more pics of the new tiles? Do they look exactly like the older 52W SR60 tiles? Also, are they installing glass tiles for the non-PV portion of the roof that look like your active SR72 PV tiles?
They look exact same as 58W PV tiles and same dimensions. I am posting installation picture which contains most PV tiles along with non-PV tiles.
