Tesla solar panels - removal for new roof?

[Amacharola]

My sales guy pitched it like this - every roof will need to get replaced during the lifespan of solar panels, some are sooner than others. Then you think to yourself "well it's only $500 to pull the panels off and put them back on, thats a drop in the bucket additional cost to the cost of a new roof".

Now if you told somebody honestly, it would be $6-9k to remove and install the panels when you replace your roof... either you wouldnt be getting panels put on at that moment or you would be replacing a roof that had half its life left.

Part of being environmentally conscience/green, is reducing waste like an entire roof of asphalt shingles.

 

[jjrandorin]

I purchased my house as-is and was a new homeowner at the time so I didn't know the age of the roof and relied on the Solar City assessment that the roof was in good condition. With the knowledge I have now your initial statement is obvious. Still doesn't excuse the lack of options for a customer and the bad practices used by Tesla. I'm all for paying thousands to get rid of the panels and walking away from Tesla but I don't even have a clean way to do that.

Yes you do (I have one of those solar PPAs as well). You can pay out the balance of the lease to be done. If you got it in 2012, this is 10 years in, you can pay out the balance of the 10 years to be done.

You can also purchase it any time after 5 years, so you can buy the system out if you want. The price is not anywhere near "fair" but you absolutely can do either one of those things if you dont mind throwing money at the problem to make it go away.

 

[MorrisonHiker]

My sales guy pitched it like this - every roof will need to get replaced during the lifespan of solar panels, some are sooner than others. Then you think to yourself "well it's only $500 to pull the panels off and put them back on, thats a drop in the bucket additional cost to the cost of a new roof".

Now if you told somebody honestly, it would be $6-9k to remove and install the panels when you replace your roof... either you wouldnt be getting panels put on at that moment or you would be replacing a roof that had half its life left.

Part of being environmentally conscience/green, is reducing waste like an entire roof of asphalt shingles.

We were quoted $500 when we had our first solar system installed in 2018. I believe we have it in the contract. I'm not certain we got the same quote for our second system that was installed in 2019. I'm sure if they would lose a few sales if they told someone the multi-thousand dollar price up front.

 

[Vines]

$500 is crazy cheap for this kind of work. $150 per panel is actually about right from a solar company depending on complexity for an R&I. I am friends with some PV installers who will do work on the side in the bay area. They would charge more like $100/panel.

I knew that the only way I was putting PV on my own roof was after I had it replaced. Why put a 25 year product up on top of another 25-30 year product, if the one on the bottom isn't new?

Today I have a final inspection to get that roof signed off, meanwhile I am putting together some plans using (21) 295w Hanwha panels we removed off of a customer's house after a solar city installation. They went with SunPower panels and Powerwall ESS

 

[h2ofun]

$500 is crazy cheap for this kind of work. $150 per panel is actually about right from a solar company depending on complexity for an R&I. I am friends with some PV installers who will do work on the side in the bay area. They would charge more like $100/panel.

I knew that the only way I was putting PV on my own roof was after I had it replaced. Why put a 25 year product up on top of another 25-30 year product, if the one on the bottom isn't new?

Today I have a final inspection to get that roof signed off, meanwhile I am putting together some plans using (21) 295w Hanwha panels we removed off of a customer's house after a solar city installation. They went with SunPower panels and Powerwall ESS

Man is that the best roi for solar. Use some panels that were replaced!!

 

[Vines]

Man is that the best roi for solar. Use some panels that were replaced!!

Exactly, trade for panels and optimizers was about $550, then inverter for $1700 and the mounting system off the shelf at work. With the permit I am in for about $3k plus my labor.

It should pay itself back in year 1.5 or so!

 

[loganss]

Yes you do (I have one of those solar PPAs as well). You can pay out the balance of the lease to be done. If you got it in 2012, this is 10 years in, you can pay out the balance of the 10 years to be done.

You can also purchase it any time after 5 years, so you can buy the system out if you want. The price is not anywhere near "fair" but you absolutely can do either one of those things if you dont mind throwing money at the problem to make it go away.

That's what I thought too but the Tesla customer support person I spoke to doesn't agree. I pointed out the part in the PPA that says I can prepay but they said even with prepaying I'd still be under the agreement and have to keep the panels on my roof. I then asked how much it would be to purchase the panels and they refused to give me a number because the say they can only give customers that number on an annual basis. Apparently my time comes end of April and they can only give me the buy out amount a month before the April date. In a few days I've got to call back for what I suspect will be an astronomical amount to buy the panels. I ultimately want to just have them take the panels back after paying for the remainder of what is in the PPA. This experience with Tesla customer support is mind boggling to me and I'll be checking in with lawyers about this.

 

[brkaus]

Who would remove and replace panels for $500?

Costs $100+ to have a ceiling fan replaced with similar model (not including the fan).