Teslas Home Solar Roof Pricing Is Cheap Enough to Catch Fire

[kristopher]

Tesla’s Solar Roof Pricing Is Cheap Enough to Catch Fire
The cost of Elon Musk’s remarkable new product is judged “better than everyone expected.”
by Tom Randall
May 10, 2017

....Tesla will begin with production of two of the four styles it unveiled in October: a smooth glass and a textured glass tile. 1 Roofing a 2,000 square-foot home in New York state—with 40 percent coverage of active solar tiles and battery backup for night-time use—would cost about $50,000 after federal tax credits and generate $64,000 in energy over 30 years, according to Tesla’s website calculator.

That’s more expensive upfront than a typical roof, but less expensive than a typical roof with traditional solar and back-up batteries. The warranty is for the lifetime of your home.

“The pricing is better than I expected, better than everyone expected,” said Hugh Bromley, a solar analyst at Bloomberg New Energy Finance who had been skeptical about the potential market impact of the new product. Tesla’s cost for active solar tiles is about $42 per square foot, “significantly below” BNEF’s prior estimate of $68 per square foot, Bromley said. Inactive tiles will cost $11 per square foot....

The vision Musk describes with the solar roof is the grand unification of Tesla’s clean-energy ambitions, combining solar power, batteries, and electric cars. “These are really the three legs of the stool for a sustainable energy future,” Musk said. “Solar power going to a stationary battery pack so you have power at night, and then charging an electric vehicle … you can scale that to all the world’s demand.”

The rooftop shingles are virtually indistinguishable from traditional high-end roofing products, with ...

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-05-10/tesla-s-solar-roof-is-finally-ready-for-you-to-buy

[MagickMuffin]

1. And the people to benefit the most won't be able to afford it

I suppose if the demand is great enough, then perhaps the price will decrease.

At least there is finally someone doing something about the solar industry. I remember hearing about solar shingles several years ago. I guess it took someone like Musk to get the project rolling.

[Blue_Warrior]

2. Finally doing something about solar?

Solar has been booming all around the world for the last several years. Prices are plummeting and efficiency is rising.

[Flaleftist]

4. I expect the price to decrease and technology to improve

over the years just like flat screens, cell phones and computers. Maybe in 10 years it will within reach for the average household.

[physioex]

8. The panels themselves will improve....

The problem I see is the underlying tar paper which will degrade before the shingles. I would suggest looking into materials that can last as long as the shingles.

[csziggy]

13. There are roofing membranes that are loonger lasting than tar paper

And sort of "self-healing" so it seals around the nails or screws for installation.

In fact, there are roofing membranes that allow single layer installation with no overlying roofing materials. That would make an ideal sub surface for this kind of roof.

When we built our house, my specs called for that kind of membrane under our metal roof which is warranted to last 50 years. I doubt the builder installed it - he lost the notebook of specs, the project manager quit, the site manager was covering six different building sites, and I was left to keep track of everything - just after getting knee surgery which left me with limited mobility for most of the construction.

At this point I am considering blowing off the entire roof and making this a full two story house instead of only two bedrooms upstairs - we need the storage as we are getting family history and heirlooms from our parents. If I do that, I will consider a Tesla roof system. I'd planned on adding solar eventually and this would be the most efficient and attractive way to do it.

[global1]

3. Has Tesla Made Any Predictions As To How Many Early Adopters They Need.....

to begin to drop the price of this technology to make it affordable to the masses? And how long it would take to get it to that point?

Upon edit:

A friend of mine just received a quote for traditional ashpalt shingles yesterday and that was for a complete removal of the old roofing shingles; complete coverage of the roof with new plywood underlayment; the proper ice and water damage underlayment; felt underlayment and new 250lb shingles and the total cost was around $9000.

That's a far cry from the projected $50,000 with rebates for the Tesla soar roof.

$9000 is a big nut for my friend to come up with for this job. There is no way in hell they could put on a solar roof - even though it makes perfect sense from an environmental viewpoint.

[physioex]

9. Solar roof is not viable quite yet....

And still in its infancy, asphalt would be best option for your friend. If budget permits down the road perhaps simply adding external panels.

[kristopher]

16. Look more carefully at the chart

It's a comparison of different roofing with solar PV. The constituent parts of the roof w/ PV are in different colors.

Affordability will be related to the cost of electricity in the area and how much value one places on energy independence. The idea is that you can meet most, if not all, of your residential and transportation energy needs with this system. So, your friend would need to make the calculation about her/his energy costs to find out if it's effective or not for them.

As for early adopters, the evaluation by most people is that the price point is well below what was expected to be necessary to attract enough early adopters to propel a steady decrease in marginal costs.

[juxtaposed]

5. by their estimate my home would cost over $100k

[uponit7771]

6. Hmmmm, will insurance cover it? Seems to cost same as asphalt

[kristopher]

23. Note the chart is comparing various roof types + solar to a Tesla solar roof.

And yes, insurance covers solar roofs of all types.

[Zorro]

7. I'm keeping a close eye on this

I plan to start building a house in Florida next year, and want to go this route if there are some optional tile colors available. Don't want to go with a black roof.

[csziggy]

14. Tesla has several options for their roofs - and more are planned

Take a look: https://www.tesla.com/solarroof

[kristopher]

18. Florida just passed significant legislation favoring rooftop solar.

You might want to familiarize yourself with it if you haven't already. It includes exemption from property taxes on the value of the solar system.

[Stuart G]

10. k and r..nt.

[dawg]

11. What a terrible headline.

[ecstatic]

30. IKR? I took it literally. nt

[tinrobot]

12. A basic asphalt roof will cost around $10k. $50K is not cheap.

An asphalt roof with a solar system would still be cheaper.

Plus, Musk seems to base his low price on "Federal tax credits", which may not be around much longer.

[Kentonio]

15. True, but if he can get enough people on board quickly because of the tax credits

Then it'll give them some potential room to start bringing the cost down at their end.

[kristopher]

17. Not according to the chart.

[tinrobot]

19. Because the chart is accurate?

I've remodeled a LOT of houses. I know how much a roof costs.

[kristopher]

21. You've fundamentally misread the chart, even after the heads up.

The comparison is the Tesla solar shingles vs an asphalt roof AND solar panels.

You know, a like to like comparison; not the lame straw man yer little anti-renewable heart drove you to try and pass off on everyone.

[tinrobot]

32. little anti-renewable heart? WTF?

I was talking about price. Period.

Please check your cheap insults at the door.

[kristopher]

33. "Agent of misinformation"

[duncang]

20. Wonder how much it will really cost for a complete system?

The over time the costs could be different for the area you live in. Also the over all electrical bill savings would be different according to the local rate. Batteries, inverters, and upkeep can be pretty expensive. Even though it says over 30 years for the tiles. Batteries won't last that long. Things like capacitors and other component parts in a inverter will go out. All will require regular maintenance. If the system is set up to provide electricity for just specific D.C. loads you wouldn't have to worry about a inverter. The easiest would be to install D.C. lighting. But that would be a added cost. According to the batteries you may have to worry about hydrogen venting from the batteries. So you may need to think about ventilation. A lot to consider.

[kristopher]

22. The SYSTEM is warranted for the life of the home.

That’s more expensive upfront than a typical roof, but less expensive than a typical roof with traditional solar and back-up batteries. The warranty is for the lifetime of your home.

That's from the article you must not have read before you opined. Also, they don't use lead acid batteries, therefore there is no hydrogen venting. It's a system fully integrated to service the demands of a modern home (warranted for the life of that home).

[duncang]

24. It doesn't specify in the article the type batteries

"Tesla released a tool on its website, where U.S. homeowners can estimate the total cost and lifetime savings of adding the solar roof and backup batteries. The total cost of installation, ownership, and electricity savings will be lower than comparable solar setups. However, for many homes the initial cost of the roof remains considerable. "

And Yes I read it. I did miss the lifetime warranty. But the article didn't say anything about the type of battery. Guess you may not have read it before you opined on my post. So how about a even on this? Deal?

[kristopher]

25. No; no deal.

The main product of "Tesla" is state of the art lithium batteries packaged for home energy storage (Powerwall) and for their electric drive automobiles (Tesla) so, your explanation strains credulity beyond the breaking point.

[duncang]

26. Okay, I haven't gone through all their company brochures.

But you were saying I didn't read the article. And from the article it did not specify. The info about the Powerwall is not there.

[kristopher]

34. That's like saying you don't know Apple makes computers and phones.

[duncang]

37. Please continue

Trying to insult. This is getting amusing.

[duncang]

38. BTW you might want to look at the warranty for the parts I listed in my post.

I.E. the powerwall. That doesn't have a life time warranty. It's a limited 10 year warranty for defects.

https://www.tesla.com/sites/default/files/pdfs/powerwall/powerwall_2_ac_warranty_us_1-4.pdf

[Eko]

27. OMG!!!!

Its not cheaper than regular roofs! How dare you bring up this incredible thing!!!!!!Who cares if the price has been brought down immensely for solar, what about the pollution carbon puts out every year and the fact that nuclear is the savior!!!!!

[Eko]

28. You should also post this

in the e&e group.

[Azathoth]

29. $50K? lol, good luck n/t

[Luciferous]

31. Right? I paid $8,000 for a new roof last year. Plus in my area that would be like 1/3 the price

of the average home- I don't think this is feasible for most people...

[kristopher]

36. Did $8K include a self-sufficient solar power system?

[Luciferous]

40. No, but as I posted before, the average home price in the Memphis metro area is 150k.

How many people do you think are going to spend that much money on a roof? And most people I know don't have 50k sitting around to spend on a roof.

[kristopher]

42. That isn't a very healthy analysis.

You are omitting the avoided cost of energy from the utility. Once you add in the net present value of energy over a 40 year period, you can afford to spend more on the home.
And it isn't just the savings on energy. In the not-to-distant future, homes like these with storage (together with their electric autos) will earn money from their grid connection.

[Luciferous]

44. The median length of homeownership is less than 10 years, so arguing cost savings over

a period of 30 or 40 years doesn't make much sense. According to the Tesla calculator I would have a surplus of $2,000 after 30 years. Since I don't plan on living here for that long it would be a waste of money. I also wonder how well those tiles would hold up in this area since we have frequent wind damage due to storms.

[kristopher]

45. Then don't buy it.

"Values" describes a prioritizing of things in life. If you don't see value in energy self sufficiency, lowering of your energy costs and moving away from carbon based fuels, then that is your set of values. Many, many, many people have a different set of values than you put forth.

You trying to throw a shadow on the products offered by Tesla isn't going to make a whit o difference in their success or false. None.

[kristopher]

35. That bargain price includes all of your energy for the life of the home.

[Azathoth]

39. Uh, no it doesn't

Like other solar panels, it will reduce your power consumption from the grid, but there is nothing that says it will provide 100% of your electrical needs. You will still need a line running to the poll, and you will still be paying consumption and utility fees to the power company.

Moreover, the supposed "lifetime warranty" is highly suspect for several reasons. First, it only applies to the "tile" itself. There are separate "power" and "weatherization" warranties. I suspect there are quite a few catches in the fine print. Second, lifetime warranties from startup companies aren't worth the paper they are printed on. I bought a video card in 2005 from a relatively new company whose big selling point was their "lifetime warranty." The company folded several years later and the warranties they sold are useless.

I'm not dismissing Musk or what he's trying to do, but like the Tesla, this sounds to me like feel-good masturbation for the kind of rich, out-of-touch liberals that conservatives love to mock. The average lower middle-class family ain't gonna benefit from this anytime soon. Hopefully, the R&D will lead to something more reasonable down the road.

[kristopher]

41. If you want you're positioned to go off grid.

You can still maintain a connection and/or you can get the integrated battery storage.

You can then either virtually go off the grid totally or you can maintain your islanded status with a grid connection and feed services (regulation power) into the grid from your generation and storage system (building to grid (B2G), not net metering).

Combine it all with an electric vehicles to have not only your transportation energy secured but also sell more grid services with Vehicle to Grid (V2G).

I'm not dismissing Musk or what he's trying to do, but like the Tesla, this sounds to me like feel-good masturbation for the kind of rich, out-of-touch liberals that conservatives love to mock. The average lower middle-class family ain't gonna benefit from this anytime soon.

That feeling is because you really don't have a darned clue about what is really happening in the area of energy. You're clearly stuck in the middle of a political perspective instead of an economic, engineering and science perspective. Don't feel alone though, there is so much misinformation out there (even on DU) that knowing the actual direction of our energy markets are headed literally requires an advanced degree on that specific topic.

Keywords:
Microgrids
V2G
Regulation services
Grid defection

We've entered a death spiral for utilities designed around centralized generation. It is no longer if, but only when. The economics of wind, solar and storage are now unequivocally and dramatically dominant.

[Dem2]

43. OH FFS!!

CATCH FIRE??

Who the f*** wrote that goddamned headline!!!!!!!!!

[kristopher]

46. Since it obviously describes "prices" I don't see a problem.

But I do understand the concern.

[Dem2]

47. Yeah, several had the reaction I did

I was like others, expecting to see a story about solar panels that were designed to be inexpensive and were bursting into flames.

[Initech]

48. Deregulation makes everything better!!

[rdking647]

49. Message deleted by DU the Administrators