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Tesla's Highly-Anticipated Solar Roofs Go Up For Pre-Order Today (inhabitat.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the ready-when-you-are dept.

Kristine Lofgren writes: Get ready: Tesla's ground-breaking Solar Roof tiles are available for order in the U.S. starting today. In typical fashion, CEO Elon Musk announced via Twitter that the anticipated tech would be available to order this afternoon with installation happening later this year. Tesla's tiles look like traditional roof tiles but they soak up all that delicious sunlight in order to power your home. According to the company, the tiles will be more affordable than typical roofing and can be paired with their Powerwall battery to power a home completely using solar energy.

28 of 143 comments (clear)

  1. Who the hell... by x0ra · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ... would sink USD$70 for a roof ? He's mentioning that it wouldn't cost more than an asphalt roof, but that's only assuming very optimistic energy savings, and government subsidiary. Quote I got for my roof are in the $5k range, for a 20 years lifetime. The tiles are only warranty over 30 years, so an asphalt roof would cost $7.5k over the same period of time...

    1. Re:Who the hell... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      You've misread the information, the roof tiles themselves have a warranty somewhere around the heat death of the universe, the power generation warranty is what is 30 years. Even if the tiles one day stop making electricity entirely they will still be fully warrantied roofing.

    2. Re: Who the hell... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

      The site quoted me 33K for the roof and 7K for the battery, with 18K worth of electricity generated over 30 years and a 9K tax credit for a net cost of about 13K over thirty years.

      I'm actually in the market for a roof replacement in the next two years, and I'm interested in solar. I have a small house. An asphalt roof replacement is less than four grand.

      This offer is a complete non-starter for me.

    3. Re:Who the hell... by Jeremi · · Score: 5, Insightful

      It's just Elon doing what he does best. Creating novelty items for rich people.

      Didn't almost every new technology start out as a novelty item for rich people?

      --


      I don't care if it's 90,000 hectares. That lake was not my doing.
    4. Re:Who the hell... by PIBM · · Score: 3

      No, they are not. They are only warranted for 30 years against water leakage, which is the reason roof tile are replaced in the first place. Which places them at a lower warranty point than my current roof tiles (35 years), at a much higher price. 9 years ago I paid 5K CAD, and Tesla is quoting a similarly sized roof at 43K USD, not including the powerwall & ondulator. They aren't providing the information about how much energy their tiles deliver anywhere I could find either, but I was also under the impression that we were told the roof tiles cost would be equivalent or lower than current roofs. Nowhere can I save that amount of money from the energy saved :\

    5. Re: Who the hell... by Mr+D+from+63 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The site quoted me 33K for the roof and 7K for the battery, with 18K worth of electricity generated over 30 years and a 9K tax credit for a net cost of about 13K over thirty years.

      I'm actually in the market for a roof replacement in the next two years, and I'm interested in solar. I have a small house. An asphalt roof replacement is less than four grand.

      This offer is a complete non-starter for me.

      This is where I have a problem. Uber expensive solar roofs should not qualify for tax credits. At least not beyond the amount that would be given for traditional PV panels of the same capacity. Its bad enough that most of these credits are simply helping pay power bills for the wealthy, but now we pay for their roofs as well? Meanwhile low income people have no access to these gifts.

      We should take all the PV tax credits and provide public schools with PV panels. That way we add PV capacity and help lower school energy bills, good for people of all income levels.

    6. Re: Who the hell... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

      Ah yes, the classic American leftist moral dilemma.
      Saving Gaia vs. screwing the rich.

      Do we make alternative energy more attractive to end users by subsidizing it, or say 'screw the rich' and cancel subsidies so the ones who can afford the steep cost of alternative energy will have to pay full freight to feel like they're helping the environment.

      What a heartwrenching choice it must be...

    7. Re: Who the hell... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      When subsidized energy comes with subsidized roofing, its not a hard choice at all. Just have some limits.

    8. Re:Who the hell... by SethJohnson · · Score: 2

      According to this article, the estimated price is $21.85 per sq. ft. If you have a single-story, 2800 sf. home, and you decide to cover the ENTIRE roof with these tiles, then yeah, you're looking at $70k. Most people building new homes will go with multiple stories, so total square feet of roof space will be something less. And because of sun angle, it's likely the entire roof will not be covered. Though, if you're making that kind of investment, you better design your entire roof to be facing the sun!

      That article also claims a warranty for the life of your home, not 30 years.

      --
      $5 / month hosted VPS on linux = awesome!
    9. Re: Who the hell... by Insanity+Defense · · Score: 3, Interesting

      People still die in the ER waiting room in Canada. Hospital are knowingly overcrowded and underfunded, but sure, let's perpetuate the myth...

      Yet the Canadian life span is longer, Lower infant mortality. No medical bankruptcies. Average health costs/year are about 60% U.S. average.

      With the lower infant mortality why don't we hear THINK OF THE CHILDREN when public healthcare comes up?

    10. Re: Who the hell... by jedidiah · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Where is that space ship you came to planet Earth on?

      NO ONE believes that kind of nonsense you are pushing. Indulging in expensive home improvements won't do squat for your home value. You will NEVER get that money back. So don't even go there and pretend you ever will.

      You better personally enjoy what overpriced nonsense you put into your house because you aint getting that money back.

      Having the most expensive house on the block is financial suicide if you view your house as an investment.

      --
      A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
    11. Re: Who the hell... by WindBourne · · Score: 2

      LOL.
      Sorry bill, but you have this one wrong. Due to net metering, the wind generators are now cheaper than coal WITHOUT net metering. And with the new wind generators (10 MW and bigger up to 20 MW), these will be cheaper than everything, except for geo-thermal (which has the lowest costs going).
      Solar is dropping in price, and we need to actually use that to our advantage.

      --
      I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
  2. Compared to tile roofs by WillAffleckUW · · Score: 4, Informative

    The comparison stands up for a comparison with high end 50 year tiled roofs.

    Not your typical roof retiling with shingles.

    --
    -- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
    1. Re:Compared to tile roofs by JaredOfEuropa · · Score: 2

      That's still pretty good. What is the actual price though; the article didn't mention this. Roof tiles are quite common here (pretty much every roof has them), and mine need replacing soon as they are over 75 years old. So naturally I am interested.

      If they are as expensive as regular tiles, the good news is that you might as well cover the whole roof in these things for a uniform look, not just the side that faces the sun.

      --
      If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
    2. Re:Compared to tile roofs by un1nsp1red · · Score: 4, Informative

      What is the actual price though; the article didn't mention this.

      $21.85 per square foot.

      If they are as expensive as regular tiles, the good news is that you might as well cover the whole roof in these things for a uniform look, not just the side that faces the sun.

      I can't find the price right now, but there is a dramatically cheaper price for the non-solar tiles. i.e., They're anticipating that you cover your entire roof with their tiles (re: uniform look), but the entire roof will not be solar-collecting.

    3. Re:Compared to tile roofs by Namarrgon · · Score: 4, Informative

      $21.85 per square foot.

      That's the "average" price. Active tiles are about $42/square foot, inactive tiles are $11/square foot. Depends on your roof how many of each you need.

      --
      Why would anyone engrave "Elbereth"?
    4. Re:Compared to tile roofs by A+Friendly+Troll · · Score: 2

      The comparison stands up for a comparison with high end 50 year tiled roofs.

      Well, I just had my entire roof redone (wood beams and planks and everything) for 4500â, and that does indeed include a 50 year warranty on the clay tiles, which basically translates into "change everything again after 75-100 years".

      So that's $5000 for 100 years.

  3. Limits on power generation by Vorendell · · Score: 3, Interesting

    In Colorado at least, there is a limit to the amount of solar energy you can produce. We discovered this when we put our panels up. It's something like 2xdaily maximum of use based on a couple of years of power bills. So you might not be able to do your whole roof in these things anyway. I like the idea, but some of the municipal restrictions get in the way.

  4. They need to work on the calculator by lessthan · · Score: 3, Interesting

    The calculator just told me that I'll see a savings of $100 over 30 years. I think I'm going to wait for fusion to become a thing.

    --
    Space Shuttle was a program that strapped humans to an explosion and tried to stab through the sky with fire and math
    1. Re:They need to work on the calculator by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

      When I need a new roof, I will strongly consider buying a Tesla roof. Even if it costs slightly more than a normal roof. This may not be the answer to all our energy problems, but it's a solid attempt to try something. I look at it as voting with my dollar, which probably has a much bigger effect than who I voted for for president. You never hear anyone saying "you'll never earn your money back buying a Mercedes", but people still buy them. I'd rather support a company trying to make progress, rather than blatantly pissing it away.

    2. Re:They need to work on the calculator by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      The more individuals who do things like install expensive solar roofs, the more the price comes down for others who might do the same thing but can't do it for the high price.

      So yes, individual actions really can make a difference.

  5. Actual comparison for a 1500 sq ft ranch by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Last year I replaced my roof with a conventional asphalt shingle roof. These were timberland lifetime warranty shingles (really a 25 year warranty). Quoted roof size was 21 square (2100 sq ft) at a cost of $12,600. This is on a single story hipped ranch with 4/12 pitch, ice and water up 2 rows, 2 layer tear off (old roof) cutting in a ridge vent, and adding a chimney cricket (use google).

    Tesla quotes $68,700 for this same roof with a 30 year warranty. Run some numbers... (and I'm going to ignore government incentives)

    Tesla claims a $18,600 savings in energy. If I was able to take out a solo mortgage at 3.92% for 30 years on $50k for this roof it'd cost me $85k in the end, well offsetting the $18k savings and putting me $17k in the hole.

    Lets run the numbers the other way. Say I had the difference ($50k) laying around and I wanted to invest that at the rate I'd pay for the roof in the above example ($236/mo for 30 yrs) in a monthly compounded account you'd accrue $142k after 30 years.

    I love the idea of widespread renewables, but I can never get the long term financials to play out in their favor.

    1. Re:Actual comparison for a 1500 sq ft ranch by jezwel · · Score: 2

      Is there any change to the value of your house with Tesla shingles installed vs normal shingles? Many people sell property and move on, so if adding these increase the value of the house it may be a zero-sum game.

    2. Re:Actual comparison for a 1500 sq ft ranch by plague911 · · Score: 2

      If you are adding the time value of money, with one of the factors, you need to add the time value of money to all the factors. I don't think it would change the answer much but make the margins a little closer.

    3. Re:Actual comparison for a 1500 sq ft ranch by j-beda · · Score: 2

      Additionally, one should reduce the investment income by the income tax rate. Decreased expenses are equivalent to tax-free income.

  6. That roof is worth more than the entire house by guruevi · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Even without ANY solar panels, they're roughly costing 4x the price of a 'regular' roof, once you select 70% solar, you're looking at 10x the price of a 'regular' roof.

    And for that I save about $1k/year, it's a very poor investment. Get a metal roof and 'regular' solar panels, the same amount of energy for less than a quarter of the cost and the same 30-100y lifespan.

    --
    Custom electronics and digital signage for your business: www.evcircuits.com
  7. Re: delicious sunlight by PopeRatzo · · Score: 2, Funny

    considering how towelheaded sand n1gger ugly vaginas in burkas a common scenery on a beach. Jihaddists will ban you from sunbathing and offending their stupid retarded "culture". Thanks to obama.

    You should not have fired the FBI Director, sir. It's not a good look.

    --
    You are welcome on my lawn.
  8. Not gonna work in Europe by coofercat · · Score: 2

    I haven't done a proper survey, but I'd say most roof coverings in Europe are teracotta tiles, clay tiles etc. There are a few slate roofs, some thatch and a few other materials. There's no way these tiles would look any good on any of those except maybe the synthetic slate roofs. Then there's the cost... way more than a few flat panels (and probably still more than panels sunk into the roof line). I'm sure I don't need to point out that a lot of European roofs have been up for a hundred years and are still watertight, so we're going to need more than a 30 year warranty.

    However, for an "i am rich" statement, these'll do great ;-)