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Tesla Will Sell Solar Panels, Powerwalls At Home Depot (bloomberg.com)
Tesla is bringing photovaltaic panels and Powerwall batteries to U.S. retail giant Home Depot. According to Bloomberg, "The tech pioneer is beginning to roll out Tesla-branded selling spaces at 800 of the retailer's locations. The areas, which will be outfitted during the first half of this year, are staffed by Tesla employees and can demonstrate its solar panels and Powerwall battery." From the report: Lowe's -- the second-largest U.S. home-improvement chain, after Home Depot -- has also been in discussions with Tesla about selling its solar products, said people familiar with the situation. At some point, Home Depot may also offer Tesla's much-anticipated solar roof, said one of the people, who asked not to be identified because the deliberations are private. [The products] will be highlighted in high-profile displays, which are 12 feet tall and 7 feet wide. Some locations will be fitted with visual demonstrations that show how the products work.
Its value is in new construction hence why they are getting an end aisle demo in the home improvement stores. In comparison to a brand new roof on a brand new house, the price is comparable to standard construction. It's not cost-effective in a retrofit because it replaces the decking, underlayments and several other features of a conventional roofing system which you'd have to remove and throw away on a retrofit. Those system changes are what bring its cost into line with conventional roofing systems. Though not as cheap as asphalt it's cheaper than clay or concrete tile and near the price of a metal roof and it's got similar durability to cement tile or clay.
It's a competitive product if you are building a new house and want solar, it saves the cost of all the racking and other costs in a solar installation by placing the solar cells under the roof while being essentially cost competitive with a conventional roofing system. This combined system ends up being signficantly cheaper than a conventional roof and external solar panels because the racking and heavy protection systems on a conventional panel aren't needed.