
Tesla’s online calculator leads you to put a deposit down on a system – but as a consumer, you’d want to get all the facts, right? This is one of the reasons at Boston Solar we have customers meet with a Solar Consultant to review all their options and really understand what they are investing in. Solar panels have specification sheets that explain these characteristics (and more, for the solar geek in you), but there are no spec sheets to be found on the Tesla Solar Roof solar tiles. These are extremely important to any type of solar system. number of watts per solar tile), how the tiles will be installed, how much wiring is involved (and where those wires will be) or what the degradation characteristics are. They don’t tell you how much energy each solar tile will generate (ie. The Solar Roof idea is a great one, and consumers tend to listen to Tesla, but make sure you read the non-existent fine print. Not only that, the payback period is 2 to 4x longer for the Tesla Solar Roof. However, to most, I don’t think aesthetics are worth 2 or 3 times what you’d pay for a standard solar panel system and installation. If you’re someone who wants to go solar, has an extra $25,000-50,000 to spend and doesn’t like the traditional look of solar panels, then sure. It's also hard to compare "apples to apples" because Tesla doesn't tell you the wattage of the cells, so you have no way of telling what size Solar Roof system you're seeing a "quote" for.
Tesla roof tiles investments plus#
Granted, in many blog and other articles, I’ve read the Solar Roof, in most cases, will be double that of a standard solar installation plus a new roof (because the solar/non-solar titles will replace your roof - my calculations above didn't take a new roof into consideration). That’s almost 3x what I paid for a standard solar panel system. If I did have a roof to support that, it would cost me upwards of $71,000 (I figured this out by playing with numbers in their online calculator). I’d need more than double the number of solar tiles to offset 100% of my electricity.

The solar system I had installed is 6.5 kilowatts (kW) and cost approximately $25,000 and covers 100% of my electricity needs. I’d need more than double that size Solar Roof to cover my yearly average electricity usage of $200/month, but the above calculations max out my roof space. If I paid upfront in cash for a Solar Roof (70% solar tiles and 30% non-solar tiles), it would cost $27,720 and offset my electric bill by $77/month. I typed in the address of my home (where I had solar installed last year), and this is what it showed me: Tesla has an online calculator so you can see what it would cost you to have a Solar Roof installed and how much your electricity offset can be per month. However, their price tag may not integrate well with your wallet, and the output won’t offset your electricity bill like standard solar panels do. Solar tiles, on the other hand, may integrate seamlessly into your roof. Of course, as a self-proclaimed solar geek, I don’t completely understand this (they’re so pretty!!), but I do understand their perspective – solar panels are an addition to the roof on your home. There are consumers who have told us they don’t like the look of solar panels – they just can’t get over the aesthetics. Now that it has been, we’ve been wondering – is the Tesla Solar Roof Worth the Investment? Why Solar Tiles Entice Customers The ideas he has make sense, but does the investment? Until last month, we knew the solar/non-solar tiles would be for sale this year, but the cost wasn’t released. Elon Musk is a smart guy – combining the power of solar with EVs. Then, they announced the Powerwall, a solar battery, and most recently, the Solar Roof, a mix of solar and non-solar tiles that is meant to replace a typical solar system. Tesla has built a well-known brand with electric vehicles (EVs). When you hear the name Tesla, you usually stop and listen. Blog Post Categories & Tags Residential Tesla Powerwall Solar News
