It can be hard to keep up with the innovation of technological giants like Tesla Motors or SolarCity.
New technologies come out regularly. With the latest solar roof tiles from Tesla, the company set a goal for total energy integration. Tesla solar roof tiles take solar power to the next level, but how does it work? Are Tesla solar panels worth the extra cost?
Let’s take a look at the whole process in this Tesla Solar Roof review.
The Cost
The cost to install tiles from a solar Tesla roof product is significantly pricier than regular solar panel installation. It’s also significantly higher than regular shingle prices. You can expect to pay around $21.85 for each square foot of Tesla solar roof tiles. To put this into perspective, let’s say that you have a 2,500 square foot home. If you were to look at the total cost of roof installations, you could pay as much as $54,000 to finish off a roof of that size. In stark contrast, regular roof tiles will cost you an average of $6.37 up to $8.77. That means that you’d pay an average of $6,000 for a 2,500 square foot roof.
We haven’t considered the tax credit either. The United States government will give you a tax credit that makes solar roofing a little more affordable. You receive a 30 percent federal tax credit for putting money down on Tesla solar panels. You also receive savings on energy, which has a huge impact. It integrates and looks like regular shingles, but it helps you to generate electricity in the home, which leads to savings over time. For those who might stay in the home between 20 to 30 years, you will see the total in cash coming back to you in the form of energy savings year after year. The longer that you have them, the lower your homeowners cost.
How Tesla will Reinvent the Solar Tiles
One of the biggest issues that many homeowners have had with the solar industry is that panels don’t look good. It serves as somewhat of an eyesore looking at these things. You have a lot of people who believe that solar panels look visually unappealing. Up until now, most solar companies didn’t try to address this concern. However, Tesla has stated that they will make an effort to bring this more into the mainstream by improving the aesthetic appeal of the solar panels. Eliminating aesthetic concerns will be a huge leap forward for the solar industry and will likely advance residential solar efforts. Power roofing will continue to progress. Tesla helped to save the novelty and usefulness of the electric car. Like the electric vehicle, they have made further moves into solar panels, which will be another key victory for the company. If they can make them successful, that is. The biggest obstacles come down to the heavy price tag.
What Inspired Tesla to Make This Move?
The inspiration for solar panels is credited to their first development back in the 1970s. Several of these companies have helped move the industry forward, and they tried to make a solar medium that would have similarities to traditional roofing. However, Tesla is the first one that has leaped beyond to make it truly effective. While what they’ve done isn’t necessarily new, Tesla panels have helped integrate a photovoltaic option so that you have much better aesthetic appeal.
What Do You Get with the Tesla Roof?
With the Tesla roof, you can expect that you will have one solar cell per shingle. At the same time, this will act much like the traditional terracotta, asphalt, or slate and still produce electricity.
The Biggest Problem with the Tesla Roof
The biggest issue with Tesla’s solar roof is that it tries too hard to please everyone. As a result, it doesn’t please anyone.
For example, you have a higher roof cost(but the cost isn’t guaranteed, as it depends on your roof size). Another problem is that it doesn’t generate as much electricity as you’d get with the regular solar panel. The solar roof Tesla option has its aesthetic appeal, but the solar shingles you get have a lower capacity for generating power. This means that you pay more, but also you don’t get as much from it.
We believe that this might be a step in the right direction, but you should carefully consider whether to install solar shingles. You pay a lot more for them, and while Tesla claims that they will last a lifetime, the likelihood is that they will break down over a while.
Tesla has come up with a way to improve how solar companies make power. The problem falls on two different factors. First, higher cost, and second, these solar panels don’t generate as much power as a regular solar panel does.
Available in Different Designs
You can get the power roofing from Tesla in four solar roof tile designs:
Textured glass
Slate glass tile
Tuscan glass tile
Smooth glass tile
CEO Elon Musk went on to give a demonstration of how the strength of his new roofing will work. He tested different heavyweights on common shingles, as well as on his own solar shingles. They discovered that Elon Musk’s solar shingle could hold up the same weight as a traditional asphalt shingle. Tesla solar panel shingles have major advantages, and its solar tile innovation is why it’s one of the biggest companies in the world.
However, despite the creativeness it’s brought to solar tiles, there are still other solar companies to compete with. For example, Momentum Solar is growing quickly and continues to be a solar powerhouse, especially on the East and West Coasts.
Colored Roofing
Perhaps one of the more exciting changes that have come out of Tesla comes down to the colored tiles. These shingle roof installations will give you a much better value. In November 2018, Tesla filed for a patent for “uniformly and directionally colored voltaic modules.” Homeowners’ cost goes down when you own one of these roof tiles because you can generate energy without losing your existing roof.
Tesla is on a crusade to make their solar panel shingles as energy-efficient and visually appealing as possible. Compared to non solar tiles and ordinary roofing material, the Tesla solar tile competes with structural integrity and aesthetic appeal. Compared to traditional solar panels, Tesla Solar tiles generate solar power just like a conventional solar panel.
Who was This Roof Made For?
We would have to say that the homeowners who will get the most excitement from the Tesla energy solar panels are the homeowners who value the visuals and durability of the roof. If you value the electricity and upfront savings, this may not be the roof for you.
We have to remember that the solar shingles Tesla roof isn’t the first set up for this. In fact, we have seen this setup many times before, but it has continued to evolve up until today. Tesla is more than a solar business, and they continue to move forward in this field and other renewable energy advancements. The energy savings over the long term could help you pay for the roof.
However, some people might be paying more attention to this field and not going out and buying this technology right away. For those for whom money isn’t an obstacle, they may find that Tesla solar roof shingles are worth the cost due to its extra savings on their electric bill.
