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Tesla’s new Solar Roof costs less than a new roof plus solar panels

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221–230 of 313 posts

Re: Tesla’s new Solar Roof costs less than a new roof plus solar panels

#221
post #215

This looks like any other BIPV roof product -- what makes it different? More importantly: how do they plan to avoid the problems that have plagued BIPV for decades?

I'm not familiar with the existing issues, but likely thorough testing and quick scale. I'd expect tile durability and cable corrosion to be the main issues, which seem solveable.

Re: Tesla’s new Solar Roof costs less than a new roof plus solar panels

#222
post #199

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or you use batteries which is in the default option. From the article "You can also enter your address and get an updated estimate that takes into account local costs and incentives, and add on any Powerwalls (with three as the default for a 2,000 square-foot roof)"

>Or you use batteries which is in the default option. What batteries? Hate to break it to you, but there is no battery technology capable of storing enough energy to bridge solar intermittency gaps at even the scale of a city.

This solar roof is for single family homes, not city scale energy. You can power a single family home by building extra solar capacity so you have a surplus of energy during the day to charge batteries which you use at night. Just search for "off grid homes" to see examples. It'll most likely be more expensive at todays prices but the technology absolutely exists.

Re: Tesla’s new Solar Roof costs less than a new roof plus solar panels

#223

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> solar needs the grid to be even close to viable This was true 20 years ago and will be laughable 20 years from now. > The only power generators that can do that are ones that burn fossil fuels. Fossil fuel generators do NOT ramp up and down quickly. BTM and FTM battery storage solutions ramp up and down faster and are rapidly becoming cheaper and more environmentally friendly alternatives. > energy use in building…

>This was true 20 years ago and will be laughable 20 years from now. Will the sun start shining at night in 20 years? >Fossil fuel generators do NOT ramp up and down quickly. Natural gas ramps as quickly as it can. But let's assume that's true, that's not a point against me, it's a point against solar because then it means that solar is completely unworkable. >Every one of these supposed drawbacks of solar also apply…

> Will the sun start shining at night in 20 years?

Do batteries stop working at night?

> No. Because we know we can power an economy with fossil fuels, and do it in any weather, day or night.

...and irreparably destroy the planet by doing so

> Here's what works: Nuclear, Hydro, Geothermal

I agree! But I think we are perfectly capable of utilizing these AND solar, wind, and storage?

Re: Tesla’s new Solar Roof costs less than a new roof plus solar panels

#224

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Or you use batteries which is in the default option. What batteries? Hate to break it to you, but there is no battery technology capable of storing enough energy to bridge solar intermittency gaps at even the scale of a city.

Of course there are, the you just called it something else: hydro.

Here's an example: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dinorwig_Power_Station

Re: Tesla’s new Solar Roof costs less than a new roof plus solar panels

#225

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'm not sure I'd consider that rich. People who are installing $40,000+ roofs on 2000+ sqft homes are not rich by your standards? Or do you truly believe these panels will "print money"?

every home has a roof, and none of them are cheap to replace. it's a small factor difference in amount you're financing.

>it's a small factor difference in amount you're financing.

This is a magnificently out of touch comment.

You think the difference between an asphalt shingle roof vs a 100-year slate tile roof is a "small factor"?

Re: Tesla’s new Solar Roof costs less than a new roof plus solar panels

#226

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Definitely, the solar price in that article is twice what I paid for my 9.4KW system. I wouldn't have gotten Tesla anyway, even if it was cheaper. This is not the sort of place I'm willing to be an early adopter - once they have proven they have decades of experience, like SMA and others, then maybe. Until then, no way.

Decades of experience are a bit much to ask when the market didn't even even exist 19 years ago.

Reminds me of job postings in our industry:

"Must have 5 years of experience with "

Re: Tesla’s new Solar Roof costs less than a new roof plus solar panels

#227

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Definitely, the solar price in that article is twice what I paid for my 9.4KW system. I wouldn't have gotten Tesla anyway, even if it was cheaper. This is not the sort of place I'm willing to be an early adopter - once they have proven they have decades of experience, like SMA and others, then maybe. Until then, no way.

Decades of experience are a bit much to ask when the market didn't even even exist 19 years ago.

Panel technology and traditional roofing do have decades of experience.

Leaving aside how unproven the tech is inside their new solar tile, they’re still trying to figure how how to hang them. That’s pretty bleeding edge.

Re: Tesla’s new Solar Roof costs less than a new roof plus solar panels

#228

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If too many people build solar, the utility can't build new infrastructure and charge everyone for it. Right. Because solar does not play well with existing infrastructure but solar needs the grid to be even close to viable. It needs it because it is a diffuse intermittent power source, where the peak power generation does not actually match peak power use. Solar overproduction cannot be saved for later either, mea…

> solar needs the grid to be even close to viable This was true 20 years ago and will be laughable 20 years from now. > The only power generators that can do that are ones that burn fossil fuels. Fossil fuel generators do NOT ramp up and down quickly. BTM and FTM battery storage solutions ramp up and down faster and are rapidly becoming cheaper and more environmentally friendly alternatives. > energy use in building…

>> solar needs the grid to be even close to viable >This was true 20 years ago and will be laughable 20 years from now.

So in 20 years the batteries are able to store half a year worth of electricity? That's quite a lot of MWh in your house.

The whole world doesn't live at the equator.

Re: Tesla’s new Solar Roof costs less than a new roof plus solar panels

#229
> And we’re actually going to have […] ‘installathons,’ ” Musk said, which will pit two teams against each other to see who can roof one of two similar-sized/designed roofs faster. Musk reiterated later that there’s “quite a bit of R&D just in the installation process itself.”

Not a short seller, but that sounds a lot like: “We don’t yet know how to do this well, but in the meantime we are going to optimize for speed.” This may look good to investors, but homeowners might cringe. Did Musk learn nothing from the pre-Titan installs? Somebody get him a copy of _The Mythical Man-Month_. This quote alone took me from possible early-adopter to wanting to wait 3 to 5 years until they decide to optimize installation for correctness and lowered risk of ignition.

Re: Tesla’s new Solar Roof costs less than a new roof plus solar panels

#230

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you shop around it's abundantly clear that the price of a new roof varies wildly. Some of it is materials. The guy offering 50 year warranty GAF super-premium install who spots loads of potential problems up front and factors them into the cost is going to run much higher. The guy who is just going to hire some rando non-english speaking guys from the 7-11 and toss on the cheapest possible materials without concer…

> Who is going to hire some rando non-english speaking guys from the 7-11 You know you didn't have to put non-english speaking in there, right? Totally unnecessary and shows potential racial bias. (I'm not perfect either, and it bugs me when I say stuff like that too.)

I think a case could be made in some situations that if your employees don't speak English and you don't speak whatever language they speak, you may get poorer construction outcomes. Even if the employees are experiences and smart.
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