- Last year, when I looked
at the Tesla Solar Roof,
I determined that it
was still not worth it
in terms of a financial investment
compared to just adding solar
panels to my existing roof,
or getting a new roof and
then adding panels to it.
But since then, Tesla
released Version Three,
and has dropped the price
by thousands of dollars.
So, I thought we could
just have another look
and see whether or not
it makes financial sense
to buy and install a brand
new Tesla Solar Roof.
Let's free the data.
(upbeat electronic music)
If you've been following
the channel for a while,
you'll know that this is my
third Tesla Solar Roof video,
with the first one uploaded
all the way back in 2016.
Back then, Elon made some big claims,
saying it would look
better than a normal roof
and generate electricity,
last longer, and more.
But then, we waited and
nothing seemed to happen.
That was until March of
2019 when Elon told us
2019 would be the year of the Solar Roof.
But alas, the Model 3 production
ended up taking almost
all of Tesla's focus,
and everything just seemed to stop.
(tires screeching)
So, we waited some more.
(fingers tapping)
And now here we are in
2020 and I'm wondering
whether or not it makes sense now,
especially given how low interest rates
in the current pandemic.
When I looked back at this in 2019,
the calculator on the Tesla website
estimated that a Solar Roof
would cost about $75,000 for
a 2,000 square-foot house.
Using the calculator at the time,
what I found was that it
was actually a 33% premium
for the Solarglass versus just
a new roof and solar panels,
so, really, it didn't make a lot of sense.
And certainly for me,
that was way too much,
even if I didn't have solar already.
And in the end, I determined
that for most people,
especially people who
didn't need a new roof,
it really didn't make sense
compared to just installing solar panels
on your current roof unless
you wanted the cool factor,
and happened to have the money to spend.
But then in October of 2019,
Elon said that the V3
Solarglass roof price point is,
"Less than the average of a
(new) roof plus solar panels."
He went on to say that he thinks
that this will be the case
about 80% of the time.
Now, that's big, especially
when we compare it
to the previous cost that
we already reported on.
So, checking the Tesla website now,
it looks like that same V3 Solarglass roof
would be $43,000 cheaper
than it was in 2019.
Now, at that price, you're
looking at $2.11 per watt
for the Solar Roof,
and then $2.06 for the
regular solar panels,
and overall this comes out to
be about a $10,500 difference.
So we also have to think
about how they'll hold up.
Are they strong?
Well, they're made with
tempered glass, and as my friend
Zack from JerryRigEverything
channel likes to say,
- Glass is glass and glass breaks.
- [Man] This is not funny.
(loud bang)
(audience moans)
- But, these tiles are
actually three times stronger
than standard roofing
tiles and are engineered
for this all-weather
durability according to Tesla.
The specs specifically note that the tiles
are rated for 130 mile-per-hour winds,
which covers a category three hurricane.
They also come with a
class-three hail rating
which is about a
1.75-inch-diameter hail size.
Which is kind of close to a golf ball,
a pretty extreme condition,
but it does happen from time to time.
So, if they're strong,
even though they're glass
and we know glass breaks, will they last?
(upbeat jazz music)
The Solar Roof comes
with a 25-year warranty,
which is pretty good,
it includes the tiles
and the kind of roof aspect,
as well as the power generation,
so the solar PV system
that you would typically have.
And comparing that to a regular roof,
which can last anywhere
between 15 to 50 years,
it's kinda smack-dab in the middle.
The big variability there is
the materials and workmanship
as well as any other
kind of weather events
that may occur or things
like a tree falling down
on top of the house.
It is interesting to see
kinda some of the demos
and the examples out there but, overall,
it looks like this is going
to be a durable product,
at least on paper.
And another big improvement here,
probably that helps with
that cost reduction,
is the install time.
There are some stories out
there of previous installation
taking weeks if not over a full month
just to get your Solar Roof installed.
But now it seems to be more streamlined.
And this is likely due to limiting
the various types of design options
and only offering a single design.
According to Tesla, the install time
is dependent on the size
and complexity of your roof
but most installations take approximately
one week to complete.
And earlier this year, we
actually started to see
some of these in the wild.
You may remember that I helped
my friend Jon Rettinger,
who reviewed one of
the very first installs
by comparing a regular roof
and the solar industry averages
per watt to what the guy that
actually got it installed
paid for his Tesla Solar Roof.
In that video, we looked at a
9.2 kilowatt SolarGlass Roof
which cost $65,000 but
did include a Powerwall
so minus that and you're right at $56,000
for the Solar Roof alone.
This left us with a cost of $6.12 per watt
versus the average cost of $3.44 per watt.
And another install that
Tesla recently did in Florida
on a 3,400 square foot
roof with an 18-kilowatt
solar power system came
in at $7 per square foot
and $2.65 per watt, this
is before incentives
according to Electrek.
So, the economics on it
can vary greatly and again,
you're looking at the higher-end
roofing materials here.
And obviously if you were just to get
a regular solar install
and not do anything
else to your roof, yes, that
would clearly be cheaper.
But what we're getting here is much more.
So that comparison is
kind of unfair, really.
And when I did look at those numbers,
what I found was that a new
asphalt roof plus solar panels
of the same size, that 9.2-kilowatt system
that we're comparing to,
in southern California,
comes to just under $43,000 based on
the average industry costs.
This is $14,000 cheaper
than a Tesla Solar Roof.
However, again, you're
getting an asphalt roof,
not one of these higher-end
roofing materials,
so, when you compare it to something like
metal, tile, or slate,
the Tesla Solar Roof
wins out by around
$13,000 all the way up to
$77,000 for the higher-end
slate roof with the panels.
This means that the Tesla
Solar Roof is cheaper
than all other high-end roofing options.
From a range of 13,000 to $77,000.
So, if you're in that market,
this is definitely something to consider.
And another thing to keep in mind
is it actually isn't a bad time right now,
given the federal tax
credit is still in place
and interest rates are so incredibly low.
And if you're unfamiliar with that,
or maybe you have forgotten,
the current Federal Investment Tax Credit,
the ITC as it's called, is 26%.
Meaning, whatever you pay
for your solar panel system,
Solarglass roof, whatever option you go,
you'll get a 26% credit on your taxes
for the following year.
Now, that already has begun its phase-out
and it's gonna kinda gradually phase out
over the next several
years but hopefully by then
we'll renew that and it'll
kinda come back to life
because solar energy does
employ a ton of people
around the world and it helps the grid.
There's just so much
positive economic reasons
to renew this incentive, so, we'll see.
But as of right now, it's still in place
and it's still helping you
kind of make this more economical.
(upbeat electronic jazz music)
And something we didn't
talk a whole lot about
is a Tesla Powerwall and
how that can benefit you.
If you wanna learn more about that,
I have a video over here
that you can go check out
on how I set it up at my house
and how we're actually saving money.
So thanks for watching and don't forget,
when you free the data,
your mind will follow.
I'll see you back here in the next one.
