Tesla Solar Roof: Frequently Asked Questions
By Eric Weddle
One of the aspects of our Tesla Solar Roof adventure that we especially enjoy is connecting with so many people on social media who share an interest in technology, renewable energy, and in Tesla products. Your interest and engagement is energizing and we get some helpful suggestions and questions through these channels. In today’s blog post, your friendly social media correspondent is going to try answering some of the most frequent questions we get.
They say never read the YouTube comments, but we are still riding high from this gem, via Undecided with Matt Ferrell
How Much Does Tesla Solar Roof Cost?
This is certainly our most frequent question when we highlight a specific project. We wish there was a simpler answer than “it depends” but right now Solar Roof projects have far too many variables to give a simple price formula, and out of respect for our clients we can’t disclose individual project pricing. But we’re trying to make our estimates as transparent as possible by putting a configurator on our site that we try to keep updated and as close to reality as we can. If you are trying to estimate your project using our configurator, pay close attention to the roof area input—this is the most common thing that people miss or just don’t know offhand (and we get that--we can help you estimate your roof size!)
We are hoping to bring costs down as we gain more experience and become more efficient at installation. In 2021, unfortunately, material and transportation costs have moved against us in a big way, but we are pursuing some other options to mitigate those increases and hope to report some big improvements in Q4. We see some great opportunities to streamline the supply chain and bring down our own costs.
Did This Solar Roof Come With A Powerwall?
If it’s a recent job, probably so. Elon made some waves a few months ago when he announced all Tesla Solar products would be sold with Powerwall. As a 3rd party installer, this doesn’t apply to us (yet) but we’re moving in that direction simply because it makes better long-term sense for most customers. At this point, about 75% of our planned installs include Powerwall. Most utilities have Net Metering programs that allow homeowners to effectively use the grid as their battery, sharing excess energy during the day and drawing from it at night. However, these programs often are very restrictive on system sizes and are subject to changing regulations.
Do You Want To Do My Showcase Project For Free Exposure?
Hey, shoot your shot! Seriously though, we appreciate everyone’s interest and there are definitely some opportunities that are great for getting into new markets, but right now we’ve got plenty of leads and are trying to focus more on our core markets and on the operations side of the business. We’ve had some good exposure this year already.
Do You Install Solar Roof In My State?
Maybe. Right now we have projects that span over 1200 miles from Missouri to Wyoming, and we need to keep our install teams a little closer to their homes. But feel free to reach out to us anyway! We may be able to connect you with a Certified Installer in your market.
How Did You Get Certified To Do This And What Is Your Relationship With Tesla?
We have a whole blog post about how we get started in this here. We are an independent certified installer for Tesla Solar Roof and Powerwall. We work very closely with the Tesla team and install according to their specifications as the manufacturer, but we set our own prices and manage each project ourselves. We believe as an independent installer we benefit from extensive support from Tesla but also have more flexibility to serve our clients in the best way possible.
We Are A Roofing Company; How Do We Get Setup To Do This?
Look—we’re not anxious to set up competitors in our markets, but we believe the best way for the Solar Roof platform to be successful is to develop many more installers across the country (and in other countries). If your company is interested in exploring this program, feel free to reach out to us and we’ll try to put you in contact with the right people to get started.
A word of caution though: this is not for everyone and—candidly—it’s not for the majority of roofing companies in the industry today. Success will require a willingness to invest for the long-term, a strong commitment to continual improvement, and immense stubbornness. It also helps if you have good metalworkers and possibly an electrician. Good luck!
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If you feel you're ready to take the leap to invest in a Tesla solar roof for your home, contact us! We'll give you more specifics about how we cater the Tesla solar system specifically to your home (and whether it's a good fit for your home to begin with).
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