It’s cheaper than you’d think.
Source: Tesla’s Solar Roof Is Actually Cheaper Than a Normal Roof | Apartment Therapy
I love seeing signs of progress in alternative energy. I love this as a concept — solar tiles that simply replace normal roofing materials — though it still needs to be field proven. I see this also as a great sign of progress and more innovations in the future.
found this on this original page – looks like it is NOT cheaper than a regular asphalt roof.
“MobileBlues
2 days ago
I am a contractor and I’m not sure where you are getting your numbers but you are WAY off on the costs being the same or less as current roofing. Roofing is sold in ‘Squares” which are 10′ X 10’ ‘Squares’ or 100 Sq. Ft. A typical roof on new construction in most of the U.S. is about $200 per ‘Square’ or $2.00 per sq. ft. Tesla’s calculation of $24.50 per sq. ft. makes the roof cost $2,450 per ‘Square’ or more than ten times the cost of a typical new asphalt shingle roof. How Tesla fudges the numbers is they amortize the cost over a ten year period and say that it’s competitive with a typical asphalt shingle type roof when calculated on a yearly basis.
Of course the above calculation does not take into account the production of solar energy and the utility savings that will provide.”
Check out Consumer’s Reports for an equal price.
Solar roof panels will only work well in certain regions of the country consistently. The southwest and west that has abundant sunshine year around and works well. The south, north and northeast might work in the summer, but not in the winter because of increased cloud cover. When there is no sun, there is no energy being created, so you will still need to on the grid for the days of no sun. Green energy is not an end all within itself.