Tesla Solar Roof vs Solar Panels: Which is Worth It?

Would you go with a Tesla Solar Roof like Paul did, or go with standard solar panels like I did? Take your personal data back with Incogni! Use code UNDECIDED at the link below and get 60% off an annual plan: incogni.com/undecided If you liked this, check out Is a Geothermal Heat Pump Worth It? My Net Zero Home https://youtu.be/onmLrUh2cHU?list=PLnTSM-ORSgi7FwYRnWkpCSkAeFOzrgh5h

I spoke to 2 installers in the Ohio area about the Solar Roof. Both quoted me prices around $180k which is about half the value of my home. So there was just no way to justify that cost.

I think it is because the Solar Roof wing of Telsa is terrible. I signed a contract for a roof, heard nothing for months, then got an email saying the cost was increasing by more than 50% without anyone ever coming out to my house. I decided to just cancel.

I put a Tesla solar system in last year, and because I went through Tesla's site for a quote, but worked with a local roofing contractor I was done in 5 weeks from initial contact, including PTO for a 20 kW system with 4 powerwalls and 3 inverters. The whole install process took about 10 days and the rest of the time I was waiting on PTO and a few final touches. I cannot stress enough what a difference it made to have a wonderful, quality local contractor that did a fantastic job. The whole thing has been running flawlessly since they completed it and I never had to deal with Tesla directly.

That point about being an early adopter Matt brought up was a VERY VERY GOOD point. Roof stuff isn't a phone or a game console, it's a very long term "investment" (it's not REALLY an investment, but you get what I'm going for here). It has to be reliable, it has to be easy to either replace or maintain, it has to last a long time.

As a solar service technician, you absolutely nailed it with your reasoning. Servicing is a huge consideration that would make me steer people away from Tesla products by default. Non-standard parts combined with only being able to get service from a single place is an enormous gamble.

After watching Mr. Brownlee's video, I contacted Tesla and received the contact information of a local installer. Our house is much smaller than Mr. Brownlee's home, so I figured we might be able to afford it. The quote came back at about 25% more than what Mr. Brownlee paid! It was over a half of the value of our house. Needless to say, it immediately fell outside of our budget.

EXCELLENT report Matt! 100% agree on all you said! I did not get because they are opaque about performance (besides no installers in my area). To add, your comment about "very personal decision" is key. I tell anyone interested there is NO "one size fits all".

I made the decision 11 years ago to go with a metal roof with standard sized frameless panels. I saw these advantages: 1) fewer connections in each string 2) larger gap between roof and panel, giving better ventilation, cooling and therefore efficency 3) more choice in the market using standard sized panels and better efficiency. 4) fewer panels and therefore easier to replace/maintain. I bought 85 panels + 2 spares. One panel shattered on install - not a problem, had a spare on site so i now have 1 spare panel. 5) the metal roof below is more like factory roofing with a repeating trapeze ridge/trough profile. Cheap, lightweight, long lasting and you don't see it because its behind the PV array. In terms of aesthetics i chose a south facing monopitched roof at 35 degrees. Basically a large rectangle covered by a 5 x 17 PV panel grid with no through entries (chimneys, windows, ventilation etc.) Looks great. The house is also box form below the roof - better for surface area to volume ratio and easier to acheive passive house rating than a complex H shape with a correspondingly complex roof shape. The panels were 220 Watt. Modern panels of the same size are 440 now. I will replace them in 4 or 5 years - the replacement will be easy - we can use the existing aluminium subframe and external fixations - no new drilling into the roof will be required.

I can tell you why I didn't get a Tesla solar roof. They didn't deliver. They quoted me and gave me an estimate of 13-18 weeks for install. 12 weeks in they cancelled my order and told me to resubmit through a local roofer they contracted with. The price went up 325% and the installation timeline was then estimated at 48-52 months. So my system price went from $110k with install in 2021 to $365k with install in 2024-2025. I got a standing seam metal roof for $35k installed within a month of contract signing. My solar system was $65, installed 12 weeks after signing, 2 weeks early. Installation was completed in 3 days, and PSE approved tying it into the network only 9 days later.

We have 12 year old panels. 4 have hail damage. Even though they are still working, we decided to replece the entire array. We use bet metering rather than batteries and are net $0. We are upgrading to new and fewer panels for the same kw this spring. The older panels paid for themselves ib 7 years we expect the new array to do so in 30 months. Love them. Can not imagine doing this upgrade with roof tiles.

People spending 100k-300k on solar is patently insane and is a reminder that solar is anything but "affordable".

I installed the traditional solar panels back in 2017. I am very happy that I had gone that route as my home was built in 1941 and also my panels on my house are not seen and are hidden as I have a 1 1/2 story Cleveland Bungalow with a detached garage. A little more than half my panels are on my detached garage. I have two separate inverters (grid tied) and no battery backup. I owe a little cash during the low production time , December, January, and February. Our Northeast Ohio grid has been pretty reliable which makes it kind of nice. Electricity isn’t as expensive for our area as other states. Very happy with our solar panel system. So far so good.

I used to work at Gigafactory 2 manufacturing the solar roof. Great product, shoddy execution

In South Africa, our 2.9Kw 48v system, with 105A Lithium Battery and Inverter, cost us R56 000 in total, about $2,500. Granted my brother in law and myself did all the work, excluding the installation of the electrical switch board, linking our system to the grid and checking/certification of our system by a certified electrician, required by our local municipality and for insurance purposes, but paying for that is included in the cost above. Took us two years to fully pay for the system out of our savings

Great article Matt. I went with a Tesla solar roof after looking at four companies. The total system took 4 months to install, all due to local utility refusal to allow me to install the two Powerwall Plus batteries with the solar roof. I eventually had to go to the city council to request approval to install. We had companies say the solar roof would not work on my home. The real problem with most of the systems is the installers.

Hi! Very interesting comparison between solar options. We needed a new roof two years ago and also wanted to upgrade to a premium roof. We got our Tesla Roof installed two years ago and are very happy with it. We are driving about 10k electric miles and have paid under $100/year since we signed up for the tesla plan. We're in Dallas TX.

One thing that isn't considered is the Home Owner Association rules. Currently, our area has legislation drafted that will restrict HOA's from preventing Solar installations. We'll see if it passes.

Rich people things.

Incredibly Informative! Well done, Sir!