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Tesla or other-brand roofing tiles vs the classic panel-approach?


puntloos

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Tesla just announced their 'v3' roof tiling system, and they are claiming that the cost-per-watt and cost-per-roof outstrips comparable tile+PVPanel setups. Also of course they look more elegant.

 

Does anyone know any actual roofing companies supplying Tesla, or similar style(?) PV tiles? Cost vs panels? Downsides?

 

https://electrek.co/2019/10/27/tesla-solar-roof-v3-quote-price-decrease/ say that a 1860sqft (172sqm) v3 roof costs about 55000 USD, which includes the storage battery, and is rated at 9.45kW. A standard domestic 4kWp system will cost around £6,000, but with tesla you get a 'free roof(tiles)' of course. 

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Only available from Tesla, and they will not quote for installation in the UK yet. Product also doesn’t have a CE or BBA approval for use as a roof covering in the UK so you would need to take that into consideration.  

 

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48 minutes ago, PeterW said:

Only available from Tesla, and they will not quote for installation in the UK yet. Product also doesn’t have a CE or BBA approval for use as a roof covering in the UK so you would need to take that into consideration.  

 

Can you remind me, does the lack of approval mean I can't get the 10yr building (NHBC style) warranty?

 

Ive reached out to Tesla but indeed I fear it will be too late for me, would need them in Aug timeframe..

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It's worth noting that the Tesla system is claiming to compete with US residential solar systems on price - but those are hideously expensive compared to the UK. The US also mostly uses asphalt shingles for roofing, which have a pretty short life so their comparisons often include the cost of replacing those several times. I tried to do the maths on it a while back, but it was horribly expensive compared to something like the GSE system with conventional panels.

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26 minutes ago, pdf27 said:

It's worth noting that the Tesla system is claiming to compete with US residential solar systems on price - but those are hideously expensive compared to the UK. The US also mostly uses asphalt shingles for roofing, which have a pretty short life so their comparisons often include the cost of replacing those several times. I tried to do the maths on it a while back, but it was horribly expensive compared to something like the GSE system with conventional panels.

Yes true, the US apparently uses some weird asphalt thing, where in the UK slate or tiles are 'reasonably priced' I guess. 

 

At the end of the day I don't care for brand, but it should be somehow standardized so it's not too unfriendly to other brands or mixing with standard tiles should these fail.

 

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48 minutes ago, puntloos said:

Can you remind me, does the lack of approval mean I can't get the 10yr building (NHBC style) warranty?

 

Ive reached out to Tesla but indeed I fear it will be too late for me, would need them in Aug timeframe..


Very likely as the warranty providers are incredibly risk averse so will only warranty things they know. 

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GB Sol so a similar looking PV slate, have done for years.

http://www.gb-sol.co.uk/products/pvslates/default.htm

 

When we looked it was 2x the price of their RIS system and about half as efficient, so 4x the cost per W. The RIS system is itself 2x an economy install (but you save a bit on roof tiles) which is already non economic for most people.

Finally PV slates loose most of the crucial virtue signalling benefits so my guess is they'll be the first thing to go off most build specs when costs overrun and the customer realized it is masses of cost for something the neighbors will never even realize. (Only partly joking)

 

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5 hours ago, joth said:

GB Sol so a similar looking PV slate, have done for years.

http://www.gb-sol.co.uk/products/pvslates/default.htm

 

When we looked it was 2x the price of their RIS system and about half as efficient, so 4x the cost per W. The RIS system is itself 2x an economy install (but you save a bit on roof tiles) which is already non economic for most people.

Starts to add up, yes :/

 

5 hours ago, joth said:

Finally PV slates loose most of the crucial virtue signalling benefits so my guess is they'll be the first thing to go off most build specs when costs overrun and the customer

realized it is masses of cost for something the neighbors will never even realize. (Only partly joking)

 

Ah I'll just build a large compost and manure mulching device in the front garden to really show my green cred!

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