We had rooftop solar installed in early 2024 and went out of our way to not have anything Tesla-related involved, because he sux. As a result, it's powerful and we haven't seen a power bill in months, often feeding many kilowatthours back into the system as excess. You're welcome, nonsolar neighbors.
I run a roofing company that installs solar shingles (not the Musk kind — these are from mainstream roofing supply manufacturers). The total cost of a new solar roof is surprisingly close to the combined cost of a new roof plus traditional rack-mounted solar panels.<p>There’s a small premium — maybe around 5% per watt — for going with solar shingles instead of panels. But in return, you get a few practical advantages:<p>Better aesthetics (they blend in)<p>Higher wind resistance<p>Simpler logistics (one contractor instead of two)<p>And most importantly, you’re not voiding your roofing warranty by drilling dozens or hundreds of holes into your shingles and rafters<p>It’s definitely not for everyone, but for people already needing a new roof, it can make a lot of sense.
Homeowners are probably realizing solar roofs don't make financial sense unless you're off grid. In that case, you've probably got the space to install them on the ground.
"Not selling a lot because expensive". Not very insightful.<p>I think it would have been interesting to know more — if it was difficult to replace panels, if there were issues with shading / inverters, or hail resistance or something like that. (Those issues led me to switch to planning a ground mount)