That is true. The best way in fact is to use no energy. However if you need a new roof and you want an economically positive way to get a roof, go solar, enjoy free energy after it is paid off, reduce CO2 emissions and all of the externalities related to that, and get an unlimited warranty on your roof so you don't have to replace this makes economic sense. You come out in the black.

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Don't hold back

I don't think you can get a roof that big in Denver for 20K.

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Don't hold back

Do you want to come down and build my garage? You just can't bring a laptop on the airplane.

My last roof on a 2300 sq ft 2 story house was nearly $30,000 no re-sheathing. Removal of one layer of shingles and new layer on top. The crew showed up at 6am and they were done by something like 2PM.

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Don't hold back

iO4 wrote:

It ain't Kansas that's for sure. To give you an idea...I just got a quote to add another 2 car garage on my house. We are talking easy access and flat, simple concrete floor, three walls, unfinished interior. $116,000.

Maybe you should get a secdond quote
http://www.homeadvisor.com/cost/roofing/install-a-roof/#

I have a friend who owns a very successful commercial construction company and he said he has subs with crews who spend 3 weeks on a job and then just leave unpaid because they find a rediculous rate on another. There is a huge shortage of construction workers. You can't find people who will do the work. 10000 people a month are moving to my area. That is why prices are so high.

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Even at $30k, that is still 2.7 roofs on my house. And there is a good chance that I'll have hail damage at some point and pay a deductible and get it replaced at a lot lower cost.

Once the cost of the Tesla roof comes down, I would be more than willing to look at it as an option, particularly if I have to replace my roof anyway.

drn92

https://www.treasury.gov/....aspx?data=realyield

Well you can't in TIPS. A solar + battery system is a hard inflation hedge. Also, if you really think you can beat treasuries:

https://papers.ssrn.com/...?abstract_id=2900447

I'd imagine the physical portion (i.e. the portion that doesn't generate electricity) would last as long as a slate roof: basically forever.

Did you get more then one quote?

Material is maybe a few grand. How are you blowing 27k in labour and overhead in 8 hours?

Where is this magical land where a roofing crew charges over $3000 and hour?

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Long Chile was a silly place.

Or, buy a home where this has been installed.

Agreed. I have a house that is similar size with complicated roof. A shed dormer front and back, 2 ridges, 2 valleys, 3 hips, and a few other difficult aspects. Reroofed 5 years ago. Complete tearoff, limited replacement of plywood, high quality shingles, all new flashing, synthetic underlayment, and 6 feet of ice and water barrier. Quotes from 3 roofing contractors came in between $8k to $12k. I have roofing experience so I ultimately did the work myself with some friends assisting. Total cost of materials was about $2,700, and I was paying full price. I live in the suburbs of Boston where labor/construction costs are pretty high, but $30k for a roof on a 2,300 sq. ft. house would be absolutely nuts, even in the priciest areas near me.

You're a brave man. Having roofing experience makes me never want to do another roof again ;-).

We are currently one of the hottest RE markets in N. America, and in a construction boom of epic proportion. Other contractors and I all say the same thing: So much work around, and no one to do it. I have done maybe 2 estimates in the last 12 months. Everything else has been on a cost-plus basis, with a rough budget, basically no questions asked by the client, as it is just so hard to nail people down. Even here, with the price gouging going on, $30k just makes me shake my head. Even someone with limited experience could probably take an unpaid week off work, buy all of the necessary tools and materials, watch youtube over an evening or two, do it themselves and still probably come out ahead!

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Long Chile was a silly place.

What kind of payback period would make sense for a solar roof?

Assuming a (high) monthly electric bill of $300 and the roof actually hitting the 70% target, that's $210 a month or $2,520 a year.

The $7k for the battery already puts you at nearly 3 years, if the roof ONLY costs $10k more that puts you 7 years out, so realistically, it has to be a least a 10 year payback period. That's a long time.

It is a long payback. And a 30 year warranty is only good if the company is around in 30 years for you to collect. Presuming you are around in 30 years.

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They constantly try to escape from the darkness outside and within
Dreaming of systems so perfect that no one will need to be good T.S. Eliot

I'm hoping at some point quality, affordable solar roofs become the norm but $53k isn't in my budget.

$300/month on electric?!?! That is crazy. There is no way it would be cost competitive for me, our electric bill maxes out at maybe $100/month during the summer. Nat gas adds at most another $70/month, but that is only during the winter, when electric falls to around $60/month.

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Pactimo brand ambassador, ask me about promo codes

Or if you need a new roof you pay $30,000 upfront for a shingle roof and get no return, then you get to replace it again later.

Uhh...what? Are you in NY or SF? The national average for roof replacement is 6,600$. Either you're in a very large house in which case your Tesla roof is going to cost you WAY more then 30K or you're in a ridiculously expensive area.

My "Estimate" for a Tesla roof $61,400 with another 7K for the power wall. Let's call it 70K. This is based on a monthly electric bill of $115 and with a 19K rebate that means my out of pocket would be 51K and at 115$ a month would take 37 years to break even. Selling power back to the power company is a joke, at least around here or was last time I checked.

By comparison I could get a new 30 year roof for 7K, walk away with 44K and save the take payers 19K. At the same time I could invest the 44K and make 4% off it and walk away with 146K in 30 years.

In this case my choices would be a 36 year break even or a ~100K in my pocket and 19K plus 30 years of interest in the taxpayers pockets...as a conservative estimate.

~Matt

What kind of payback period would make sense for a solar roof?

Payback is dependent on all sorts of variables and in this case many of those variables are based on personal lifestyle and opinion choices. For some "Saving the planet" means that "Payback" is in "Saving the planet" and has nothing to do with fiscal sense. If you want to look at purely from a fiscal standpoint then as long as you can get a realized payback including potential risks etc then the period doesn't matter. That being said however a bird in the hand is always worth two in the bush and when the payback period starts to be measured in decades it gets REALLY difficult to have reasonable estimates. When you start looking at paybacks of 2K over 30 years...well that's FAR from some certainty.

~Matt

These guys are not in construction. I can only assume $30k includes a few reroofs over 30 years.

On the cost of the Tesla roof panels, I have seen no indication if the price is all in or merely the roof material.

Plenty of people are paying that in Ontario. We built a bunch of windmills and solar panels and signed long term contracts to buy the expensive power from the (private) owners. Add to that long term debt that we keep kicking down the road. Our current premier in named Wynne but alot of people call her "wind"

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They constantly try to escape from the darkness outside and within
Dreaming of systems so perfect that no one will need to be good T.S. Eliot

I'm in the UK so prices are probably higher than US, but certainly replacing a tiled roof here on a typical 4 bed house would be into 5 figures, more if you're in expensive areas around London and/or want fancy tiles. $30k doesn't seem completely out of the ballpark.

My understanding of the Tesla prices being quoted is that the price is all in (possibly also including their Powerwall battery, since without this you'd have no power at night), not just the materials.

Definitely not something I'd want to be an early adopter on, but could see myself being in the market in a few years time when prices have dropped, there's some competition, and any longer term issues have been flushed out (my current roof has also seen better days and will likely need a fairly major overhaul within a 5-10 year timeframe anyway). If the numbers work then it is quite attractive having a roof that generates revenue (or at least savings) as opposed to one that is just depreciating.

Also Tile vs. asphalt shingles.

Here's some numbers I've seen recently:
Boston w/ union prices-
EPDM - $21/sf

NC - non-union-
Slate - $25/sf
Standing Seam - $36/sf
EPDM - $18.50/sf

(these are commercial contractors with scopes way beyond residential - that slate roof was $1.6m just in roofing)

$30k could do a 1200sf roof in slate...

I have seen no indication if the price is all in or merely the roof material.

I'm pretty sure the price is all in. I have a lot of neighbors who have done the Solar City thing and the way I understand it in that case they look at your energy bill and put in a solar roof for the same price of your average spend for electricity. This offsets your electric bill and then you pay Solar City that amount for some period of time until the panels are paid off. Then you get free electricity. Everyone I have talked to who has done it said that the panels have produced more electricity than estimated.

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In my case it was just asphalt shingles. For those of you who are amazed at prices think about this. What happens when 10,000 people a month move into your state? What happens to the availability of construction workers? What happens to the price of building materials?

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Don't hold back