How Much Does A Tesla Solar Roof Cost?


Despite ongoing problems with both installation and production, Tesla’s Solar Roof instalments continue to grow in popularity across the United States.

This popularity has only gone up since it was announced in November of 2021 that the tiles used for Tesla Solar Roofs would now be more efficient and boast higher capacity. Customers will soon be able to install these solar tiles on their current roofs, too. 

But Tesla products are known for their high prices. How much does the Tesla Solar Roof cost, and is it financially feasible for the average consumer? Read on to find out just how much the installation of a Tesla Solar Roof would set you back compared to traditional solar panels. 

The Tesla Solar Roof Explained

What exactly is a Tesla Solar Roof, compared to traditional solar panels? Tesla Solar Roof is an entire new roof put on your home, made up of ultra-durable roof tiles with built-in solar panels. The glass tiles look just like standard roof tiles but are made with tempered glass, which, according to Tesla, is roughly three times stronger than your average roof tile.

There’s a 25-year guarantee on the built-in solar panels, as well as the tiles’ resistance to weather damage.

If you upgrade your roof to a Tesla Solar Roof, your new roof will be made up of both non-solar tiles and solar tiles. From the street, these both look the same. How many of your tiles are solar ones depends on how much energy your house requires. The invisible solar cells found within the solar tiles were developed in partnership with Panasonic. 

Tesla Solar Roof: Price Point 

The cost of the Tesla Solar Roof depends on the size of your home, as well as several other factors. Because it’s an entire new roof on your home, the upfront cost is higher than just adding solar panels to your existing roof. As a baseline estimate:

For a home with a square footage of 2,000, the cost of a solar roof would be $91,000 to cover 100% of your electricity usage.

A home of 2,500 square feet would cost $111,000 to cover 100% of your electricity usage.

A home of 3,000 square feet would cost $132,000 to cover 100% of your electricity usage.

*Keep in mind, there are typically federal and local incentives save you a considerable amount on the upfront cost. For example, in the United States during 2022, the federal incentive is a 22% savings.

While the upfront cost of the Tesla Solar Roof is likely going to cost more than the cost of a simply replacing your roof with standard roof tiles, Tesla argues that it’s worth it for the investment the home owner receives in electricity cost savings over time.

If you already need a new roof on your home, and you want a solar system too, it may end up being cheaper to go with Solar Roof because your entire upfront cost is eligible for the federal/local solar tax incentive, whereas a standard roof replacement is not.

If you don’t need a new roof on your home, and only want to add solar panels to your existing roof, the calculator below will be a good estimator of how much solar panels alone will cost you:

In order to offset 100% of your electric bill, you will need:


400 Watt Panels
kWh

Based on Tesla Solar Panel pricing it will cost:


$

The Factors that Determine The Price Of A Tesla Solar Roof

A Guide to Installing Tesla Roof Tiles

There are a number of factors that can affect the price of the Tesla Solar Roof. As well as the size of your home and the amount of power needed to power said home, there’s also the factor of sunlight. A house in southern California where it’s sunny for most of the year will be able to get a far smaller system than a house in, say, New Jersey.

The final factor that affects the price is the complexity of a house’s roof. The more complex, the more materials and labor needed to go into making and installing it. 

A roof that Tesla would consider to be a simple roof is one that’s single-level and has a low pitch, with minimal obstructions. An intermediate roof would have multiple levels, a higher pitch, and more than a few obstructions. A complex roof is a roof that has multiple levels, a steep pitch, and numerous obstructions. These are the roofs that cost the most. 

One more thing to consider when it comes to the cost of the Tesla Solar Roof is additional upgrades and the costs that come with them. Depending on your house’s infrastructure, it’s possible that you’ll need to receive upgrades during the installation of your roof. 

This could mean a number of things, but most often would be either extra electrical work or the installation of a Solar Roof on your shed or your deck. The prices quoted to you prior to your purchase will not necessarily be the prices you’ll end up paying. 

Does Tesla Offer Discounts on Solar?

Tesla solar panels are already the lowest price solar panels on the market, but are there any other ways to save money when ordering?

In short, the only way to get a discount on Tesla solar panels is by using an existing Tesla owners “referral link” when ordering your Tesla solar panels.

Tesla has did this same “referral program” concept with it’s vehicles and essentially it allows new customers to get a discount on their purchase by using an existing customers personal referral link.

In regards to Tesla solar discounts, using a Tesla referral link when ordering will save you $300 off solar panels or $500 off solar roof.

The referral discounts are typically only available for a limited time before Tesla stops offering the discount, so take advantage of the savings while you can.

tesla solar panel discount

The Tesla Solar Roof As Of 2022

The latest version of the Tesla Solar Roof as of 2022 is the Solar Roof V3, which launched in October of 2019. Unlike the versions that preceded it, the V3 is made up of fewer parts and comes in one style rather than multiple styles. 

The prices of the Solar Roof rose substantially in March of 2021, and then again in April. Even customers who were already under contract were affected by this price rise. Some customers were paying over 30% more than the prices they were paying when they signed their original contract.

A class-action lawsuit ended up being filed against Tesla, and the pricing issue for contract customers was finally remedied in September of 2021. 

There were some back and forth changes to the Solar Roof around October of 2021. First, Elon Musk announced on Twitter that from that point on, every Tesla Solar Roof would require a Powerwall battery for installation. This was followed by another statement in October, where Tesla clarified that Powerwalls were not needed for the installation of the Solar Roof, but were recommended. 

How Efficient Is The Tesla Solar Roof?

When comparing the Tesla Solar Roof to traditional solar panels, you need to factor in inefficiency. At the time of writing Tesla is yet to release the data regarding the efficiency of its solar shingles, but their efficiency is estimated to be around 14 to 18%. The majority of traditional solar panels have an efficiency of between 22 to 23%. Well worth bearing in mind.

Conclusion: How Much Does a Tesla Solar Roof Cost?

The cost of a Tesla Solar Roof differs greatly depending on a number of factors: the size of your home and how much power your home requires, the complexity of your home’s roof, and the amount of sunlight that your home receives.

The Tesla Solar Roof is, in the vast majority of cases, far more expensive than traditional solar panels. They’re only really recommended if you appreciate their sleek design and already need a new roof on your home. Doing both a new roof and solar at the same time, with Solar Roof, may actually end up saving you money overall.

Solar Discounts:

Greg

The articles here on ThatTeslaChannel.com are created by Greg, a Tesla vehicle and Tesla solar expert with nearly half a decade of hands-on experience. The information on this site is fact-checked and tested in-person to ensure the best possible level of accuracy.

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