Solar Shingles

D

Deleted member 50714

Guest
This is from personal experience. Youngest step-son whining about his high electrical bill in Arizona. I told him to buy a swamp cooler. However, he bamboozles mommy to buying a solar system. Guess who has to deal with the idiots at Tesla.

First issue: Sales brochure advertises Panasonic panels. However, if one does their due diligence and reads the fine print, according to the contract, Tesla can put whatever panels they want, claiming availability issues.

Second issue: I would never install panels on the roof of my house. As a result of the dozens of penetrations to anchor the solar panels, the roof started leaking.

Third issue: Try calling Tesla customer service and see where that gets you. It'll get you frustrated that's what.

Musk is a looser and will ultimately suffer the same fate as Tucker.
 
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flman

Roadrunner, Genius of Birds ALWAYS WINS! NO FAILS!
These are shingles, so they negate penetration, I assume it all happens under the shingles, I only spend $1800 per year on electric so I would never see the payback, since I am going to exit NY in the next 5 to 8 years.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
 

autostaretx

Erratic Member
Hard to say ...
Unlike cars (built 'em as you wish in a factory ... sell to happy customer), the solar systems hit a number of obstacles:
(a) he's selling commodity bits .. panels/shingles and attachment infrastructure... assembly is on-site.
(b) the vaunted shingles are supposed to replace your roof, so their extra cost "saves money" by not needing a conventional roof beneath
(c) he's currently on his 2nd or 3rd configuration, and some of the early installs caught fire on Walmarts.

And the killer: You currently can't get them (the shingles) outside of limited areas.

As it happens, i *am* replacing my roof and adding solar this summer.
There are licensed Seattle-area Tesla installers, but up here they can only offer conventional panels, not the shingles.
(Tesla has a new design of panels, as well ... but they're not as good power-wise as quality panels)

So i'd still have to install my conventional roof first. (we'll be putting on a metal roof)
That pushed the price of a "Tesla Solar" system well above all of the other quotes.

Since Tesla is selling as many cars as they can build, and making a profit, AND their panels (not shingles) will be competing with an established and competitive market. i don't think the solar division will surpass Tesla Motors anytime soon. If/when they expand their shingle production and offer them country-wide, they run into the need to replace your roof *too* to have them become bid-winners (if they do). Since i couldn't get shingles here, i couldn't get a real quote to compare Tesla's apples to the rest of the crop of oranges.
(if i recall correctly, we were *not* required to buy a Powerwall as part of a Tesla package)

There have been "solar shingles" from other suppliers for over a decade (a neighbor has some). So even the "shingle" aspect isn't unique.

--dick
p.s. our panels (on a standing-seam metal roof) don't require penetration ... they side-clamp the seams. The power feed goes down the side of the house.
In a modern panel installation, even the "penetrate" style should (or can) be done with stand-offs that have the through-roof bolt centered under a fairly broad (and well-sealed) plate.
As our existing composition roof is amply demonstrating ... conventional shingles have LOTS of penetration ... they're called the nails that hold the shingles in place.
 
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tinman

Well-known member
I looked briefly at the shingles before installing conventional PV panels on my roof. They were much less efficient and much more expensive. I'm not sure of some of the details, such as how one would deal with the areas of roof that are not well oriented for solar. Would you use a less expensive non-PV version? In any event I installed enough to theoretically give me about 110% of my annual consumption. On pure economics, I'll have to live a long time for it to pay back, unless it adds capital value to my house, but most of our grid power up here is coal and NG turbine generated. It has given me a new hobby, monitoring the output, which is mostly zero in the colder snow-covered months. My conventional asphalt shingled roof was in good shape before the installation, and the penetrations don't involve any leak-prone methods. The guys who did the work impressed me with their knowledge and skill. No batteries, the surplus is fed back into the grid.
 

ECU

2006 T1n 118 Sprinter
Yes, the have false panels for the parts and edges that aren't good for solar.
I doubt solar would be any good for cost efficiency this far north.
 

tinman

Well-known member
Yes, the have false panels for the parts and edges that aren't good for solar.
I doubt solar would be any good for cost efficiency this far north.
I'm north of 53*, but we do get a lot of sunlight, and even with the lower sun angle we do pretty well in the summer months. Our electrical power bills since a "deregulation" a few years back are a bit convoluted. We pay individual amounts for generation, distribution, administration, and miscellaneous taxes, franchise fees, and other small charges. When we feed surplus into the grid we are only paid the generation charge. Since I put the system in, we've signed on with one of the smaller electricity retailers that lets us opt for a generation (export d or consumed) rate almost triple the normal rate during the months we're exporting, and then switch back to the lower rate the rest of the time. That will shorten the payback period.
 

BigDC

Active member
I’ve been in solar for 13 years. Dick, your system on the standing seam metal roof is, hands down, the best mounting solution. S5, a company in CO Springs developed the seam clamp and PV Kit. Great solution.

I would avoid proprietary products like Tesla shingles. Too risky and unproven.

Case in point, we have a client who Tesla paid a nice sum of money and put his family up in a hotel so they could photograph his house and render the shingles onto his standing seam metal roof. Have another client that was early on the list for the Tesla shingles. After significant delays, they informed him that they were struggling to get the roof system to be water tight. He ultimately went with a tried and true solution with proven technology.

Installation quality is equally important to the technology you use. Vet your installer well.
 

flman

Roadrunner, Genius of Birds ALWAYS WINS! NO FAILS!
Tesla & company are solar herpes.
The world has moved on double side panels are all the rage in Europe.
Dennis

Right Dennis, because us Yanks suck at everything, except for inventing all of the technology that is needed to implement Europe's "so called" good ideas. :dripsarcasm:


So, when are you going back to Europe where everything is so much better?
 

autostaretx

Erratic Member
Double-sided panels tend to only be economic if there's quite a bit of space under the panels (such as panels mounted tilted on a flat roof).
They also gain from a light-colored roof.

For our installation, they weren't recommended (of course i asked!), despite our choice of "silver" roof color.

--dick
 
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