Tesla has started taking orders for its innovative new solar roof, tile-sized solar panels that the company unveiled back in October last year. Coming from the makers of supercar-speed electric vehicles and reusable rockets, they’re not your ordinary solar panel: they’re aesthetically pleasing and won’t require ripping off existing tiles inside the home for installation.
The Solar Roof, Tesla’s first post-SolarCity acquisition offering, is expected to sell for $21.85 for each square foot of solar panels. As for energy savings, Tesla estimates that users can save up to $64,000 over a 30-year period.
But what possibly makes the Solar Roof Tesla’s best product to date? Here are some thoughts.
Elon Musk And Solar Power
Business Insider reported that it sounds as if the Solar Roof has been occupying at least as much of Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s attention as the upcoming Tesla Model 3 car launch. And understandably so, given Musk’s vision not just for powerful electric cars and space colonization but also for solar power.
Before Tesla bought SolarCity for more than $2 billion, Musk sat as the company chair, often harping on the urgent need for alternatives to fossil fuels. Solar energy also fits into the Tesla boss’s plan of eliminating greenhouse gas emissions via electric transportation, as well as making SpaceX an important player in solar system exploration — all powered by solar energy!
With these visions in mind, the Solar Roof emerges as a well-planned, well-executed product. The upfront costs may be high, but the roof lasts twice as long as a traditional roof and mitigates electricity costs at the same time. Backup energy is provided by a Tesla Powerpack battery.
Solar analyst Hugh Bromley said that while a traditional solar setup might be 30 percent cheaper than the Tesla roof, the latter will look better and come with a lifetime warranty, whereas normal roofs are typically replaced every couple of decades.
"A 30 percent premium could well be acceptable," said Bromley.
Aesthetics And Asset Appreciation
Take note, too, that the Solar Roof could be part of an appreciating asset if one’s home value increases alongside inflation rate (provided it remains in good working order). Homeowners could then easily find their net worth enhanced.
This is a potential feat rarely achieved by other tech companies. Apple iPhones are bound to depreciate while Google peddles a service instead of a product that will increase in value later on. Microsoft, on the other hand, sells software needing updates from time to time.
Even Tesla cars are depreciating assets amid their amazing looks and technology.
And since when did roofs are ever a source of envy among homeowners?
Musk was quick to say during a reporters’ call that Tesla is trying its best to help redefine the way we view this part of the house. There was a struggle on their part to find adequately wonderful roofs as basis for the Solar Roof’s design.
“This Solar Roof … will look better and last longer than a normal roof,” he guaranteed of his latest breakthrough product, which is slated to be shipped starting this year.
