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tesla and elon musk have been on a
mission to make their solar roof tiles
the go-to solution if you're considering
a new roof plus solar panels why buy and
install two separate products when you
can make one that does both i don't know
about you but my neighborhood has a lot
of solar panels but is still looking a
little scrimpy on the solar roof front
so what happened increased prices
installation times that still take the
better part of a week and new
competition that may beat tesla on price
and installation time there's some
interesting solar and shingle
competition out there now like a new
solar shingle that got a lot of buzz at
this year's ces
but where are they i'm matt farrell
welcome to undecided
[Music]
ces 2022 a new solar shingle product won
an innovation award that looks very
promising and garnered a lot of buzz
a product that's supposed to be
affordable and fast to install but
before getting to that what's the big
deal surrounding solar shingles versus
the regular solar panels that we're all
familiar with first we need to talk
about the difference between solar
panels and solar shingles or we could
just call them solar roofs now solar
panels are like a not so fashionable hat
for your roof they attach to your
existing roof as a separate apparatus
altogether it's what i've got on my roof
now solar shingles on the other hand are
more like a sustainable blanket for your
roof in some cases they cover your
existing roof like a second skin in
other cases they are your roof but
better
at least in theory
as you might imagine these design
differences make for very different
buying experiences in the long run some
of those key differences will be how
aesthetically pleasing your roof looks
the frequency and feasibility of
maintenance and repairs the efficiency
of your panels once it's in use and
finally the big one the cost
depending on the look and technology the
average cost for solar shingles ranges
around fifteen thousand to twenty
thousand dollars that's on the low end
and for premium brands like tesla solar
roof tiles they can cost you up to forty
five to seventy thousand dollars and
even more
so have solar roofs gained any advantage
in the residential solar tech field
let's go over a few of the pros and cons
as it stands right now
first the pros solar shingles are
designed to be sleek and minimalistic
compared to the bulky look of solar
panels and they blend into your existing
roof so neighbors might not even know
it's solar
if you care about that kind of thing i
kind of like how solar panels look now
if you need to replace your roof or are
doing new home build solar shingles can
be more cost effective in roofing
material and labor compared to
installing a conventional roof and
adding solar panels later it does depend
on the type of roofing material that
you're comparing it to though and it's
the epitome of two birds one stone
and since solar tiles and shingles are
installed via slats they're incredibly
easy to remove and reinstall if they
ever get damaged all you need to do is
sweep up the broken pieces remove the
damaged tile and reinstall the
replacement it can actually be easier
than replacing asphalt shingles i
actually spoke about this exact issue
with a tessa solar roof installer in a
previous video
but like all innovative technologies
solar roofs also come with some cons
these shingles require special care
during installation so anyone who wants
a solar roof of their own has to go
through approved roofers who are trained
in the craft that may not be an issue if
you're in a well-populated area but
customers in rural areas may not have as
many options to choose from
sole roof panels come in sizes depending
on the manufacturer if your roof is flat
and simple that may not be an issue
however complex and other weird roof
shapes and angles may struggle to fit
the solar shingles and tiles in a way
that makes sense
if you're looking to get a solar roof
anytime soon you might be disappointed
wait times still range from several
months to years depending on your
installer of choice
and the final one is obviously the big
one cost
it's still not at mainstream prices yet
so when we talk about solar roof tesla
is probably the company that you think
of first they've done an incredible job
innovating in the space and getting a
lot of attention there's definitely a
power in a well-known brand who have
already made a name for themselves in
the renewable energy sphere tesla solar
roof is proving to be a great product
but why has the rollout been so slow
their dream for solo roofs was big but
after their launch it quickly became
apparent that the actual manpower behind
it had yet to catch up completely some
excited customers put in their deposits
to pre-order their solar roof
installation only to be told two years
later that tesla had no longer planned
to serve their region and customers
within tesla service areas still had to
contend with huge wait lists a problem
only compounded as production struggled
to ramp up in time with the incredible
demand
but the biggest problem the cost the
initial price tag was fine with most
customers it was when tesla changed them
at the last minute that got a lot of
people heated
in april of 2021 customers still waiting
on their solar roof installation started
to get notices alerting them the prices
of their solar roofs were going up
sometimes as much as a hundred percent i
had several of you reach out to me with
details on price hikes that you saw
which caused some of you to cancel after
a lot of turmoil around the pricing
issues tesla did start to honor
customers original quotes if they were
already under contract but it's
important to point out the biggest
culprit in the tesla solar pricing
fiasco was inaccurate estimates at the
beginning of the process tesla's
streamlined online ordering system and
satellite photos that are used to give
an initial estimate had some issues more
complex roof structures can dramatically
increase the labor requirements for the
installation this wasn't getting
properly captured in the early
iterations of the system since then
tesla has improved the system to give
more accurate estimates earlier in the
process
but the world of solar roofing doesn't
begin and end with tesla tesla may be
the big name but many other companies
have slowly inched up in the solar roof
race here are just a few of the many
contenders fighting to knock tesla from
their solar roof pedestal and get
products into our hands
luma solar is a u.s solar company that
actually claims that they created the
first solar roof in america maybe the
world in quotes
whether or not you believe that claim
they do have an impressive history
behind them as they've received
presidential endorsements and
international awards
more recently they've created a solar
shingle system that's upgradable their
costs can be a little harder to pin down
but luma prides themselves in creating
personalized systems based on your exact
roof
you're looking at about 38 dollars per
solar square foot installed or in terms
of actual energy involved about 4.50
cents a watt certainty roof shingles use
the same monocrystalline solar pv
technology as traditional solar cells
while traditional panels use a racking
system certainty solar roof shingles are
literally built into your roof to be an
integral part of it
this keeps the shingles unobtrusive and
low profile
certainty offers the apollo 2 and the
apollo 2 tile system both of which
produce about 60 watts of power for each
14 cells in terms of efficiency
certainty is definitely on the lower end
of things at 16 efficiency however they
are a strong candidate when you're
seeking a low-cost option with those
long-term savings the swedish company's
sunroof is embracing the high-tech look
of solar panels they definitely look
like a solar roof but for some people
that's the whole point
these panels use monocrystalline silicon
and polycrystalline silicon glass and
its design with an impressive 18.8
percent efficiency sunroof also
guarantees 80 of the original production
capacity after 30 years of operation
which makes these panels a great option
for the long haul
soltec may not be as well known in
residential circles but the company was
actually the winner of the german
sustainability award in 2021 these
interlocking tiles are meant to be
installed directly onto the plywood
soltec offers a 40-year performance
warranty which is 10 years more than
what tesla offers and they also offer
several options depending on the type of
roof that you have
and finally there's gaf gaff is one of
the competitors to make a recent splash
onto the scene and already they've made
quite an impression at ces 2022 gaff
energy is a subsidiary of standard
industries one of the biggest roofing
leaders in the us
introduced the timberline solar shingle
which won an innovation award the
biggest change unlike other solar panels
timber line can be installed with a nail
gun directly under your roof this
shingle-like design makes it easier for
any roofer to learn not just specialized
installers this easy installation has
other domino effects as well for one the
learning curve installation time goes
way down while tesla solar roof can take
a week down to a couple of days to
install timberline only requires a few
days sometimes as few as two according
to gaff themselves but it is important
to point out that all solar roof systems
are striving to get the installation
time down to a day or two including
tesla so why is that particular point
important well installation is typically
the largest expense for residential
solar energy systems think of the labor
cost difference between five days of
work versus two those numbers add up
fast it's also why it's difficult to
give a price estimate in this video
the electrical components and wiring are
located on top of the shingle instead of
underneath like other shingles that
makes it far easier to service those
parts when the time comes which as a
result makes those repairs quicker and
in theory less expensive
each shingle is also nearly 20 inches
longer than the typical tesla tile which
ultimately means fewer electrical
components to deal with in the same
square area
solar shingles are usually flush with
the roof which means they get hotter
faster which generally reduces their
efficiency to counteract this gaff uses
high energy efficiency cells called
monoperk cells which should perform
better than traditional monocrystalline
pv cells at high temps so what makes
monopercels different in typical solar
cells you have an emitter layer on top
and a black coating underneath monoprix
cells use a sunlight absorbing front
layer and a dielectric passivation film
on the rear side to absorb any scattered
light the result monoperk cells have
higher light absorption and internal
reflectivity that means they can have a
higher energy density to make the most
out of that limited space in your roof
this does lead to a few questions when
you look at how timberline performs in
terms of energy output
at 45 watts per square foot the
timberline is still way behind tesla's
impressive 71 watts output
part of this may be due to the fact that
the timberline shingles overlap each
other which leads to less active
material to work gaff claims that if you
only consider the active solar cells the
shingles match tesla's efficiency but
that remains to be seen at this point
gaff has already sold and installed 3
000 integrated roofs since 2017 of their
previous products which is still more
than tesla has installed at least
according to gaff's president
so how have they gotten off to such a
strong start compared to tesla well for
starters gaff is already a staple in the
roofing industry so they have a distinct
advantage in the solar roof market
one out of every four residential roofs
in the u.s comes from gaf this plugs
them into finding new solar customers
easily customer acquisition normally
represents about 23 of the total cost of
solar residential systems so by plugging
into this market gaff is already ahead
of the game
even with its flaws the timberline
already has some pretty exciting
potential gaff is already working on
timberline 2.0 so we hopefully don't
have to wait too much longer to see
what's around the corner
so solar roofs are the game changers
elon musk promised in 2016 or are they a
pipe dream
well honestly i would say neither
like all new and renewable energy
technologies there are a lot of kinks to
work out and getting the best product is
going to take a little creativity and a
lot of patience we're probably better
off seeing solar roofs as a piece of the
overall puzzle instead of the paradigm
shifting product that some advocates
tried to sell them as
one thing has definitely been confirmed
over the past six years
under the status quo solar roofs are
going to have a hard time on the
residential market the biggest factor is
sadly going to be what it usually comes
down to
the cost combined with the labor
price truly drives everything when it
comes to renewable tech like this this
is especially true depending on where
you live if you live in a 2 000 square
foot house valued at 150 000 in the
middle of iowa a 50 000 roof is going to
be a much harder sell than if you're in
a 2 000 square foot house valued at 600
000 in massachusetts the cost analysis
is going to look completely out of whack
depending on where you live
at this point solar roofs are a better
fit for the higher end of the market
these types of customers have less of a
hard time with a higher price tag and
can give the industry time to improve
costs ramp up labor and training for the
low end of the market it's not that
different from luxury cars it could just
be an aspirational product for the time
being as things continue to work
themselves out
developments like the timberline panels
are a crucial step in the right
direction to produce solar roofs
affordably at scale and tesla is
continuing to refine their production
and installation procedures too to also
drive their costs down
timing is a huge factor here anyone in
marketing will tell you that you want to
get your message to the customer as
early as possible so you're involved in
the decision as it happens the best time
to get a solar roof is the moment when
shocker you're about to replace your
roof
no one wants to drop 50 000 on a roof
that still has decades to go or to be on
a wait list if they need a new roof
right now if solar roof companies can
join the conversation early on and have
the supply and installers to mesh demand
customers are in a better position to
choose the solar experience until all of
those things align we're going to have
to continue being patient and use logic
to determine what's the right solution
for us in the time being
and if you want to strength those logic
muscles and critical thinking skills so
you can make more informed decisions for
yourself i'd strongly recommend checking
out brilliant their interactive and
hands-on courses have helped me get
better at extrapolating data and making
more informed decisions from partial
information and that includes
interactive courses and topics that
range from scientific thinking to
computer science fundamentals they've
got something for everybody the logic
course is a super fun one that takes you
through game theory as well as
uncovering unknown answers with
information you don't completely
understand you get to put your critical
thinking skills through their paces with
some really fun puzzles and riddles i
really did have a good time going
through this one
all the concepts were taught through fun
and interactive challenges to help you
understand the why of something not just
the how it helps you to develop your
intuition which is my absolute favorite
part about brilliant go to brilliant.org
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to brilliant and to all of you for
supporting the channel
so what do you think of solar roofs do
you have one are you planning to get one
jump in the comments and let me know
if you have knowledge on this or work in
the industry please share experiences so
we can learn more together you can also
join my discord server and talk to other
members of the community the link's also
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