Tesla Solar Roof vs Solar Panels: Which is Worth It?

Some of you may have seen Marques Brownlee’s video  from a few months back about how he hasn’t paid for electricity in a year because of his Tesla  Solar Roof. But…this got me wondering why I’m still not seeing a lot of Tesla Solar Roofs  around. I first hit on this issue in a video, and since then I’ve only seen one  Solar Roof in my old neighborhood in Massachusetts … compared to dozens and  dozens of homes with solar panels.

I’ve also been asked a lot as to why I didn’t  get a Solar Roof on my brand new house. Well, I thought it might be interesting  to compare my house to another house from here in New England that does have a Solar  Roof. A friend of the channel, Paul Braren, invited me into his house to check out  his setup.

Both his system and my system were installed last year, so I thought it’d  be really interesting to compare the two, the reasons why we did what we did, the costs, and  our initial thoughts. By the end, maybe we’ll be able to figure out an answer to my question…why  aren’t we seeing more solar shingle roofs? I’m Matt Ferrell … welcome to Undecided.

This video is brought to you by  Incogni, but more on that later. In this corner we have Matt “the solar  fanatic” Ferrell with his brand new net zero energy home (at least he hopes  it achieves net zero energy). In the other corner we have Paul “TinkerTry” Braren  tinkering his way to solar dominance with a renovated net zero energy home (at least  he hopes it achieves net zero energy).

Woah. Sorry, I’m not sure what just happened  there. Anyway, I’d like to introduce you to Paul Braren from TinkerTry.

com. He had his 27. 6kW  Tesla Solar Roof installed in June of 2023, along with 4 Tesla Powerwalls, 3 Tesla  Inverters, 1 Tesla Backup Gateway, and 1 SPAN Panel.

On my home, I have a 17. 2 kW solar  panel array made up of 43 REC400 solar panels, which are using Enphase microinverters, 2  Span Panels, and eventually, 4 Enphase IQ 5P batteries. I say “eventually” because they’re  still not installed yet.

I’m still caught up in permitting hell, but I’ll get to that later. So one of the big questions for me is why we did what we did. Why did Paul go with the Tesla  Solar Roof?

And why did I … well, not do it? “Our house faces west, southwest.  If I went with this roof, our roof, which has a lot of rectangular surfaces and a lot  of triangular surfaces.

It’s the way the pitch is, and kind of a complicated roof line.  Putting a bunch of rectangles on there was only going to get us about 60 percent  coverage when we looked at other quotes. ” This is a big one.

Paul’s roofline is a  little tricky because of all the angles, which would make it harder to get the standard  large rectangles to fit well in the areas he’d need to install them. He might end up with two or  three panels in one triangular area, four in the next, and so on. With a Tesla Solar Roof, Paul was  able to squirrel away 384 solar shingles in more areas of his roof.

However, there is something  important to call out about that. Tesla hasn’t revealed the exact solar efficiency of their  tiles, but it’s estimated that it might be between 14-18% compared to a typical panel at around  22-23%. On that point, Paul wasn’t too concerned.

“I know they're a little less efficient, right?  So I'm aware that 60 percent coverage from a rectangle would be roughly equivalent to like 80%.  Well, I think I was able to go to 83% of the roof coverage, but also cosmetically looking better,  right?

For me personally, not everyone cares about that stuff, but when your road, when your house is  facing the way the sun is going to be much of the time of the summer, and it's a large roof facing  the road, yeah, the cosmetics go down a bit, whereas lots of houses in my neighborhood  have solar just in the back, especially if the back of their house is facing south … so it  really depends on which way your house aims. ” Another reason Paul went with  Tesla over something like I got? “So, you put all that together,  large roof in a one story house, integration with EV charging.

Those were  all appealing. Where going with Tesla, specifically the solar roof. That  tipped the balance towards that, because the house also needed a new  roof, so it needed new roofing anyway.

” So why _not_ go with a Tesla Solar  Roof? Why didn’t I go that direction? Before talking about that, there’s another issue  we need to talk about, and that's protecting your online privacy with today’s sponsor, Incogni. 

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Use code UNDECIDED at the  link below and get 60% off an annual plan. Thanks to Incogni and to all of you for supporting the  channel. So why _not_ go with a Tesla Solar Roof?

Well, I almost did. I love the concept of  solar shingle products like the Tesla Solar Roof or the GAF Timberline Solar shingle, but  for me it came down to cost and questions I had about the product lifespan…and im not  talking about the way you might think. The Solar Roof is like a premium roofing  product, comparable to a metal roof, slate, or clay.

Something like a  metal roof costs more than asphalt, but will last you a lifetime. Tesla  Solar Roof shingles are in the same ballpark with these other premium options  for looks and durability. That high premium price is doing double duty for Tesla: it’s a  great-looking, high-end roof, and it’s solar.

However, my big concern was the _product_ lifespan  … and I’m not talking about the tiles themselves not lasting. I’m talking about how quickly Tesla  will iterate this version of the product. How long will they keep manufacturing and supporting older  versions of the solar shingle into the future for early customers who need replacement shingles down  the road?

These solar shingle products (including Tesla’s competitors in this space) are so new, I  wasn’t willing to be an early adopter on this. I’m an early adopter in most technology, but not this  time. I liked the idea of a lifelong metal roof, which is easily fixable at any point down  the line from a variety of manufacturers.

Pair that with standard solar panels,  which again are just that … standard. If my specific solar panel is no longer made  and I need to replace one, no big deal. Metal roofs and solar panels are like  peanut butter and chocolate.

The way the solar panels are installed on the  standing seam with clamps makes them easy to attach … and remove… all without  drilling through the roof itself. Yes, it’s not as aesthetically pleasing as Paul’s  roof (and his is beautiful), but my wife and I don’t mind the look of the solar panels at  all. In fact, I kind of like the look of them.

The other issue I wasn’t willing to gamble with  was timing and coordination issues. Tesla isn’t known for its stellar customer service  experience. It can be very hit or miss.

Add that to the fact that I was worried about  getting the roof installed in a timely manner when the house was ready for it. I’ve heard  countless stories about long delays in getting Solar Roofs installed. If you’re replacing an  existing roof that’s still technically working, that’s frustrating, but not a deal  breaker.

But if you have a house with no roof … like I did … it’s a bit  more urgent to get the roof on quickly. I avoided that potential issue using  a standard roofing product and adding solar on later. In Paul’s case, he  put down an initial deposit for a Solar Roof in June of 2022, he closed  on his new house in September of 2022, and then it was installed in June of 2023. 

Even if you take out the initial deposit date, you’re still talking about nine months  between moving in and final installation. Speaking of installation experience,  what was Paul’s like? Overall, it sounded pretty good.

It seems Tesla  was pretty responsive during the process, but there were still some hiccups along the way. “There were some handoffs that were maybe less  than smooth, and we ended up with like five different electricians in that last week or so.  Made it a little tricky for them to communicate with each other, and there were some mistakes  actually in cabling.

But they own their mistakes, cabling was too thin, two people came back a month  or two later when I was having charge and solar issues and communication errors on the app. They  looked at it. They're like, yeah, we need to put a thicker gauge in for the communication wires  because the distance in your house from your garage to the other side.

We should have gone a  little thicker. I appreciated that. I said thank you for admitting what's wrong and offering how  quickly you're going to fix it within two days.

” Another issue that came up was that one of the  two Gateways stopped working and wasn’t logging data. The solar panel system was working fine, but  you couldn’t see any data in the app. Annoying, yes.

Dealbreaker, absolutely not. Tesla replaced  the Gateway and everything is working great again. In my case, I’ve actually detailed some of  the issues I had in my previous video on my solar panel system.

The short story is that  I had difficulty coordinating with my solar installer in a timely fashion to make sure  that my house’s general contractor could pre-run conduits and cabling for the solar  team. I wanted to try and limit the amount of conduit runs on the surface of the roof as  I could and reduce intrusion points into the house. In the end, it all worked out, but it  was a little frustrating during the process.

The other big thing is permitting. Getting  approvals from your town and utility to interconnect your solar to the grid can be …  slow … to say the least. Prime example is that I’m still waiting for my battery system  to get installed because of some very, very slow permitting approvals.

And I know Paul  has had the pleasure of enjoying these issues, too. In both our cases, I think our recommendation  to everyone would be to have patience. I know the big question that most of  you are probably asking right now, “But how much did it cost?

” This is where  it gets a little tricky … and interesting. Paul’s Tesla Solar Roof and four Powerwalls  cost $153,000 (not including incentives). I’ll give you a second to pick yourself  up off the floor.

Yeah, it’s pricey, but let’s break that down. The Solar Roof  by itself cost $110,000. The four Powerwalls cost $32,000.

And there was another  $11,000 necessary for some re-roofing. Let’s compare that to what I paid … or will  have paid by the time the batteries are installed. My entire system will have cost  $88,000.

Of that, $55,000 is for the solar and $33,000 for the batteries. However,  that doesn’t include the cost of my roof. What I can tell you is that my roof did not  cost $65,000, which is the price difference between our two systems.

My roof was  somewhere between $40,000 to 50,000, which means my total system cost with the roof is  probably about $15,000 to 20,000 less. To try and equalize that, you could say he paid about  $4. 00/watt, while I paid about $3.

22/watt. As I mentioned before, it’s a metal roof. An  asphalt roof would have cost half as much, but wouldn’t last nearly as long.

If I had  an asphalt roof installed, there would be no contest between our total costs. My entire  setup would have come out way ahead. However, this is what I liked about comparing our  two houses.

It’s a premium roof compared to a premium roof, so it’s an  apples to apples comparison. Granted, Paul’s solar array is much larger than  mine (27. 6kW vs.

17. 2kW) and he’s also got more battery storage (twice the storage capacity  of my system), which means that accounts for some of the additional cost … but not all of it.  If you double the size of a solar panel system you’re considering, it doesn’t double the price. 

The cost per watt often diminishes a bit as you scale up. Tossing a few extra solar panels onto  your array doesn’t dramatically jack up the cost. Another factor to consider is the Federal solar  tax credit of 30%.

Paul is essentially getting 30% off his roof, which I’m not. After the tax  credit, it works out to a cost of $107,000 for Paul for solar, batteries, and a roof. If  you lump the cost of my roof into my setup, it works out to about $107,000.

So it's  looking pretty good for Paul. However, even if I didn’t get solar, I still would  have wanted the metal roof for durability and longevity, so for me … I don’t look at  the costs of my roof as part of the equation. None of this is taking into account the energy  savings we’ll see over time, or the net metering benefits.

That could be a video on it's own,  because it's very complicated. And on that note, net metering rates are highly variable  based on where you live. Local governments are changing these rules as we speak, like  they did in California not too long ago.

On a recent episode of my Still TBD podcast,  I spoke to Spencer Fields from EnergySage about how net metering and these changes are  impacting solar adoption. If you want to get grandfathered into existing net metering rates  in your area before they possibly change, you might not want to wait. I’ll have links to that  interview and to my EnergySage portal down below.

At the end of the day, both of our setups  were costly, but were designed to fit our specific needs. Paul wanted aesthetics, the dual  layered system with a tight membrane on his roof for water tightness, and an all-in-one solution  for electricity, storage, and charging his car. They have 2 electric vehicles and an air source  HVAC heat pump to cover, which meant a bigger solar array to cover his electricity needs. 

He and his wife are becoming empty-nesters, so they were also downsizing to their new  home. They took some of the proceeds from that sale to cover part of the cost of  this. For me, I liked the more modular approach that can evolve over time if it needs  to, and a roof that would last well beyond my lifetime.

I only have one EV right now and a more  efficient geothermal HVAC and hot water setup, so my electricity needs are slightly lower.  Again, both of us built out our systems to fit our needs … and they’re our dream forever homes.  There’s a lot of long term thinking at play here.

It’s still a little too early to tell how  we’re both doing on a goal of hitting all of our yearly energy needs from our roofs. New  England in December and January is the worst time of year for energy production, but I’m still  producing half of what I’m using. I’m more than happy with that.

It’s going to be interesting  to see how this looks in the middle of summer. But that raises the biggest question for me: where  are all the Tesla Solar Roofs? This product was originally announced in August of 2016.

We’re  8 years into its existence and we’re still not seeing it take the solar world by storm. Well, I  think there’s two things at play here: 1) cost, and 2) availability. As you already saw, the Solar  Roof isn’t cheap … at all.

It’s a premium product, but when it comes to standard solar panels  you can get some great bargains out there. Especially with second hand panels. While my setup  isn’t cheap either, it would be possible to get that cost down … _way_ down if you wanted. 

For instance, I could have saved money with an asphalt roof. I could have gone with a 10kW  system vs. a 17.

2kW system. I could have chosen a cheaper panel versus the more expensive  ones I opted for … or even gone with used panels. As for availability, Tesla  is still struggling to get enough experienced installers out there to  meet demand.

Paul said it best with this: “Would you recommend a solar roof to  somebody who has interest in one? ” “Yes. The only hesitation there is about  the install crews that Tesla's is kind of monkeying with the install model.

So here in  New England, there's not a lot of installers, so I don't know how long your wait time  will be. So if you're trying to, like, add an addition to your house and add solar  and it has to happen in a certain month, I would say no. But if you're building new,  and you have some time to work with Tesla, maybe even a multi month wait, and you can handle  some flexibility in the schedule, then, yeah.

” I feel like a broken record when I say this, but  the decision to get solar on your home is a very personal one. Nobody knows if it's the right  fit for you other than you. Knowing what your goals are up front can really help in figuring  that out.

That’s why I created my Achieve Energy Security with Solar Guide to help people through  the process. Even though Paul and I went in very different directions with our solar setups,  we’re both really happy with the results so far. And before I sign off, I need to circle  back to Marques for a second.

In his video he showed some production numbers  that looked wildly high … so high that many people were commenting on that  on the video. Well, turns out that was a software bug with how Tesla was tracking  the numbers … it was doubling the solar production numbers. Paul actually encountered  that bug before Marques shared his experiences.

“I reported it to Tesla and I did a little  tweet about it showing a video. Here's the problem. It's doubling the values, and it's  showing as if I produced twice as much solar as I actually did.

What was my source  of truth? It was the SPAN smart panel, which is also monitoring. So, how did I know? 

Well, I could record a nice 40 second concise clip for some developer to look at, like,  Okay, this guy has a source of truth. ” “He knows it doubled. All the data is wrong  for the last week or two.

He reached out to me on Twitter DM and fixed it within days. A month  later, Marques Brownlee's video comes out. Same problem.

I make the comment under his video.  I report it, like, you might want to look at this video. Millions of people already  have seen it in the first 12 hours.

” “He's got the data doubling. He has a similar  size roof. Yeah, they fixed his too, and you put a little comment under his YouTube  video.

I like that. That's what you want, is some engineer that's working at a company.  Put a lot of money into that really cares.

” I love that too. But what do you think? Would  you go with the Tesla Solar Roof like Paul did, or go my path with standard solar  panels?

Jump into the comments and let me know. I’ll see you in the next one.