The fact that they keep getting cheaper makes me feel like I should put off buying them.
The rule I’ve always heard is to only consider them when you need new shingles anyhow.
I was pretty excited about these tiles when they were first announced, but at $42 per square foot, they’re still very pricey. It would take a long time to pay those off - possibly longer than they would last, considering the inherent problems with degrading energy production with existing solar technology.
Tangent: my dad was approached by a company that wants to install solar on his house at no cost to him, and then sell him back the power. Seems like a scam to me, or at least possibly a bad business model. But I told him he might as well look into it. If it’s not a scam, I figure when the company goes out of business, my dad gets to keep the solar panels.
I’m excited about these. I’m looking to build a house in a year or so and this is on the list for things to investigate. It’s probably out of my price range, but I like the idea of it a lot. They say you only need about a 1/3 of the roof in the solar tiles and the rest in regular.
But then you’re only getting a third of the solar, and the rest of your house is covered with rather expensive but useless tiles.
I want to believe…
Good to know I was going to use a colander.
They built a colander into the article? Kewl.
Google’s Project Sunroof is one such calculator.
For me, it would cost ~$17,000 to cover half of my energy usage, with an 18 year payback period, for about $3000 saved after 20 years. That’s not economical for me.
Does that include the “I need to replace my roof anyhow” costs? I remember reading an interview with the Solar Century guy years ago, and he said if you don’t need a new roof, don’t bother, but if you need to replace your roof anyhow, consider using solar.
No. I don’t think that calculation is about replacing the roof. It’s just the cost for the solar panels (I refuse to call it a system). Tesla/SolarCity’s prices are significantly higher.
That’s almost half the cost of my house 10 years ago. That’s a much tougher opportunity cost to overcome.
I should have invested more in Bitcoin.
I agree with you about the “system” thing.
76 grand is steep for sure… so I can understand wanting to build in the expense of needing to replace the roof anyway. Admittedly this is outside my ken since I live in a condo, but if you had to replace the roof anyhow, that would be $15-$25K depending on the area and shingles, wouldn’t it?
I’m going to hold out for the coal-powered solar panels.
When the time comes, I’m definitely going to consider it. I think I’ve probably got 10 more years out of this roof, assuming a tornado doesn’t pull it off.
“The lab results are back and, well, I’m afraid you’re suffering from deflationary pressure. It’s too soon to know its course. I suggest we take a wait and see approach.”