Tesla’s Futuristic ‘Solar Roof’ Could Help You Earn $350 a Month on Top of a $0 Power Bill

Via The Cool Down, a report on Tesla’s ‘solar roof’:

Solar power is an excellent way to ease the pain of rising electricity bills.

Solar panels on roofs are becoming a popular option for homeowners looking to save money on their energy bills. Tesla’s Solar Roof takes it one step further and is actually creating income for some people. 

The sharp rise in electricity prices has been shocking homeowners across the U.S. In 2022, consumers paid 14.3% more for electricity on average than they did the previous year — and experts project the cost of electricity to continue its ascent. 

Tesla‘s Solar Roof, combined with its Powerwall, gives homeowners a chance to be completely energy-independent — turning homes into a virtual power plant that can pay back some of the installation costs. 

Unlike traditional solar panels — typically installed on top of your existing roof — Tesla‘s Solar Roof is a complete replacement for your current roof. If you’re building a new home or looking to replace your roof, the Solar Roof is a terrific, sustainable option. 

At first glance, the Solar Roof looks like a fairly normal roof, but if you look closely, you can see it’s a combination of glass solar tiles and steel roofing tiles. 

The Powerwall is an integrated battery system that stores solar and other energy for later use. When paired with the Solar Roof, the dynamic duo captures all the sun’s energy during the day and keeps it for you to use at night. 

For a fantastic example of a Solar Roof, head to the Big Island of Hawaii. Installed by Rising Sun Solar — a major Tesla partner in Hawaii — one home has an enormous 50kW Solar Roof. 

The average U.S. home uses about 30kW per day, so 50kW is a solid amount of energy to power a home. 

The homeowner is part of the Swell Energy Home Battery Rewards Program, which takes energy collected by the Solar Roof and sends it back to the power grid. The program will earn the homeowner about $350 a month for five years — totaling $21,000. 

But before you start ripping shingles off your roof, you should know that this is an expensive option. It’s difficult to nail down a price for the Solar Roof due to many variables, but one estimate done by Forbes has a 2,000-square-foot, two-story house costing around $64,000. 

That said, there are plenty of less expensive solar options available on the market. 

Solar power is an excellent way to ease the pain of rising electricity bills, and it’s becoming cheaper and more accessible. Since 2011, the cost of solar power has gone down by almost 90%. Plus, federal tax credits can cover up to 26% of installation. 

Solar panels can also pay off if you sell your home. A study by Zillow shows that homes with solar panels sell for 4.1% more than homes without solar power. 

Tesla’s Solar Roof is a sleek-looking option for those who can afford it, but solar power, in general, is a fantastic option for anyone wanting to cut down on their electricity costs while switching to a clean energy power source. 



This entry was posted on Saturday, June 29th, 2024 at 11:02 pm and is filed under Uncategorized.  You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.  Both comments and pings are currently closed. 

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About This Blog And Its Author
As potential uses for building and parking lot roofspace continue to grow, unique opportunities to understand and profit from this trend will emerge. Roof Options is committed to tracking the evolving uses of roof estate – spanning solar power, rainwater harvesting, wind power, gardens & farms, “cooling” sites, advertising, apiculture, and telecom transmission platforms – to help unlock the nascent, complex, and expanding roofspace asset class.

Educated at Yale University (Bachelor of Arts - History) and Harvard (Master in Public Policy - International Development), Monty Simus has held a lifelong interest in environmental and conservation issues, primarily as they relate to freshwater scarcity, renewable energy, and national park policy. Working from a water-scarce base in Las Vegas with his wife and son, he is the founder of Water Politics, an organization dedicated to the identification and analysis of geopolitical water issues arising from the world’s growing and vast water deficits, and is also a co-founder of SmartMarkets, an eco-preneurial venture that applies web 2.0 technology and online social networking innovations to motivate energy & water conservation. He previously worked for an independent power producer in Central Asia; co-authored an article appearing in the Summer 2010 issue of the Tulane Environmental Law Journal, titled: “The Water Ethic: The Inexorable Birth Of A Certain Alienable Right”; and authored an article appearing in the inaugural issue of Johns Hopkins University's Global Water Magazine in July 2010 titled: “H2Own: The Water Ethic and an Equitable Market for the Exchange of Individual Water Efficiency Credits.”