Tesla has opened up reservations for its solar roof tiles in Australia, but it may be some time until the company actually begins installing them locally.
Announced last year, the Solar Roof is a component of Tesla’s plan to “accelerate the world’s transition to a sustainable energy future” the company said on its website.
Comprised of both solar and non-solar panels that look the same from street level, Solar Roof integrates with Tesla’s Powerwall to collect and store energy during the day and make it available at all times. This has the potential to reduce or even completely eliminate electricity bills, which helps make Solar Roof more affordable than normal roofs in most cases according to Tesla.
Consumer Reports estimated that, for an average US home, Solar Roof would need to cost less than US$24.50 per square foot for it to be competitive with other roofing materials. According to Tesla, a typical homeowner is set to pay US$21.85 per square foot for a Solar Roof made up of 35% solar tiles.
Tesla has also made a Solar Roof calculator available to let potential customers estimate the initial cost of Solar Roof, and the value of the energy it will generate.
“In doing our own research on the roofing industry, it became clear that roofing costs vary widely, and that buying a roof is often a worse experience than buying a car through a dealership. Initial contracts tend to be overly optimistic, and later customers face hidden costs that were never mentioned up front,” Tesla said.
Four different types of tiles will be available for different house types and designs: Textured, Smooth, Tuscan and Slate. Despite being manufactured with tempered glass, Solar Roof tiles are more than three times as strong as standard roofing tiles according to Tesla, while also being half as heavy.
Installations for Solar Roof are set to begin this year in the US, while Tesla expects installations in other countries will begin in 2018. Australian customers can place an order for Solar Roof for $1,310 on the Tesla website.
