By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent
What Happened: Inverse talked to one of the earliest adapters of the Tesla solar roof to ask what she thought of it – and suffice to say the customer has liked it a lot so far.
- “I’m thrilled to be an early adopter, and hope Tesla can find a way to streamline the process and price to make it available to the masses.”
- Ordered last May, the roof is now producing power – one of the first such installations in the country (but likely not the last).
SolarWakeup’s View: Haven’t we learned yet not to bet against Elon Musk? When Tesla’s founder announced the Tesla solar roof last year, among those of us cynics in the industry rolled our eyes and said, “We’ve so heard this before. Don’t tell me. Show me.”
After all, Dow’s Solar Shingle was supposed to be the integrated solar roofing revolution almost a decade ago, and that fizzled without going much of anywhere.
But Musk, ever the brilliant marketer (and, OK, product developer, I’m just jealous), bet that the Tesla solar roof would capture the imaginations of solar adapters in ways the Dow product didn’t, and it looks like he was right…..again (damn it).
San Jose, California, resident Amanda Tobler – she of the “early adopter” quote above – added that she’s been thrilled with her experience so far, from the initial purchase through the installation and now into production. The only problem she’s experienced is that there hasn’t been a perfectly clear day yet, so Tobler hasn’t been able to put the system fully through its paces yet.
The price point seems a little steep to me at $50,000, including all the incentives, tax credits and other cost offsets. But I can’t say I’ve paid overly close attention to solar installation prices on individual homes (as I’ve mentioned before, I live in Cleveland, Ohio, with a tree-shaded southern-facing roof – the only way I’m going to solar is through a community installation, which I’m pushing my city to do – but I digress). But you have to start somewhere, and Musk seems to have put a product in the field that has a chance to revolutionize the way we look at rooftop solar installations.
Congratulations, Ms. Tobler – we’re thrilled to have you become part of the Solar Revolution – here’s to more people joining you sooner rather than later.
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