The Tesla tile seems to have taken the solar energy market by storm; who wouldn’t want roof tiles that generate your electricity for you? With warranties and guarantees that are beyond current industry standards, it seems a no-brainer that, when planning on retrofitting your home, the Tesla solar tile is the way to go.
But the reality is far from ideal.
What is the Tesla Tile?
The original solar shingle idea was first designed in 1970, with companies attempting to develop a working solar tile over the intervening years. While there are other solar shingles beyond Tesla, none has taken the market quite like it. Just like Tesla’s electric car, aesthetics was a major design point for the tiles; constructed of thin-layer quartz, the tiles are near unbreakable.
Because of this design, the Tesla Tiles are not only individual solar cells, but are reported to collect up to 98 percent of solar output that traditional arrays collect. According to reports, these cells not only look good, they are also easy to install and look much like traditional roofing does.
Why consider anything else?
While the Tesla tile seems like the best investment in terms of developing your own solar energy, the cost is much higher than the average solar array installation. Currently, Tesla is quoting their tiles at $21.85 a square foot, as compared to traditional roofing materials which are quoted between $1 and $3 per square foot. While it is understandable that solar tiles would cost much more than the typical roofing material, there is another fallback to tile installations in Canada.
Canadian weather is so unpredictable that it is tough on nearly any material; and while Tesla’s solar shingles are above-industry standard builds, the fact of the matter is that they were not built with Canada, or Alberta’s, harsh climate in mind. Designed in California and neighboring states, the Tesla tiles were built for warmer climes with longer hours of sunlight. From an investment standpoint, the return-on-investment for such a product is near nil within Alberta.
Is this a passing fad?
The idea of a solar panel shingle is sophisticated and marketable; almost like a new cell phone, Tesla managed to hook consumers on the idea almost instantaneously. And while he did deliver a finished product, consumers are a very weary group, and soon began to wonder just how good the tiles truly were. This weariness drove consumers from actually buying the system, and even more so when they heard the cost of an installation.
And with solar technology still being so relatively new in the residential energy market, consumers often prefer to stick to the tried-and-true modes of collecting and distributing solar energy. In larger parts of the United States, the use of solar cell shingles is more widespread, such as California where the Tesla models of vehicles and power supply have gained immense ground. But as worldwide consumers go, they haven’t quite jumped on the bandwagon for Tesla Solar roofing; perhaps as the technology becomes more feasible and financially accessible in the future, we will see solar shingles for every house.