Solar Energy FAQs
Your guide to clean, renewable power
Tesla Solar Roof and Powerwall
Each PV shingle is a small scale solar panel that produces 72watts of electricity. That electricity can be stored via batteries and used or sent to the grid to offset usage.
No. Textured black is the only color/style available.
It is possible to go off-grid with a Powerwall and a Tesla Solar Roof, but going off-grid requires more than just having these two products. If you want to be completely off-grid, you'll need to have all of the following:
Sufficient kilowatt production: If your roof isn't capable of capturing enough sunlight for your electric needs, then you won't be able to go off-grid. Depending on the layout of your roof, it may not be possible to be completely off-grid, though our technicians will be able to determine this during your free consultation.
Living in a municipality or having a utility that allows you to be off-grid: Unfortunately, even if you have the hardware and kilowatt production required to be off-grid, sometimes it's simply not allowed. Local municipalities and utility companies often require you to be connected to the energy grid. Some will even cap how many kilowatts your roof is allowed to produce.
If you aren't sure whether you're allowed to go off-grid, our Certified Installers will let you know about energy regulations specific to your location and electric utility.
A Tesla Solar Roof can generate an enormous range of energy, starting from very low production for small homes to large production for larger homes or businesses. The lowest kilowatt roof we have installed was a 4KW roof, while the highest we have installed is a 51KW roof. Those aren't lower and upper limits, it's just the range of what our customers have needed!
How much kilowatts your Solar Roof can produce is largely based on the photovoltaic tiles (or PV tiles) used to build your roof. Each tile produces 72W of energy, but your roof will also have basic tempered glass tiles that can't produce energy. Our Solar Roof experts will determine how many PV tiles are needed to satisfy your energy needs.
Remember, sometimes local regulations will limit how many kilowatts your roof can produce, so it's possible you won't have enough PV tiles to meet all of your energy needs and truly go "off-grid." We'll let you know about the specific regulations in your area and how much kilowatts your roof will be allowed to produce.
Traditional solar panels are fixtures that are installed on your roof. Their kilowatt production is comparable to Solar Roof, and sometimes they are a better choice for roofs that have a design that just doesn't work for the PV tiles used in Solar Roof installations. Like Solar Roof, traditional panels reduce your carbon footprint and are a step towards energy independence.
Solar Roof, on the other hand, is the roof. The PV tiles and non-functional tempered glass tiles replace the shingles used in traditional roofs. They are extremely durable, and also create a sleek aesthetic that makes your roof look amazing. Solar Roof is also designed to easily work with products like Powerwall, a Tesla-branded battery that stores excess electricity.
Our solar product experts will help you to determine which solar product is right for your home or for your energy needs.
Tesla Solar Roof is warrantied through Tesla for 25 years.
Solar products in general, including Solar Roof, can increase the value of your home. The reason for that is: carbon footprint reduction, energy Independence, selling energy to the grid (depending on where you live)
Tesla Solar Roof also offers unique benefits not found with other solar products, like: a sleek, modern aesthetic, a premium, durable roof, compatibility with products like Powerwall to aid in energy independence
Tesla Solar Roof is a great investment for your home. Not only will you get a cutting-edge solar product, you're also receiving a premium roof.
Tesla Solar Roof cannot be installed on roof pitches less than 2:12.
Anticipated lifespan of the Solar Roof is 40-70 years. The roof is made of super durable tempered glass and metal with proprietary underlayment and mounting.
Our wait times to begin installing Tesla Solar Roofs are 2-3 months, depending on the project. Smaller, simpler projects may begin more quickly, while larger, more complex projects may take longer to begin. We encourage you to contact us as soon as possible so we can schedule your project and get to work!
Aesthetics, solar production, durability/longevity
Tesla Solar Roof is a complete roof replacement but will consist of glass PV (photovoltaic, or solar-producing) tiles, architectural-grade steel tiles, and steel trim pieces. The PV and non-PV tiles are aesthetically identical for a uniform look. Our engineers will optimize your custom roof design for maximum production and efficiency.
Tesla Solar Roof can easily power most homes. Greenway will consider several factors to make sure that your solar roof can provide adequate power to your home. Many of those factors include:
Kilowatt Production: We'll make sure that your solar roof is capable of the kilowatt production (or electricity generation) your home needs. For large homes that have several power hungry appliances, like hot tubs and large HVAC systems, your kilowatt needs will be larger. Smaller homes with fewer appliances will need less kilowatt production.
Roof Design: Not all roofs are capable of the same solar capture. Complicated roofs may need more photovoltaic tiles capable of solar capture compared to simple, flat roofs. Our design experts will make sure we know how many photovoltaic tiles are needed, and even if your roof design works with Solar Roof.
Energy Independence: Many of our solar product customers want to be as independent from the electric grid as possible. While not all municipalities allow for true independence, we'll make sure you maximize your solar capture and energy production. Our design experts may recommend Powerwall, a home battery, to store excess electric production for when solar capture is low, like at night.
Depending on a homeowner’s electrical needs, we estimate the solar portion of the roof could be between 30-70% of the total roof surface. The PV tiles are all full-size (15” x 45”) roof pieces, so they can generally be placed anywhere there is room for a full tile. Areas near rake edges, valleys, hips, and obstructions usually require partial tiles and metal flashings. In the planning process we also work with Tesla designers to optimize the placement for unobstructed sunlight. This means prioritizing south-facing exposures, as well as east and west.
Tesla Solar Roof is approximately 4 times the cost of asphalt shingles. Prices are comparable to premium metal, cedar shake, or slate roofing. The difference is Tesla Solar Roof produces power!
Fill out this simple Client Questionnaire, and a sales rep will be in touch with you. We’ll collect a few pieces of information that help us model your Tesla Roof remotely and create a design and proposal for you to review.
Don’t worry! Solar Roof is easy to repair in almost every situation. One of the advantages of working with a local/regional company like Greenway is that we have a service department that can respond quickly in all of our markets and we have an inventory of spare parts on hand. Specialized hand tools allow us to easily remove individual tiles to service cabling or components underneath or to snap in replacement tiles as needed.
The system is designed to be installed on nearly any common sloped roof design in the market today. The system has the best value and most competitive installed pricing when a roof has a few large rectangular slopes with good south-facing exposures. We find that roofs with an excessive amount of hips and valleys or with a large number of dormers or a large proportion of small slopes are extremely labor-intensive leading to an unusually high installation cost.
Once we begin installation, you can expect an average installation time of about a week to complete the project. This is a rough estimate, and there are a lot of factors that can impact your timeframe. When we give you a project quote, we'll also give you a more accurate estimate of how long the project will take. Here are some factors that can impact installation times:
The size of your roof. Larger roofs take more time.
The design of your roof. Steep and/or complex roof designs will take longer to install.
Required permits. The more permits that are required to be able to begin construction, the longer the overall install time will take.
Weather. Severe weather (like ice, snow, and thunderstorms) will delay installation times.
Finally, the local utility may delay when you can begin using your Solar Roof. Even after installation is complete, the utility will need to take action to formally connect it to the grid, when required. We'll give you a rough estimate of how long it will take, depending on your location.