Right off the bat, we love Tesla Solar Roof and what Elon Musk is doing to disrupt the solar roofing market.
Tesla smooth solar glass tile roof. Source: Tesla
But, the reality is that despite its revolutionary style, great looks, and the bold promise “to rid your roof of those bulky and unsightly solar panels”, Elon’s new product is way too expensive and unaffordable for a typical American household.
Traditional PV solar panels on an asphalt shingle roof
That’s right, outside of the upper middle class families in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Austin, Seattle, and other major, affluent tech hubs, most regular people don’t have that extra $50,000 to $65,000 to shell out for Tesla’s new and unproven Tesla Solar Roof.
Furthermore, at this point, the new product from Tesla is completely unproven in terms of the roof’s ability to withstand the elements and remain leak-free for the duration of its intended lifespan.
Granted, every product has to go through a product adoption life-cycle curve, but unless Tesla solar roof pricing changes drastically, we don’t see a mass market adoption of this promising new product happening any time soon.
What’s more, should the government decide to pull a plug on solar tax credits, then Tesla solar tile roof will be dead in the water, again due to its very high cost.
