New Solar Roof?

We are dying to know what you think of this. How is the industry going to be involved? Will we be the lead or cleaning up after the solar/electricians?

I have so many opinions on this.

http://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-unveils-solar-roof-solarcity-video-2016-10?utm_content=buffere984a&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer-ti

Nice product.

I can understand why Musk has gone in this direction. Solar City is facing a huge long term issue with their leasing program. That is their liability in leak and replacement issues on the roofs where they own the equipment, not the homeowners. Combining the roof and the solar might look like a good solution by a too-smart-by-half guy like Musk.

But there are more issues with designing your own tile than just how to get solar built in to them. The second thing they probably considered was ease of manufacturing it. Last in line to be considered is real world on-the-roof performance.

The major tile manufacturers of tile all have brought new products that have been failures or required tweaking. Monier Cedarlite was a disaster for them and their customers. Lifetile Decktile imploded. Both company's lightweight tile were too fragile. Monier Homestead was on the market for almost two decades and had continual changes made to it to try to cut down on the hidden breakage designed into the product. The irony there was they finally got it right just before they discontinued it. And these were companies that had tile as their core business for decades.

Musk may just luck out and get it right the first attempt. Just looking at the product and knowing the issues involved with direct-nailed tile, I say that stuff had better be tough or he just made a huge mistake, liability-wise.

A fully adhered single ply with a frame on the top of it that will hold the solar panels might be a more practical and economical solution.

Like Woody said, it will definitely work, but will it work indefinitely? It is a great idea, and I am sure that it will work, but then again I have put on thousands of tiles; make that hundreds of thousands or tiles and the devil is in the details. It can be great, and it can be a disaster. Who is going to warrant the installations? Tile top to bottom on a straight south facing side without valleys and hips will shed water no problem. combine it with snow and chimneys and stack pipe flashings, and you have something different; A ROOF!Breakage is a big probem too. If they are as strong as the picture shows, that would be a plus. I have seen some of the composites break though and it will be really interesting to see how long they hold up under the blazing sun and ultraviolet rays.

I guess that they have a lot of solar roofs in Germany, so there is something to work as a base. We will see. I think it would be a great thing to have a solar roof with some of the Tesla wall units to store the power. It would be great to get off the grid.

Isn't overheating the big problem that DOW and Certainteed are having?

I assume his statement about them being comparable to a normal roof means a normal tile or slate roof. Even $4-500 a square material cost for a solid 40 year product would be excellent.

Yes but who is going to apply them? The roofing contractor or a solar company?

Vickie the Boss Said: Yes but who is going to apply them? The roofing contractor or a solar company?

An insulation company perhaps. I think he mentioned twice something about the insulation value...... :laugh:

I would install them! I would like to see the spec sheet and the detail drawings. On the other hand, I could draw up the specs for them and install a few and tell them a hell of a lot about the system. I think it is a great idea if they have done their homework.

Old School Said: I would install them! I would like to see the spec sheet and the detail drawings. On the other hand, I could draw up the specs for them and install a few and tell them a hell of a lot about the system. I think it is a great idea if they have done their homework.

I hope it's not like OSHA or other Government boondoggles ....Like they may have actually asked a roofer 1st before enacting the specs and regulations. Or even somebody that has climbed a ladder before :side:

Old School Said: I would install them! I would like to see the spec sheet and the detail drawings. On the other hand, I could draw up the specs for them and install a few and tell them a hell of a lot about the system. I think it is a great idea if they have done their homework.

I hope it's not like OSHA or other Government boondoggles ....Like they may have actually asked a roofer or worker 1st before enacting the specs and regulations. Or even somebody that has climbed a ladder before :side:

Vickie the Boss Said: Yes but who is going to apply them? The roofing contractor or a solar company?

The better question is "who is going to guarantee them?"

I could not in good conscience sell a solar panel and install it on the roof or sell and install solar shingles. It is just too early. Right now they are just a gimmick. It takes more energy to produce and install the things than the energy they provide. Without the tax credits they are totally not feasible. And the consumer takes all of the risk.

It is like the govt mandate on ethanol added to gasoline. It takes more energy to produce the ethanol than the energy it provides. Totally insane- a program only govt could love.

I definitely won't be installing them. I'm too close to retirement to take on any thing that could have liability issues beyond my control.

One issue that will confront any roofing company looking to install these is the requirement to have a licensed electrician involved. This would likely be the highest paid member of your crew even though all he would be doing is plugging in things. The plugs will undoubtedly be designed so that it would be impossible to get the polarity wrong so that most of what he would do could have been done by the lowest paid laborer.

It's a recipe for internal crew resentment. Let alone the difficulty in finding an electrician that is willing to work on steeper roofs (where solar is more efficient).

wywoody Said: I definitely wont be installing them. Im too close to retirement to take on any thing that could have liability issues beyond my control.

One issue that will confront any roofing company looking to install these is the requirement to have a licensed electrician involved. This would likely be the highest paid member of your crew even though all he would be doing is plugging in things. The plugs will undoubtedly be designed so that it would be impossible to get the polarity wrong so that most of what he would do could have been done by the lowest paid laborer.

Its a recipe for internal crew resentment. Let alone the difficulty in finding an electrician that is willing to work on steeper roofs (where solar is more efficient).

There are actually about 50 variations of what is required as a license, as this data base shows. When you factor the states that defer the issue down to counties and cities, there are hundreds of variations.

http://www.irecusa.org/2010/08/solar-licensing-information/

Can your really walk on it? Do solar shingle manufacturers understand the Nuances of flashing it? I just keep thinking that the roofing industry will get the short end of the stick on all of this.

If all the residential roofs are going to be solar someday and the roofers aren't the primary contractor then we just got encyclopedia britannica'd.

Wake up, the sky is falling!