Tesla's New York Gigafactory Starts Solar Roof Tile Production
As the world continues to be focused on Tesla's electric vehicle business, the company recently began production of its revolutionary solar roof tile at its New York Gigafactory. According to the company, production kicked off last month and they are expecting first customer installations to begin in the following months.
The announcement comes following a series of production delays which saw the company reschedule the rollout of the solar shingles which was set to begin in 2017. The unforeseen problems forced the company to move the mass production and installation of the tiles first from late 2017, and then to early 2018.
CEO Elon Musk originally announced the solar roof tiles more than a year ago. Since then, Tesla has become the biggest U.S. installer of rooftop-solar systems.
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Over the past few months, there have been several sightings of the Tesla photovoltaic glass roof tiles being installed on homes. It was later revealed that the installations were exclusive only to select employees of the California-based electric car and energy company, not private costumers.
The tiles were manufactured Tesla's Fremont factory at the time which, while certainly capable, was unable to produce them in the same quantities as the company's Gigafactory 2 facility in Buffalo, New York.
While a sleek, clean solar product seems appealing to homeowners looking replace aging roofs or builders looking to build a sustainable home, it is significantly more expensive than a standard terra-cotta tile roof equipped with a 5-kilowatt solar-panel system.
Bloomberg estimates that a Tesla roof would cost about $57,000 for a 2,000-square-foot house while terra-cotta-solar roof would go for around $41,000. Furthermore, a plain-old asphalt roof with panels would run about $22,000.
"It may actually do well in overseas markets where solar-photovoltaic is cheap and homeowners are used to paying a premium for building materials and cars – such as Australia," said Hugh Bromley, a New York-based Bloomberg New Energy Finance analyst.
