No One Saw Tesla’s Solar Roof Coming
I had serious misgivings when Tesla&#x2F;SolarCity announced a switch of focus to building-integrated PV. Historically, BIPV is where a PV technology goes to die after it&#x27;s failed to compete against incumbent module designs.<p>But these have <i>far</i> better aesthetics than previous BIPV efforts. They look better individually and they aren&#x27;t clumped in one odd shiny patch on the roof like past BIPV. Search for images of solar shingles and you&#x27;ll see what I mean about previous attempts.<p>On Friday&#x27;s thread someone here mentioned the 30% tax credit for solar installations. That made the financial proposition click for me. If the <i>whole roof</i> qualifies as a solar system, that&#x27;s probably how they can make it financially attractive. Unlike past module-atop-roof or even patch-of-roof-BIPV offerings, you&#x27;d be able to get a tax credit for the whole shebang. Add the usual solar motivation of reducing retail electricity purchases, plus getting a roof that&#x27;s more durable and attractive than the typical asphalt or wood shingles of American roofs, and it looks like Tesla&#x2F;SC may have a better offering than competitors for new home builds in areas with lots of sun and expensive electricity. It wouldn&#x27;t take a whole lot of builds per year to soak up all the capacity of their Buffalo factory.<p>Just a few days ago I was saying that I couldn&#x27;t see how any of the solar installation or manufacturing companies were going to build decent, defensible profit margins because panels and installation services are so commoditized. This could be the advantage that was missing: assuming decent patent coverage, SC will be able to have a monopoly on these modules and their installation for a long time to come.