Tesla's sales of solar roofs will grow 'like seaweed on steroids', says Musk
BOSTON – A brand new Tesla might be coming to your neighborhood soon. But it may be on top of your neighbors home, not parked in their driveway.
Tesla Inc.
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CEO Elon Musk on Friday unveiled the electric car company's new solar panel roof and said he expects to fit more than 1,000 a week in short order.
Typical pricing: Around $ 35,000, the company said.
It's another bold promise from the controversial technology entrepreneur whose company stunned skeptics on Wall Street last week by breaking into profits in the third quarter.
"In the next several months, I think we should be well past 1[ads1],000 roofs a week," he said Friday. "That's our goal." Sales, he said, "will grow like seaweed on steroids. Long-term, of course, we want to make 10,000 roofs a week. "
About 5 million new roofs are installed in the year in America, Tesla said. Musk believes that all roofs in the future will produce solar energy efficiently." The addressable market is 100 million roofs, "he said.
Tesla's new solar roof should not be confused with the company's standard solar panel, which can be added to an existing roof and compete with several similar products.Tesla's solar roof is a brand new roof for your home, an integrated power generating structure.They are more expensive than panels, although Tesla claims they is cheaper than the total cost of panels and a new roof. The current version is the third iteration.
Tesla is working on aesthetics. Colors that will soon include earth tones, clay tiles and French slate as well as the current black ones. 19659002] The economics of solar panels – not to mention roofs – are getting better and better for homeowners, panels are getting cheaper and better, and in the meantime, chances are that the price of electricity from local power the company has either stayed steady or gone up.
"It's kind of a no-brainer," Musk said. "It's really: Do you want something that prints money? And if it doesn't print money, we'll fix it or take it back."
Musk said the economy is better if you buy than finance. "Most people actually buy it, as opposed to renting it, which is actually technically better," he told investors last week. "While making money immediately if you rent them, it's actually a better investment if you buy them. "
Financial advisers say consumers need to do their homework before taking the plunge on solar panels from any source. Several factors to consider, they say, do not include only some upfront costs, but also service agreements and guarantees, financing costs, tax breaks and potential power company revenue if you produce more electricity than you use. Homeowners should drive the numbers to buy the panels or rent them. It is better than others, the ones with large roofs facing south are best.
Some advisers admit that the first time they really ran the numbers on a solar panel it was when they did it at home. But it now gives them more confidence to talk to clients.
Katherine Fibiger, an advisor to Stratos Wealth Partners in Westport, Conn., Recently installed panels – not from Tesla – on her own home, taking advantage of today's cheap rates to fund the panels for 12 years at less than 1% annual interest. "It was positive cash flow from day one," she says. "So we weren't out of pocket."
But if you are going to buy panels, not just look at the price, she warned. "It's an expensive system, and it's an expensive system to maintain, and it's on your roof," she said. Check the guarantees, service agreements and stability of the company, she said. "A key issue was the type of warranty offered. If we have roof problems and the panels need off, they will do so for free."
Solar panels, and now the entire solar roof, are long-term products that are usually expected to last for 20 or so years. "So you want to be confident that the company that supplies them will last, too," advisers say. "Your warranty may not use much if the company that produced it went out of business," he notes.
Tesla's fortunes have come at an opportune moment for the Sun's business. A few months ago, the markets worried about Tesla's financial condition, and not just the stock has declined since the company's bonds, or IOUs, jumped sharply last week. Bonds in 2025 are now trading at 95 cents on the dollar, up from just 82 cents a few months ago.
In the eyes of Wall Street, the risk that the company could run out of money and defaults did not disappear completely – but they have certainly withered greatly.
