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tesla solar roof release date

Tesla in Australia 2018/2019 – Facts & Figures

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Tesla have announced their Q2 earnings which notes that they have a ‘crazy’ growth outlook despite cell shortage and a slow deployment of their solar roof. Tesla in Australia is still very far behind the USA, but what can we expect the future to bring?

Tesla in Australia – 2018/19

What can Australians expect from Tesla over the next financial year? We’ve had an agonisingly slow rollout down under and there are many people waiting to see how long it takes for the solar roof to make its way out here.

With the cell shortage that has crippled availability of the Tesla Powerwall 2 in Australia, is it worth waiting for the Powerwall 3 instead? There hasn’t been any announcement yet so it really depends on your personal situation. 

The Tesla Gigafactory in Buffalo, New York is in working on speeding up production of the Solar Roof. They hope to produce 1 GW of solar products at the site annually beginning in 2019, and Tesla has said that it could even reach 2 GW/year down the track. The Gigafactory produces standard solar panels, along with the Solar Roof.

So if you have a bit of patience and are happy to wait until 2019, it’s fine to wait. Solar batteries still have a bit of a ways to go before they are a no-brainer for people to install, let alone the solar roof. But in the meantime, there are certainly solar roof alternatives like the Tractile solar roof tile or the Sonnen/Bristile partnership which they’ve called ‘Solartile‘. Have you got any questions or any experience with any of these solar shingles? Please let us know in the comments. 

Where is the Tesla Solar Roof?

Tesla in Australia - Solar Roof via @Toblerhaus on Twitter
Tesla in Australia – Tesla Solar Roof 2018 Installation (California) (source: @Toblerhaus on Twitter)

We’ve written about the Tesla Solar Roof before – and we’ve also written about its place in the Australian ecosystem, given that they’re rare as hen’s teeth in America, let alone over here. According to PV Magazine USA, it’s probable that the Tesla Solar Roof will not help their bottom line (Energy Generation and Division Revenues) until halfway through 2019 at the earliest. The reasons for this are for safety and the time lag it’s taking to get all their ducks in a row.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk clarified:

“It takes a while to confirm that the Solar Roof is going to last for 30 years and all the details work out, and we’re working with first responders to make sure it’s safe in the event of a fire and that kind of thing. So it’s quite a long validation program for a roof which has got to last for 30, 40, 50 years, but we also expect to ramp that up next year at our Gigafactory 2 in Buffalo. That’s going to be super exciting.”

According to Musk ‘several hundred’ Solar Roofs have been deployed, are being installed or scheduled for install, and international expansion (i.e. Australia!) is slowly rolling out.

PV Magazine have also written about some of the first solar roof installations in the USA – please click here to read some more about them.

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Australian Tesla Powerwall 2 Installation Guide

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Finally, after a litany of false starts and delays, Australians are beginning to enjoy installations of the Tesla Powerwall 2. Michael V, a user on the Australian based Whirlpool forum, documented the process of his install in a thread yesterday and it looks like the process went fairly smoothly, despite the fact that according to Michael it was the installers’ (Flashpoint Electrical and Solar at Punchbowl) first ‘actual’ install (i.e. they had practised on a prototype before but this was the first customer install). According to Tesla’s Facebook page, on April 28 they said that “Powerwall 2 installations have begun in Australia” but this is the first documented information we have on the process so please have a read and let us know if you have any questions or would like to share your experience with Australian Tesla Powerwall 2 Installation in the comments. We’d love to hear about it.

Tesla Powerwall 2 Installation and Ordering Process

The installations management team will help you with the Powerwall install process, which is, as far as we can tell, as follows  (please note this is after you’ve already pre-ordered a Tesla Powerwall 2 – there’s a ~2 month backlog in Australia right now so if you’re on the fence (wall?) about it then click here to visit Tesla’s site and order.

The Powerwall Install Process is as follows:

  1. A Tesla Certified Installer (from Downer Group, in Michael’s circumstance) visits your property to carry out a ‘site assessment’ – which will check:
    1. The suitability of your preferred location for Powerwall 2
    2. Site specific information for Tesla to provide a cost proposal for installation.
  2. A ‘proposal and sales agreement’ is prepared and sent within 7 days. Full payment is required 2 days prior to install.
  3. A Tesla Certified Installer visits your premises to install your brand new Powerwall 2!
  4. Powerwall 2 is connected via 3G (preferred) or Wifi so you can update the firmware and use the Tesla Powerwall App on your phone/tablet.

If you’d like to learn more about the actual install process, click here to view the full album of photos from Michael V on Whirlpool.

Tesla Powerwall 2 Installation Australia
Tesla Powerwall 2 Installation Australia (source Whirlpool via Michael V)

How to order Tesla Powerwall 2

You can either:

  1. Buy Tesla Powerwall 2 online from the official site ($650 AUD deposit will be charged to your credit card), or
  2. Request a callback from the Tesla Powerwall team (they generally respond within one business day).

Read more about the Tesla Powerwall 2 Australia Launch on our main Powerwall page! Find installers, Tesla Powerwall 2 alternatives, and much more.

Alternatively, if you’re interested in the Tesla Solar Roof in Australia click to read our article and information repository about this exciting new technology. Never hurts to be aware that there are also Tesla Solar Roof alternatives out there as well. Do your research before you commit to anything!

Australian Tesla Powerwall 2 Installations
Australian Tesla Powerwall 2 Installations (source: tesla.com)

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Tesla Solar Roof Australia Release Date and Cost

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Exciting news from Tesla and Elon Musk last week as he announced that the Tesla Solar Roof Australia preorder is now available: they’ll be available in ‘almost any country’ and deployment will be this year in the US and 2018 for overseas countries.

Tesla Solar Roof Australia

Tesla Solar Roof Australia Release Date

The tiles were announced last October and we reported on a tweet from Musk last month saying preorders were coming soon – and last week Tesla finally announced they have started production on two of their four initial designs. A smooth glass tile and a textured glass tile are available for preorder right now and will be released in Australia in 2018. The website states that the third and fourth designs, ‘tuscan’ and ‘slate’ will be available ‘early 2018’. This probably refers to the commencement of production, so it might be Q3 or Q4 2018 when these are shipped.

Australians can place a fully refundable $1,310 (AUD) deposit via the Tesla website and, although we’ll have to wait until next year for the tiles to ship, excitement is growing and many local retailers are clamouring for install rights to the panels.

Tesla Solar Roof Warranty

The roof is also extremely durable – take a look at a video post from Elon Musk’s Instagram account where Tesla were doing some hail tests on the solar roof vs conventional roofing tiles. The tiles, whilst being half the weight of their competitors, were measured as being three times stronger:

05.03.19 EDIT: Elon has taken the video off Instagram. 

As such, they have a novel idea towards warranty for the tiles – the lifetime of your home or ‘infinity’ – whichever comes first. They also have 30 year power and weatherization (Weatherization means that there will be no water leaks or other weather intrusions during the warranty period that result from installation) warranties in the US. As warranties are generally region specific we will have to wait to see how this changes for the Australian market.

Tesla Solar Roof in 2019

Tesla plans to ramp up the production of the solar roof with “significantly improved manufacturing capabilities during 2019”. They are facing myriad challenges this year so it’ll be fascinating to see how the company traverses these obstacles. Watch this space! 

Tesla ‘Active’ and ‘Non Active’ Solar Panels

The panels come in two flavours – ‘active’ – which means they work as solar panels, and ‘non’ active – just ‘normal’ roof tiles. As there are a number of factors such as cost, sunlight and energy requirements, you’ll be able to choose how many of each you want, keeping in mind that this is a full roof solution, not just adding solar panels to the top of an existing roof. According to Tesla, for a normal home, around 35% of the tiles will be solar.

Tesla Solar Roof Australia Price

As reported, you can place a $1,310 AUD refundable deposit on the website today. 

With regards to the price: “The typical homeowner can expect to pay $US21.85 (~$A29.50 as per today’s exchange rate) per square foot for Solar Roof, and benefit from a beautiful new roof that also increases the value of their home,” a blog post on Tesla’s Solar Roof Website stated. This is assuming 35% coverage of active (solar) panels.

Based on the pricing Tesla have released, if you have a 120 square metre roof (1291.67 square feet) – you can expect to pay around $38,340 AUD for a ‘normal’ Tesla roof install.

These solar roofs are built to complement and integrate with the Tesla Powerwall 2 and we’ll be very interested to see what some of the cost savings are after they’ve been installed and the numbers crunched. Watch this space as we’ll update as soon as any more information is available! You can also sign up for updates from Tesla by clicking here.

Tesla Solar Roof Price Estimate

Enter your roof size below in square metres and get a price estimate.


Estimated Cost:

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