If you’re keen to go solar but don’t like the look of standard solar panels, you might be considering a Tesla solar roof. Launched in 2016, this solar shingle roof aims to be both roof and solar energy array, offering a seamless appearance. How much does a Tesla solar roof cost, though, and is it worth it?
Tesla is notoriously tight-lipped about the cost of its solar roof. It also avoids releasing figures for how many roofs it has installed and where. The good news is that nerdy researchers like me have our own ways of finding out the cost of a Tesla solar roof.
The quick summary before we get into the weeds about Tesla solar shingles:
- A Tesla roof cost around $56,500 gross in 2022
- The average cost after the federal solar tax credit worked out to $39,500
- The cost per Watt installed was $5.29, which is a little higher on average than for regular solar panels
Other quick takeaways from the data for 2021 and 2022:
- The overall cost of Tesla solar roofs has increased between 2021 and 2022
- The average size of a Tesla solar roof also increased between 2021 and 2022
- The average cost per Watt of a Tesla solar roof decreased between 2021 and 2022
- Newer Tesla solar shingles offer greater efficiency but cost a little more overall and per Watt than older model shingles.
Calculating the cost of a Tesla roof
The first step to calculating the likely cost of a Tesla solar roof involved figuring out the model numbers for Tesla solar shingles. Next, I looked for installations using these shingles in the massive datasets available on solar installations across the U.S. These include the Tracking the Sun report courtesy of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and data on installations from California Distributed Generation Statistics.
Once we have all that information to hand, it’s not a huge leap to work out the average size and cost of a Tesla roof installation, and the size and cost range.
The cost of a Tesla solar roof in 2021 and 2022
Here’s our breakdown of how much folks paid on average for a Tesla roof in the U.S. in 2021 and 2022:
| cost per Watt $ | Average system size kW (DC) | Average total cost $ | Net cost with Federal tax incentive $ | |
| 2022 | 5.29 | 10.91 | 56,524 | 39,566 |
| 2021 | 6.11 | 8.87 | 51,301 | 35,911 |
The average cost of a Tesla roof in per Watt terms decreased by around 13 percent from 2021 to 2022. However, the average size of a Tesla roof installation also increased by nearly 19 percent over that time period. Typically, there is a significant economy of scale at work with solar installations, meaning larger installations usually work out costing less per Watt than smaller installations.
Overall, the average total cost of a Tesla solar roof has increased by about $5,000 from 2021 to 2022, reaching just over $56,500. With the 30 percent federal solar tax credit at work, this could mean homeowners pay just under $40,000 for a new roof and solar array all in one.
Tesla roof cost per square foot
Let’s look at the cost of a Tesla solar roof a slightly different way. On average, homeowners are looking at the following likely costs for a Tesla roof based on square footage of their home:
| Home size (in square feet) | System size (in kW DC) | Energy storage | Total cost |
| 1,000 (one-story) | 6.5 | 1 Powerwall | $34,385 |
| 2,000 (two-story) | 13 | 2 Powerwalls | $68,770 |
| 3,000 (three-story) | 19.5 | 3 Powerwalls | $103,155 |
For homeowners with an especially energy efficient home who use less electricity than average, the cost of a Tesla roof may be lower. This is because the installation design won’t need to generate (or store) as much electricity and can, therefore, include fewer solar shingles (more expensive) and more non-solar shingles (less expensive) and fewer Powerwalls.
As always, then, the best approach to take before going solar is to improve the energy efficiency of your home. That might mean increasing insulation, updating older windows and doors, upgrading old energy-hungry appliances, installing a heat pump and heat pump hot water system, and taking advantage of any passive heating and cooling opportunities.
What’s in a (Tesla) tile?
Tesla’s newer solar tile is the SR72T1, released in 2021. This offers a maximum power output of 71.67 Watts. The earlier incarnation of the Tesla solar roofing tile is the SR60T1, which offers 58.5 Watts. The SR60T1 is the most common type in the LBNL and CDGS data sets for 2021 and early 2022.
Chances are that Tesla solar roofs installed in later 2022 and early 2023 would use the SR72T1, given that this allows the homeowner to generate more electricity on the same amount of roof real estate.
It’s also worth bearing in mind that the nameplate maximum power output in Watts doesn’t always reflect actual output. The PTC (W) figure is usually truer to life, as this describes the power output under more realistic PVUSA (Photovoltaics for Utility Scale Applications) Test Conditions.
Here’s the breakdown of power outputs for the most popular Tesla roof shingles currently in use, courtesy of the California government solar equipment list:
| Model Number | Description | Nameplate Pmax (W) | PTC (W) |
| SR24S3-2 | 23.75W Polycrystalline Smooth Solar Roof Module | 23.75 | 20.5 |
| SR24T3-2 | 23.75W Polycrystalline Textured Solar Roof Module | 23.75 | 20.5 |
| SR25S3 | 25W Smooth Solar Roof Module | 25 | 22.3 |
| SR25T3 | 25 W Textured Solar Roof Module | 25 | 21.9 |
| SR60T1 | 58.47 W, 42 cell polycrystalline Solar Roof module, 600V max system Vdc | 58.47 | 52.1 |
| SR72T1 | 72 W Monocrystalline Solar Roof Module | 72 | 65.4 |
| SR72T2 | 72 W Monocrystalline Solar Roof Module | 72 | 65.4 |
| SR72T3R | 72 W Monocrystalline Solar Roof Module | 72 | 65.4 |
The cost of a Tesla roof based on shingle type
We broke down the cost of a Tesla roof based on which type of solar shingles were used for the project, and looked at the changing price of a Tesla roof between 2021 and 2022. To do this, we turned to information from CDGS for installations with the three major utilities in California: Pacific Gas & Electric, Southern California Edison, and San Diego Gas & Electric (PGE, SCE, and SDGE).
Here’s how that breakdown looks:
The cost of SR60T1 in 2022
| cost per Watt | Average system size kW (DC) | Average total cost | Net cost with Federal tax incentive | |
| SDGE | 6.76 | 11.31 | 76518 | 53562 |
| SCE | 3.27 | 14.22 | 46422 | 32496 |
| PGE | 7.27 | 9.10 | 66140 | 46298 |
| Average | 5.76 | 11.54 | 63027 | 44119 |
Note the massive difference in cost per Watt between SCE and PGE. The best explanation we have for this is that the average size system installed in these two utility regions means greater and lesser economies of scale. Again, for smaller installations, more of the unavoidable fixed costs have to be absorbed per shingle. For larger installations, these fixed costs can be absorbed across a greater number of shingles, lowering the overall cost per Watt.
The newer SR72T1 and SR72T2 are more efficient than the older SR60T1 shingles, meaning an installer can use fewer shingles to generate the same amount of electricity. While the newer shingles are more expensive per shingle, the overall cost of a project could be lower because less of the roof is solar shingle and more comprises regular non-solar shingles.
Here’s the breakdown for the newer shingles:
SR72T1 and SR72T2 for 2022
Note that there were no installations detailed for SCE with this shingle in 2022.
| cost per Watt | Average system size kW (DC) | Average total cost | Net cost with Federal tax incentive | |
| SDGE | 6.63 | 10.97 | 72704 | 50893 |
| PGE | 6.12 | 13.46 | 82348 | 57643 |
| Average | 6.37 | 12.22 | 77526 | 54268 |
All in all, installations with the more efficient Tesla solar shingles cost about 11 percent more per Watt and about $14,500 more overall than those using the older model SR60T1 shingles.
2021 vs 2022 – cost for SR60T1 shingles
Looking at installations using SR60T1 shingles in 2021 and 2022, we see that the cost per Watt has decreased by around 13 percent. However, due to much larger systems being installed (57 percent bigger!), the average total cost of installation has gone up by nearly $18,000, or around 38 percent.
| SR60T1 | cost per Watt | Average system size kW (DC) | Average total cost | Net cost with Federal tax incentive |
| 2021 average | 6.64 | 7.34 | 45806 | 32064 |
| 2022 average | 5.76 | 11.54 | 63027 | 44119 |
The takeaway for Tesla roof installations in 2023
We’ve crunched the numbers for the past two years and can see a few trends when it comes to Tesla solar roofs. For 2023, we predict:
- Tesla solar installations will be bigger on average than in 2022
- Tesla solar roof installations are likely to cost more overall than in 2022
- More installations will use the more efficient SR72T1 shingles
- Overall cost per Watt will likely stay the same as 2022.
On that last point, this prediction is based on economies of scale with larger installations, greater adoption of the more efficient shingles, and the ability to use fewer solar shingles to achieve the same operating output as with the SR60T1 modules.
If you’re interested in installing a Tesla solar roof, ask your installer if there are any discounts available for using the SR60T1 shingles. These solar shingles are still very efficient and a great choice for solar roofs, but given the newer models have been around for a couple of years now, you may be able to get a cheaper installation overall and a better cost per Watt with the older shingles.
Finally, if you like the idea of solar shingles but don’t want to wait, check out other solar roof options. That’s right, Tesla isn’t the only company offering solar roofs and wasn’t even the first to hang a solar shingle! With other solar roof companies you may also get a roof installed within a few weeks or months. With Tesla, chances are you’ll be waiting a while longer to start reaping the rewards of going solar at home.