Is the Tesla Solar Roof Worth It?

In a continued effort to describe the oft-ignored challenges involved in green technology-forcing, here is my latest analysis of residential solar/battery setups such as the Tesla Solar Roof.

Overall, the Solar Roof costs about 3x its system value for the New Jersey example analysed. There are also several important challenges that are hidden from consumers in the marketing of such systems:

– Net metering is a large indirect subsidy causing a wealth transfer from those who cannot afford large residential solar systems to rich folks who can.
– The promise of “energy independence” from combining an electric car with residential solar is inherently inefficient due to the fundamental mismatch between solar generation and night-time EV charging.
– Installing a large solar/battery setup can create a large anti-efficiency incentive after the initial investment has been made and all generated electricity is seen as “free.” With net metering, the incentive can become even worse by incentivizing consumers to increase winter electricity consumption via electric heating or a larger EV.

Solar and batteries have an important role to play in future energy systems, but the twisted incentives described above create more problems than they solve. Technology-neutral market signals are needed to find the correct balance.