Tesla Solar Roof Case Study | The McRae Family

The Tesla Solar Roof is the first roof that pays for itself with the energy it produces. Revealed by Tesla in 2019, the highly-anticipated Tesla Solar Roof is finally starting to make appearances on homes around the country.

The McRae family installed Louisiana’s first Tesla Solar Roof, transforming their home into a fully integrated solar and storage system. Over the warrantied lifetime of the Solar Roof, the family is estimated to save nearly $70,000 in energy costs while eliminating over 350 tons of emissions. These energy savings will help to increase the family’s energy independence, ease pressure on the local utility, and clean up the community.

What is a solar roof?

Rather than installing solar panels on top of your roof, each Solar Roof tile is its own solar module which produces electricity for the home. Identical non-solar tiles are used in areas of the roof not exposed to sunlight, ensuring no space is wasted. With a seamless design, each premium solar tile looks great up-close or from the street, complementing a home’s natural design.

Solar roof tiles are more than three times stronger than standard roofing tiles and come with a 30-year warranty guaranteeing decades of a safe and reliable roof. Aerial imagery and 3D modeling allow for custom designs that flawlessly fit a roof’s layout. Depending on the layout, Solar Roofs will vary greatly in size and complexity.

The McRae’s system

The McRae’s roof is comprised of 291 Tesla SR60T1 solar modules producing 17.46kW of energy— generating enough electricity in its lifetime to power 64 homes for a year. Combining the Solar Roof with two Tesla Powerwalls and an EV charger allows the McRae’s to rely less on utility power and back up their home during a grid outage. The excess energy that the home generates is fed back to the grid through net metering, improving the grid’s cleanliness, health, and stability for the community.

The technology accompanying the Tesla Solar Roof provides a number of helpful benefits. With the Tesla app the McRae’s can control their system with 24/7 mobile monitoring from anywhere in the world.  Powered by Tesla Solar Inverter, the McRae’s system hosts built-in connectivity allowing it to continue to improve with remote over-the-air software updates. This allows the family’s system to remain up-to-date with the latest technology for decades without having to replace elements of the system.

Beyond savings

With solar, there is no shortage of reasons to make the switch. Though the McRae’s enjoy the cutting-edge technology integrated into the system, their reasoning was primarily environmental. They explain that “we are very conscious of climate change and want to limit our impact. For us, this started with a 3.5 kW Solar Alternatives system which was more than enough to power our EV. I really like leading-edge technology application and am pleased to see the business risk taken by Tesla starting to pay off. The alternative power is like a hobby for us.”

If like the McRae’s you’d like to save money on your energy bills, lower your environmental impact, and strengthen your community, contact us for a free consultation.