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Tesla Solarglass Roof: LA-based homeowner shares first impressions of V3 roof tiles

Tesla Solarglass Roof Review - Los Angeles, CA (Source: Austin Flack YouTube)

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As the cost of installing solar drops in the United States by as much as 70% in the last decade, more and more homeowners in the US are considering a switch to greener energy. At the forefront of Tesla’s push into residential solar is its flagship Solarglass roof, which are essentially solar cells that look like standard roofing tiles. Yet, inasmuch as Tesla’s Solarglass tiles have caught numerous headlines in the past, many questions about the product, such as its durability, installation process, and real cost, remain.

Los Angeles, California-based Austin Flack is one of the first consumers to get a Tesla Solarglass Roof. In a recent video shared on YouTube, Flack decided to share his first impressions about his Tesla Solarglass experience.

“We placed our order in early November and were scheduled for installation in mid-December, but rainy weather pushed installation into January. Unfortunately, the federal rebate fell from 30% in 2019 to 26% in 2020, but Telsa was kind enough to give us a 4% discount to make up the difference,” Flack wrote on the description of his review on YouTube.

COST OF TESLA SOLARGLASS ROOF

Prior to the announcement of Tesla about the latest version of the company’s flagship solar product in October 2019, Flack and his wife thought of getting Tesla solar panels but they discovered that their roof, which measures 1,745 sq.ft., wasn’t properly designed and installed.

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The couple decided to compare the cost of getting a new composite roof plus the Tesla solar panel array they need. Estimates for the composite tile roof ranged roughly between $9,000 and $12,000. Meanwhile, Tesla calculated that their Los Angeles home would need a system size of around 9.087 kW with some room for energy needs to grow. The quote from Tesla for the Solarglass Roof is $33,749 after rebates. This price is about $3,000 more expensive than the cost of getting a composite tile roof with the equivalent solar panel array setup.

According to Flack, they went for the Solarglass Roof and found the price reasonable “given the enhanced aesthetics of solar glass and how much value it might add to our home.”

SOLARGLASS ROOF INSTALLATION

Installation of the Solarglass Roof started on Jan. 6 and took 7 days including removal of the old roof, installation of Solarglass tiles, replacement of other roofing elements, and hardware setup.

Flack shared that their new roof is mostly solar tiles with some dummy tiles for the edges and to fit near the vents and pipes. The roof was also raised by about 1.5 inches to have some space for wiring and ventilation.

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From the solar tiles, Tesla neatly installed conduit boxes in their attic and directed the power to a DC inverter, shutoff switches, and 200 amp electrical box.

The couple is still waiting for the final approval to turn on the system and promised to post an update video once it’s online.

“For now, we are very happy with the Solar Glass. It’s beautiful. It’s durable. It’s guaranteed for 25 years, and when fully operational it will completely zero out our electrical bill,” Flack said.

TESLA SOLAR ENERGY BUSINESS WILL SHINE IN 2020

Tesla’s solar business had its moments under the cloud and seemingly losing its shine amid rising competition from smaller solar roof installers and lower subsidies for solar panels. With the solar business’ back on the wall, Elon Musk re-aligned and reignited Tesla’s solar push with the promise to ramp up production and aim to install more solar roofs compared to previous years. Musk showed a more cautious side and for most, that was a good thing.

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“In the long term, I expect Tesla Energy to be of the same or roughly the same size as Tesla’s automotive sector or business. This is the most underappreciated group. I think it could be bigger, but it’s certainly of a similar magnitude to Tesla Solar. Meaning, if you take Tesla Solar plus battery stuff, Tesla Energy is, I think, the least appreciated element,” Musk said.

At present, Tesla offers $250-incentive for new customers and for people who will refer other buyers.

In December, Tesla also installed canopies for their solar test houses in its Fremont factory, reminiscent of how it used big tents to solve Model 3 production issues. During the same period, Tesla looked to hire more installers to beef up its teams in California, Texas, Nevada, and Florida. In Q3 of 2019, the company deployed about 43MW of solar, about 48% more compared to Q3.

Check out Austin Flack’s first impression of the Tesla Solarglass Roof below:

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A curious soul who keeps wondering how Elon Musk, Tesla, electric cars, and clean energy technologies will shape the future, or do we really need to escape to Mars.

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Energy

Zuckerberg’s Meta taps Musk’s Tesla for massive clean energy project

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Credit: Tesla

In a notable intersection of Big Tech powerhouses, Meta, led by Mark Zuckerberg, has partnered with Canadian energy infrastructure giant Enbridge on a significant renewable energy initiative that will rely on battery technology from Elon Musk’s Tesla.

The project, which was announced this week, marks another step in Meta’s aggressive push to power its expanding data center operations with clean energy, dispelling many of the complaints people have about them.

This new development is located near Cheyenne, Wyoming, and will feature a 365-megawatt (MW) solar farm paired with a 200 MW/1,600 megawatt-hour (MWh) battery energy storage system, also known as BESS. Tesla is providing the batteries for the project, valued at roughly $200 million.

The story was originally reported by Utility Dive.

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This Wyoming project represents the first phase of Enbridge and Meta’s joint “Cowboy Project.” Once operational, it will deliver power to Meta’s regional data centers through Cheyenne Light, Fuel, and Power under Wyoming’s Large Power Contract Service tariff.

This tariff, originally developed in collaboration with Microsoft and Black Hills Energy, is designed specifically for large loads like data centers. It ensures that the renewable supply serves hyperscale customers without impacting retail electricity rates for other users.

The battery system will operate under a long-term tolling agreement, providing dispatchable capacity that enhances grid reliability. During periods of high demand, the utility can access the backup generation, addressing one of the key challenges of integrating large-scale renewables with the explosive growth of data center electricity demand driven by artificial intelligence.

This latest collaboration builds on prior joint efforts between Enbridge and Meta in Texas, including the 600 MW Clear Fork Solar, 152 MW Easter Wind, and 300 MW Cone Wind projects. Together with the Wyoming initiative, the companies have now partnered on roughly 1.6 gigawatts (GW) of combined solar, wind, and storage capacity.

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The deal highlights the intensifying demand for reliable, low-carbon power from technology giants. Meta has committed to supporting its data center growth with renewable energy, joining peers like Microsoft and Google in seeking large-scale solutions. Enbridge’s Allen Capps described the project as “one of the larger utility-scale battery installations supporting U.S. data center operations and growth.”

The involvement of Tesla’s battery technology adds an intriguing layer, linking two of the world’s most prominent tech leaders—Zuckerberg and Musk—in the clean energy transition.

As data centers continue to drive unprecedented electricity load growth across the United States, projects like this one illustrate how hyperscalers are turning to strategic partnerships with traditional energy players and innovative storage solutions to meet both sustainability goals and reliability needs.

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Why SpaceX just made a $60 billion bet on AI coding ahead of historic IPO

SpaceX has secured an option to acquire Cursor AI for $60 billion ahead of its historic IPO.

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SpaceX announced today it has struck a deal with AI coding startup Cursor, securing the option to acquire the company outright for $60 billion later this year, while committing $10 billion for joint development work in the interim. The announcement described the partnership as building “the world’s best coding and knowledge work AI,” and comes just days after Cursor was separately reported to be raising $2 billion at a valuation above $50 billion.

The move makes strategic sense given where each company currently stands. Cursor currently pays retail prices to Anthropic and OpenAI to the same companies competing directly against it with Claude Code and Codex. That means every dollar of revenue Cursor earns partially funds its own competition. With SpaceX bringing computational infrastructure to the Cursor platform, that could reduce Cursor’s dependence on OpenAI and Anthropic’s Claude AI as its providers. Access to SpaceX’s Colossus supercomputer, with compute equivalent to one million Nvidia H100 chips, gives Cursor the infrastructure to run and train its own models at a scale it could never afford independently. That one change restructures the entire unit economics of the business.

Elon Musk teases crazy outlook for xAI against its competitors

Cursor’s $2 billion in annualized revenue and enterprise reach across more than half of Fortune 500 companies gives SpaceX something its xAI subsidiary currently lacks, which is a proven, fast-growing software business with real enterprise distribution.

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For Cursor, SpaceX’s $10 billion in joint development funding is transformational. Cursor raised $3.3 billion across all of 2025 to reach that $2 billion in revenue. A single $10 billion commitment from SpaceX, even as a development payment rather than an acquisition, dwarfs everything Cursor has raised in its entire existence. That capital accelerates product development, enterprise sales infrastructure, and proprietary model training simultaneously.

The timing is deliberate. SpaceX filed confidentially with the SEC on April 1, 2026, targeting a June listing at a $1.75 trillion valuation, in what would be the largest public offering in history. The company is expected to begin its roadshow the week of June 8, with Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, and Morgan Stanley serving as underwriters. Adding Cursor to the portfolio before that roadshow gives IPO investors a concrete enterprise software revenue story to price in, alongside rockets and satellite internet.

The deal also addresses a weakness that became visible after February’s xAI merger. Several xAI co-founders departed following that acquisition, and SpaceX had already hired two Cursor engineers, signaling where its AI talent strategy was heading. Cursor, for its part, faces a pricing disadvantage competing against Anthropic’s Claude Code.

Whether SpaceX exercises the full acquisition option before its IPO or after remains the open question. Either way, this deal reshapes what investors will be buying into when SpaceX goes public.

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Elon Musk

Tesla Supercharger for Business exposes jaw-dropping ROI gap between best and worst locations

Tesla’s new Supercharger for Business calculator reveals an eye-opening all-in cost and location-based ROI projections.

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tesla v4 supercharger

Tesla has launched an online calculator for its Supercharger for Business program, giving property owners their first transparent look at what it really costs to install Superchargers on site and what kind of return they can expect.

The program itself launched in September 2025, allowing businesses to purchase and operate Supercharger hardware on their own property while Tesla handles installation, maintenance, software, and 24/7 driver support. As Teslarati reported at launch, hosts also get their logo placed on the chargers and their location integrated into Tesla’s in-car navigation, meaning drivers are actively routed there. The stalls are open to all EVs, not just Teslas.


The new online calculator, announced by Tesla on Wednesday with the note that “simplicity and transparency” have been a problem in the industry, lets any business enter a U.S. address and get a real cost and revenue model. A standard 8-stall V4 Supercharger site runs approximately $500,000 in hardware and $55,000 per post for installation, bringing an all-in price just shy of $1 million. Tesla charges a flat $0.10 per kWh fee to cover software, billing, and network operations. Businesses set their own retail price and keep the margin above that fee.

Tesla expands its branded ‘For Business’ Superchargers

 

Taking a look at Tesla’s Supercharger for Business online calculator, we can see that ROI is not uniform, and the gap between a strong location and a poor one can stretch the breakeven point by several years.

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The biggest driver is foot traffic and how long people stay. A busy rest station, hotel, or outlet mall brings in repeat visitors who need to charge while they’re already stopped, pushing utilization numbers higher and shortening payback time.

Tesla Supercharger for Business ROI calculator

Tesla Supercharger for Business ROI calculator

Local electricity rates matter just as much on the cost side. Markets like California carry some of the highest commercial electricity rates in the country, which eats into the margin between what a host pays per kWh and what they charge drivers. At the same time, dense urban areas with high EV adoption tend to support higher retail charging prices, which can offset that cost if demand is strong enough. Weather also plays a role. Cold climates reduce battery efficiency and increase charging frequency, but they can also suppress utilization in winter months if drivers avoid stopping in exposed outdoor locations. Suburban and rural sites face a different problem: lower baseline EV traffic, which means a site with cheaper power and lower operating costs can still take longer to pay back simply because the stalls sit idle more often. Tesla’s calculator uses real fleet data to pre-fill utilization estimates by ZIP code, so businesses can run their specific address against these variables rather than relying on averages.

The program has seen real adoption. Wawa, already the largest host of Tesla Superchargers with over 2,100 stalls across 223 locations, opened its first fully owned and branded site in Alachua, Florida earlier this year. Francis Energy of Oklahoma and the city of Alpharetta, Georgia have also deployed branded stations through the program, as Teslarati covered in January.

Tesla now exceeds 80,000 Supercharger stalls worldwide, and the calculator makes the economic case for accelerating that number through private investment rather than company-owned sites alone.

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