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Tesla Solar Roofs: Cheaper, Infinity Warranty, Plus Solar Power

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Let’s jump right in, Canadian’s can pre-order here: https://www.tesla.com/en_CA/solar

Tesla released today all the information to order its new solar roof tiles products – starting with the smooth black glass tiles and the textured glass tiles, as reported earlier today.

Of course, the most important information that people were waiting for is price. CEO Elon Musk first hinted that it would be cheaper than a regular roof after accounting for energy savings, and later said that Tesla’s solar roof could cost less than a regular roof – even before energy production.

Tesla pretty much delivered on both depending on how you look at it.

The company says that the “typical homeowner can expect to pay $21.85USD per square foot for a Solar Roof.”

What is important to understand is that not all tiles on the roof would be solar tiles. It depends on the energy needs of the household and shading coming from structural items such as dormers. For the house pictured above, all the tiles are from Tesla, but only some of them have solar cells in them that can generate electricity – though it’s not visible from street view.

The $21.85 per square foot price point was calculated for a roof where 35 percent of the tiles are solar (solar tiles cost more per square foot than non-solar tiles). During a conference call with journalists today, Musk said that in some cases, depending on the roofs, customers will be able to have up to 70% solar tiles, but in most cases, it will be about 40%.

They released a calculator directly on their website, which any homeowner in the US can use to get an estimate based on data from Google’s Sunroof project. Here’s an example for a home in Maryland with both 70% solar coverage and 40% solar coverage:

Ultimately, Tesla sees that most customers will essentially be paid to have a new roof, when accounting for energy generation and the solar incentive.

They are including an installed 14kWh Powerwall 2 in the quotes. It can be removed, but Tesla believes that most people will want to have the home battery pack for backup energy in case of an outage.

Tesla broke down the cost of both its solar tiles and non-solar tiles against traditional roof solutions.

The company estimates that its non-solar tiles are cheaper than regular tiles and its solar tiles are cheaper than anything else, but only when accounting for energy generation (actual cost of solar tiles is $42USD/sq-ft):

The value of Tesla’s solar roof is closely linked to its durability and its ability to generate electricity over decades.

Musk previously discussed the possibility of making the warranty last for the lifetime of the house on which it is installed and they actually did it:

“Made with tempered glass, Solar Roof tiles are more than three times stronger than standard roofing tiles. That’s why we offer the best warranty in the industry – the lifetime of your house, or infinity, whichever comes first.”

That’s for the tiles themselves. The solar power generation is guaranteed for 30 years, which is on the higher end in the solar panel industry:

During a conference call with journalists, Musk and Peter Rive reiterated their confidence in the new product’s durability, which ultimately, of course, is reflected in the warranty.

They put these through every test imaginable, including shooting a large ball of hail:

The first two tiles, smooth and textured, are going into production this summer. They decided to go with those tiles first because they received the highest number of inquiries.

A $1,000 USD deposit is required when ordering a system online now. Homeowners outside of the US can also order, but they should not expect installation until next year. Musk said that he expects strong demand and for the company to be production constrained on the tiles.

Tesla says that it will manage the entire “Solar Roof experience—from the removal of your existing roof through design, permitting, installation, operations and maintenance of the new Solar Roof.” The company estimates that the installation should take roughly the same time to install as a tile roof installation, which is typically 5-7 days.

They recently updated their mobile app in order to prepare for the integration of the solar products and the Powerwall.

Musk concluded the press call by saying: “When you think of a sustainable energy future, you want roofs to be beautiful and generate energy from the sun. That energy can then charge Powerwalls and electric vehicles. That’s the future we want.”

Tesla solar roof products are perfect for homeowners who want solar and need a new roof relatively soon, but a regular solar panel installation is still a good solution for people who don’t need a new roof. Solar and energy storage prices are highly dependent on your market (electricity cost, gov incentives, etc.) and your property. We suggest to get quotes from more than one installer to make sure you get the best energy solution for your place. UnderstandSolar is a great free service to link you to top-rated solar installers in your region for personalized solar estimates for free.

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Dan Crenshaw says he’ll “f*cking kill Tucker Carlson” on video

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MXM logo  MxM News

Quick Hit:

Republican Texas Rep. Dan Crenshaw was caught on video saying he would “f*cking kill” Tucker Carlson if he ever met him, only to deny the threat shortly afterward. The footage, released by GB News, contradicts Crenshaw’s denial and raises questions about his remarks toward the Daily Caller co-founder.

Key Details:

  • GB News reporter Steven Edginton posted a video showing Crenshaw making the violent comment after an interview in early February.
  • Crenshaw denied the accusation when questioned by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, responding with “lol, no” on X.
  • GB News then released a video where Crenshaw explicitly stated he would “f*cking kill” Carlson, doubling down when Edginton initially laughed it off.

Diving Deeper:

The controversy began when GB News reporter Steven Edginton shared on X that Crenshaw made the threat after an interview earlier this month. According to Edginton, when he asked Crenshaw if he had ever met Tucker Carlson, Crenshaw responded, “I would kill him if I saw him.” When Edginton laughed, Crenshaw reportedly reiterated, “No seriously, I would kill him.”

After Edginton’s post, Republican Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene publicly questioned Crenshaw about the accusation. Crenshaw responded dismissively, writing, “lol, no.” However, less than 30 minutes later, GB News released a video that contradicted Crenshaw’s denial.

The footage showed Edginton asking, “Have you ever met Tucker?” as the two removed their microphones. Crenshaw responded, “No, we’ve talked a lot on Twitter. If I ever meet him, I’ll f*cking kill him.” Edginton laughed, but Crenshaw continued, “No, seriously, I’ll kill him. He’s the worst person I’ve ever met.”

The release of the video prompted widespread backlash and demands for clarification. The Daily Caller reached out to Crenshaw’s office for comment, and a spokesperson responded, “No, of course not,” when asked if the statement was serious.

Crenshaw’s remarks are particularly controversial given his position as a sitting U.S. Congressman. Threats of violence, even if intended as a joke, carry serious implications and have sparked debate over the tone of political discourse in America.

This incident also adds to the ongoing tension between Crenshaw and Tucker Carlson, who have clashed over policy issues and public commentary. Carlson has been a vocal critic of establishment Republicans, a group with which Crenshaw is frequently associated.

The fallout from Crenshaw’s comments is likely to continue as political figures and media outlets react to the video. Neither Crenshaw nor Carlson have issued further statements regarding the incident at the time of this report.

Dan Crenshaw” by Gage Skidmore, licensed by CC BY-SA 2.0.

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Opinion

Liberal leadership race guarantees Canadian voters will be guided by a clown show for a while yet

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Excuse me if I have to take a break every now and then while I write this to you.  I keep getting a taste of last night’s dinner and I can assure you it doesn’t taste as good coming up as it did going down.  What’s the matter you ask?  Thanks for asking.  It’s not like I feel sick or anything.  It’s just that every time I think about what is happening in Canada I get this automatic gag reflex.

Have you noticed what’s happening lately?  Elections all over the western world are swinging away from the dolts who’ve held power almost everywhere for a decade or longer.  I call them dolts because its WAY more polite than what they deserve and I am a polite Canadian.

Now the dolts are managing to hold on by a thread in some countries and by trickery in others, but in the most important country of all they’ve been exposed as the people who still believe their emotional genders matter more than their biological gender, and what does it matter anyway? because they also still believe the world is going to melt from underneath their electric vehicles. In short, the US has left behind climate alarmism and woke progressivism. In fact the US is running away from the rest of us with increasing velocity.

While China (we’ll come back to China because we can’t talk about Canadian politics without mentioning our Chinese benefactors) adds a couple more coal fired power plants a week, the new/old US President has once again thrown the Paris Accords to the historical trash heap where this time he’s promising to leave it so far behind that even the most frightened climate doomsayer will not be able to see it in the rearview mirror.  Instead the US will produce as much energy as possible by most any means possible.

Now as the lambs sleeping next to the lions, let’s get a few things straight about that President. Because I’m a polite Canadian, FORMERLY I was never be able to mention him without first saying what an a-hole he is.  But now my preamble is this.. nothing.  It matters not at all what I or you or the CPP think of the President.  All that matters is what the President is doing. What’s he doing?  He’s charging ahead at a speed no one has ever seen before.  Everyday he makes the US a bit leaner, faster and more resilient.  Everyday he rips off the Band-Aids of bureaucracy by the hundreds or by the thousands.  While we watch and scorn and deride and forestall the inevitable, he’s showing us the new path that we will inevitably have to follow if we want to live in a first world country called Canada.

But not so fast you say!  In Canada we will do things our own way.  We will be stronger by imagining we can change the weather by paying more for groceries.  When that doesn’t work we will offer to pay more for everything else too.  We may even change THE WAY we pay more for everything.  We just might bring in Mark Carnival to operate the PMO / WEF / CPP / Ottawa thing where we keep sending more money.  It should be easy enough as long as we can convince Mr Carnival to live in Canada long enough to vote here legally.  And being a self proclaimed World Progressive Elitist (or Dolt), Mark Carnival will save the world by changing the consumer facing carbon tax into a corporate facing carbon tax.  That will surely move the higher prices around and in all the confusion we’ll suddenly cool the world off and live happily ever after. Please don’t ask me to explain how that will work.

You know it’s funny how the people taking the shots for Team Canada keep reminding us that the new/old President is more dangerous than anything else we’ve faced since they invented/discovered global warming /climate change. When we look back from this as Americans in a few years from now, some will wonder if perhaps we could have saved the finest country in the world.  Maybe if we wouldn’t have taught our children that early settlers and early educators were racist murderers and instead taught about those who left everything and everyone behind to risk their lives and battle incredible difficulties to build one of the best nations in history.  Maybe if we would have focused on building our economy and recognized that affordable energy (hello Chinese coal plants) is the foundational building block of modern society instead of finding ways to move carbon taxes from one sector to another. Maybe, just maybe we could have saved Canada.

One day all us Yanks will look back and remember how our first unelected Prime Minister, Mark Carnival promised to fight climate change and bash the new/old President instead of cutting bureaucratic costs and taxes and deficits and debt.  Some will realize that was actually a clown show, a distraction. Maybe we could have saved Canada if we would only have focused on reality. But then again, the clown show did appear like a serious thing, until it wasn’t.

In hockey, you take care of the front of your net first.  If you lose focus there you could lose everything.  Just ask a certain American Maple Leaf who momentarily took his eye off what was most important to follow something that caught his eye.  In the real world when we pay attention to the Carnival and pretend the clown show is what it really important we leave the front of the net to pursue climate change, and genders, and everything that doesn’t really matter. Meanwhile the US waits for the pass alone in front of the net. When we pay attention to the clown show and they score the inevitable go ahead goal, we better hope the game isn’t in overtime.

Excuse me. I need a stiff drink of something. I’ve got a brutal taste in my mouth.

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