- This video is brought to you by Skillshare. - [Sven] I recently bought
a $50,000 Tesla solar roof, and just like any 49 year
old millennial would do I ordered it online. So here's what happened. I was browsing YouTube and
happened to come across a video, announcing the arrival of the
brand new Tesla version three solar roof. As I was watching that video, I opened up a second tab in my
browser just to spec one out for fun. I honestly had zero
intention of ever buying one. It's just a guilty hobby of
mine to go to solar panel websites and spec out brand new systems, just to see how expensive they would be. So I went on Tesla's
website and got to work. The standard model begins at
that promise price of $35,000. But I quickly realized if
you increase your budget, just a modest 15 grand, you'll get an extra two
Powerwalls and a slightly better performance during power outages, which honestly seems like a decent value. Then we get to colors. If you get any other color besides black, it'll cost you up to 2,500
more if you want red. Now, I'm all about saving
money, as we all know. So we're going to go with black today. Next they give you the option
to upgrade to 19 inch tiles for an extra 1500. Nope. That's not going to happen now. We have the choice of underside color, either black or white, but with
white, it's an extra grand. And I would be worried
about getting that dirty. So black it is. And finally we have autopilot
for an additional three grand for the system. It will stay
in its own lane and keep pace. And I... (Laughing) Okay, I can't do any further. - [Graham Stephan] And of
course smash that like button. (Smooth Background Music) - [Sven] One of the most
frequent comments on my videos is about the payoff period
for my solar Tesla roof. So in this video, I thought I'd give you a
complete rundown of what it costs me and how I'm planning
to recoup my money. (Background Rap Music) ♪ Cheapskate looking like the
winner of the sweepstakes, ♪ ♪ Baby. ♪ - [Sven] First up, two disclaimers. The Tesla solar roof is expensive
and it's not for everyone. Since Tesla raised the
price earlier this year, the roof is probably not for most. Performance wise, the
Tesla solar roof is also not the best option. You can get better performance, at a better price with panels. For me, I chose the tiles
over panels for three reasons. Price played a factor, but
I also needed to replace a 40 year old shingles roof. If I was going to do a replacement, it wasn't going to be
with more asphalt shingles as I'm collecting rainwater. Back at the time when I priced
out a metal roof replacement, it actually was par to par
with the solar Tesla roof. - If you compare this price, the
Tesla price were right there. And then finally, the last reason why I went with solar is because of this channel. I usually am not an early
adopter, I like to wait on technology to prove itself. So I was somewhat hesitant, but I was ready to take the jump. Knowing that if I document the process, I might be able to recoup
some of the money through this channel. And boy did that work out. Okay? So this is what I paid, 50,820 and 18 cents. If you've seen some of the earlier videos, you know that there were
some additional fees here for repairing the roof. Fifty thousand, eight
twenty and eighteen cents. I did not take a loan. I
didn't finance this amount. I just put it on a credit card, which I paid off right away. And because of that, I got
cash back of 762 and 30 cents. Then, I applied for the self
generating incentive program. That is a statewide
program here in California, where you can get a grant if
you generate your own energy and have the ability to
store it in a battery. And that was quite a complicated process, but I ended up getting approval for $5,800. So if you happen to be in California, you can apply for that battery grant. Next up tax credit, we
finished the roof in 2020. The federal tax credit at the
time was 26% and it ended up being $9,759 Then in my previous
video, you saw a breakdown of the solar generation and
then I compared my electricity bills from the previous
year, in eight months it was more than a
thousand dollars saving. And I projected it to be
$1,600 for the entire year. This is where most people stop. They only look at the $50,000
and then they break down. Okay, how many years is it going to take me if I only save $1,600 a
year to pay off $50,000. There's two mistakes. First up,
it's not $50,000, it's less. If you get the tax rebate
and all the other things. And the second thing
is, it's not just solar, it's a solar tile roof. So I'm
replacing an entire roof that needed to be replaced anyway. You normally are not replacing a roof to make your money back. You're replacing a roof
because it needs replacing. When you're remodeling a kitchen, how many years is it going to
take for you to pay off that kitchen? Unlimited, because it
doesn't make any money back. So you kind of have to take
out that portion of what it costs to replace a roof and
just focus on the solar portion. Even if you look at this breakdown here, you see that they broke it out
in what is solar and what is actually roof tiles like
dummies, for example. And the $14,000 is roughly what
you would be paying today to replace a roof of that size. Technically you would have to
deduct the $14,000 from that price. And then you maybe look at
the electricity bill and say, how many years is going to take
you if you deduct the $14,000 for replacing the roof. So I just wanted to point
that out because every other comment is like it's
going to take you 30 years to pay off your solar system. Most solar systems don't have a battery. Most solar systems don't
come with a new roof. But for the sake of this breakdown, I'm going to keep it at $50,000. The next thing is referrals. If you've seen any of the
videos, you know that at some point I'm going to
mention my referral code. And if somebody ends up buying
a solar Tesla roof, panels, there are incentives. I get a reward of $500 back. You get a reward of $500 back counting just the referrals
that are already executed. So they've placed the order
and they've completed the installation. And I actually got a check in my hand that comes to $2,400 so far. I should have used one
of your referral codes. Unfortunately, when I placed the order, I wasn't really aware of
this. So I used no one's code. I wish I did, boom. What's next? When I ordered this Tesla solar roof, I started this channel
with zero subscribers. I made a video on my
other YouTube channel, where I talked about my car. So granted, I had a little bit of a headstart. I had about 500 subscribers
when I posted that video. The first couple of videos did well, but they weren't doing well
enough that I would get to monetization. You have to have at least a
thousand subscribers and you have to have 4,000 watch hours.
It took me probably seven, eight months to reach both of those goals. But once I get past that point, I was able to make some
money at the beginning. It was just a couple of
bucks. At some point, as we get closer to the
actual construction phase, the video where it was
just the Tesla crew, doing the construction, those seven days, that video that I posted the next week by now has over 800,000 views. I then decided to do one big
video where I just put all the episodes together in one. - [Sven Video Voiceover]
So it creates a seal - [Sven] and then repost
a 55 minute version. And that video in terms
of the Ad Sense money, that video did very well. So I'm going to show you how
much money I made on YouTube. I'm also going to include
sponsorship there. So I'm just gonna give
you the total number. And this is the money that
I've made up to this point so basically a year
and eight months later, starting from zero subscribers
to now in terms of YouTube, Ad Sense money and sponsorship. And that amount is... cause this is actual cash that I made eight one seven point five, two. So this is everything I've
already collected this year. If you break that down, this is where we started at 50 grand, you got 762 point 30 in
credit card cash back. We got $5,800 as a grant for the battery. We got a tax rebate credit, actual money that I didn't
have to pay in taxes this year. We got the electricity bill, now I'm going to calculate
it for the entire year. Even though we still have
like two months to go. What else is the referrals? I'm not going to calculate
the 500 bucks and now, the big one, YouTube. So, so far the entire system
is costing me actually 2, 681 dollars and 36 cents. And I understand this is
not everybody's situation, but it is something that I
feel anyone can do if they're passionate, and if they're
willing to take a chance and learn. I'm shooting with a camera right now, and it's a Panasonic GH2 which probably doesn't
mean anything to you. But if you are any filmmaker, you know that this camera by
now has over 10 years old. And I actually bought it
used on eBay for 300 bucks. I want to drive home the point that making a YouTube video doesn't
require expensive equipment. Being curious and willing
to learn is what can make a difference. I went into YouTube because
I was excited about the opportunity to learn and connect
with an audience and tell stories. I'm going to share how much
money I project to make for the rest of the year in a moment. But this is a good segue
to thank Skillshare for their support. It's an online learning
community where millions come together to take the next step
in their creative or career journey. It offers thousands
of classes on topics, including illustration
design, photography, video, freelancing, and more. I'd like to recommend a
class that is focused on productivity specifically for creators. Thomas Frank, a Skillshare
veteran, teaches a system that brings out your best. - [Thomas] I'm really
kind of a systems builder. I love thinking about the
internal systems that actually helped me do what I need to do. - [Sven] He starts out with mindset, getting you to take on a
professional approach to all of your endeavors. - [Thomas] So professional
mindset is simply not relying on inspiration to strike
in order for you to do your creative work. - [Sven] Build the right
environment for your workspace. And finally making use of
collaboration and delegation, all to maximize your creative output. - [Thomas] Welcome to
lesson six, which is about collaboration and delegation. - [Male Voice] No, okay it's not what, it's not really, - [Sven] It's a two hour
class that pays dividends by an order of magnitude. And this is what's great about Skillshare, it's curated specifically for
learning meaning there are no ads and they're always
launching new premium classes so you can stay focused and
follow wherever your creativity takes you. So take advantage now. The first 1000 of my subscribers
to click the link in the description, will get a one
month free trial of Skillshare. So you can start exploring
your creativity today. Now back to my financial breakdown
and how I see the rest of the year shape up. As I'm shooting this
it's middle of September. Let me share what I'm comfortably
projecting for the rest of the year. When I look at my app, I
can see more than 20 orders for Tesla solar. If they should all go through,
that is worth between eight and 10 grand of additional referral fees. Even though they are confirmed orders, they are not completed yet, and they can be canceled at any time. So that number is most
likely going to be less. In terms of contracts
that I've already signed, and the anticipated YouTube
Ad Sense money for the rest of the year, conservatively, is
going to come in at $6,700 for the next three months. And then if I indeed will get
10 people at least, finish installation of their Tesla
solar panels or tiles, I'll get an extra free Powerwall. This is not the end for my solar journey. This office right now here in
about three months or so is going to be demoed, with
that we're gonna have a new roof coming to the garage
and we're going to of course use the same tiles for that. It's all going to be part
of this channel's journey so if you're interested in the next video, I'm going to tackle some of the
most frequent questions that I get on the channel. Thanks so much for watching and
as always keep things sunny. Cheers (Uptempo Music) Are you interested in taking
an editing or YouTube class taught by me? If yes, please take three minutes and
fill out the questionnaires in the video description so I can
design the classes just for you. Thank you. And happy editing. (Uptempo music continues)
