About & FAQ

SolarRoof.cool is a microsite sharing information on the Tesla Solarglass roof. This page will hold stuff that's irrelevant or just too meta for the main page.

Who are you?

I'm Alex Guichet, a creative person that likes to tell stories—possibly with no clue when to shut up. I primarily like to play with design and data on the web—which gives you this site here. (I also write about micro indie games.)

Thank you for giving me your attention while I pontificate, it is a privilege. I think this stuff is pretty cool.

Do you speak for Tesla or the product as a whole?

No, definitely not. This site represents just my experience as an owner for just my roof, and it won't be the same for everybody. It's still a new enough product that I think this information is worth sharing, though.

Are you associated with Tesla?

Yes. I'm now a Tesla employee and stockholder. That said, I built this site while I had no formal relationships with Tesla outside of a contract to put a solar roof on my house. (In fact, this site helped me get the job I have now, and hopefully I can improve Tesla products for all future owners.)

...why a .cool TLD?

This page makes make internet cooler—guaranteed. (It's also the most Idle Thumbs thing ever.)

Why such a huge page and not a video?

For one, I'm not a skilled filmmaker—I'm just a designer with a knack for shipping projects that maintain a balance between high-polish and a reasonable scope.

And, I think web pages are more respectful of your time—in a 30 second skim of a giant webpage you can get the critical details. If you're 30 seconds into a video, the person "hosting it" has barely finished saying hello. Also, this is an evergreen resource. If I need to update it, I can update the page—which you can't do with a youtube video.

Tell me about the photos.

I took the all of the photos myself, on either my iPhone 11 or my Sony α6000. Images have been politely edited using Pixelmator Pro from their RAW form for simple color correction or removing issues like debris and identifying numbers. None of my edits are intended to misrepresent the product (positively or negatively).

Some of the extreme close-ups of the Solarglass are taken at an angle which reveals the inner photovoltaic cells—this is an editorial decision on my part. When viewed from street level, it's next to impossible to tell the difference between the types of tiles. I know which ones are which on my roof, and it's honestly hard for me to tell.

For fun, here's a photo of taking a photo of the Powerwalls. Meta.

Okay hold up, did your house color change in the photos?

Yes. We painted. Finally. :)

What's your Tesla Referral Code?

As an owner of a Tesla Model 3 and Solarglass Roof, I have nothing but good things to say about my Tesla products, and will continue to buy them in the future.

If you would like, feel free to use my referral code—alex21866. There's good things for both you and me if you use it, like free supercharging miles or a discount on solar products. If you're curious, here's the terms of the program.

Other Stuff

I disagree with your perspective on finances or aesthetics!

That's cool! I have my opinions which have already influenced my purchasing decisions. You totally can have yours. Don't be weird about it.

I have other questions for you.

Sure! Send me an email here.

Thanks

This wouldn't have come together with out the support of a lot of people, so I want to thank them. Thanks to my husband for both agreeing to install the roof, and encouraging this crazy project. Thanks to all the Tesla employees I worked with for all their hard work, countless phone calls, and great ongoing communication. Thanks to all of my friends that saw so many drafts of this site and kept giving me excellent feedback—tirelessly helping me sand down the rough edges.

Please do not show up to our house unannounced

It should go without saying, but if you happen to figure out our precise location, do not show up to our house unannounced. My decision to share my excitement about important earth-saving innovations on the internet is not an invitation for you to come over. If you make the decision to invade our privacy, it's a reflection on your poor judgement as a human being. (And creepy.)

If you are curious why a paragraph like this is necessary, well, it’s already happened.

Change History

My plan is for this to be a bit of an evergreen resource. If I make any edits or changes on this site (beyond light editing for grammar or tone), I'll update this timeline here: