Tesla Solar Roof Tiles Approved for Boston Landmark

It’s Spring in Boston and things are looking green - the Boston Landmarks Commission (BLC) included! As many readers know, our work to support preservation and adaptive reuse go hand-in-hand with Mayor Wu's initiative to make Boston the greenest city in the country. Preserving existing buildings saves building materials from ending up in landfills and also saves the embodied energy of harvesting new materials for new construction. The administration’s commitment to becoming a carbon neutral city by 2050 is well underway and the BLC is eager to pitch in on the effort. We are proud to announce that the BLC recently took a big step forward in our efforts to address climate change at one of our historic landmark buildings by approving an innovative solar roofing system for a Landmark building.

The current owner of the Bond-Hampton House at 88 Lambert Ave in Roxbury recently applied to the BLC to obtain approval for a new roof as it is time to replace the existing asphalt roof. BLC staff was pleased to learn that the owner intends to install a Tesla Solar Roof system. Typical residential solar roofs are comprised of several photovoltaic panels which are attached on top of the existing roofing system on the southern facing plane. This type of photovoltaic array does not always suit the look of a historic home. However, the Tesla Solar Roof is a unique system of solar collection that is integrated into roofing tiles which are used on the entire roof and then fed to a flat wall hung inverter and battery pack which can be installed in any utility space. The Tesla system is fully integrated in a tile pattern which covers the entire roof. There are active tiles facing sunny exposures and non-active tiles covering the less sunny planes. Creating its own electricity will go a long way towards reducing this property’s reliance on fossil fuels. Any extra electricity produced by the roof can be fed back to the local utility grid and stored in the battery pack on site

The owner of the Bond-Hampton House approached BLC staff with a complete application showing the solar tile layout, samples of the Tesla tiles, and computations of the wattage collection for the roofing system. At the BLC hearing on February 28, 2023, the commissioners weighed the aesthetic pros and cons of the system and discussed its appropriateness for the 1834 Greek/Regency Revival home.  The Tesla panels are similar to a slate roof or asphalt roof, in that they are laid over one another in an alternating bond pattern. The top edge and fasteners of the solar tile is hidden by the bottom edge of the tile above it. The 15” height and black color of the Tesla solar tiles is similar to a traditional North Country Black Slate tile from Vermont or Canada. The similarities end there, which troubled some commissioners. The width of a Tesla tile is 44” compared to a 10” or 12” with of a traditional slate. The finish is a glossy, Black, vertically striated glass surface, which is a bit like a black metal roof. The commissioners reviewed several project case studies and finally concluded that the system was attractive when applied over an entire roof. All trim and coping is made of black metal, creating a cohesive look. Commissioners suggested to the Tesla representatives that they should consider adding vertical line indentations, which would break the wide tiles into three parts. This would emulate a slate roof more accurately. The Bond Hampton House has a very low sloped hip roof which means that the roof planes are not easy to see from the street level but are particularly well positioned for solar collection. Commission Vice-Chair Bradford Walker showed fellow commissioners photographs of a newly installed Tesla Solar Roof in Savin Hill at 50 Grampian Way. At the end of the discussion, the commissioners were certain that the benefits of allowing solar collection at this property outweighed the minor concerns about the design of the tiles. At the end of the hearing, the commissioners were pleased to recommend approval of the Tesla Solar Roof, as it aligned well with the City’s climate goals and the continued stewardship of a forward-thinking owner. 

88 Lambert Avenue was built ca. 1834 as a single-family home; the design is attributed to Richard Bond (1798–1861), a housewright and architect. He was also the first occupant of the house. Bond was prolific, and designed many important American buildings in several different states. He was also one of the original founders of the society that would become the modern-day American Institute of Architects.

The Bond-Hampton House also became significant for its association with the nationally acclaimed filmmaker, Henry Hampton (1940-1998) and his film production company Blackside, Inc., founded in 1968. Hampton is best known for his landmark documentary television series of 1987, Eyes on the Prize, about the history of the civil rights movement in the United States. Produced by Blackside, Inc., Eyes on the Prize tells the definitive story of the civil rights era from the point of view of the ordinary Black men and women whose extraordinary actions launched a movement that changed the fabric of American life, and embodied a struggle whose reverberations continue to be felt today. Winner of numerous awards, including Emmy Awards, a George Foster Peabody Award, an International Documentary Award, and a Television Critics Association Award, Eyes on the Prize is the most critically acclaimed documentary on civil rights in America.

Read the study report for 88 Lambert Street (Bond-Hampton House) Here 

Solar array graphic courtesy of 88 Lambert Street BLC application

Image of a Tesla Solar Roof Tile. Courtesy of https://www.tesla.com/solarroof