Day shift · 6:43 AM – 8:33 PM
Panels at work
60.8kWh harvested
- House ran straight off the roof30.2 kWh
- Vaults filled to 100% by2:30 PM
- Extra sold back to the grid7.8 kWh
Live demo home · Round Rock, TX · 1:30 PM · 97°F
Sun by day.Vault by night.
Solar panels and home power stations built for Texas roofs, Texas heat and the Texas grid. Our own crews install them, usually within five weeks of your first call.
1:30 PM
Peak sun · Sat, Jul 19
Solar outputHome useVault chargeDrag to scrub the day
Solar6.8kWProducing
Home2.9kWOn sunlight
2 Vaults84%Charging
Grid0.0kWStandby
Today, Jul 19
Produced 60.8 kWh
Used 52.7 kWh
Self-powered 98%
Grid balance +$0.35
4,180Texas homes running on Solstead
43.9 MWinstalled across 8 metros since 2016
3 daystypical outage backup on two Vaults
25 yrswarranty on panels, labor and output
Two sides of the same sun
Every Solstead home works two shifts.
Panels make the power while the sun is up. Vaults spend it after dark. Here is yesterday at our demo home in Round Rock, straight from the simulator above.
Night shift · 8:33 PM – 6:43 AM
Vaults take over
15.2kWh from the Vaults
- Power pulled from the grid overnight0.0 kWh
- Vault charge at sunrise24%
- Kept back as storm reserve20%
From roof scan to power-on
Five steps. About five weeks.
One Solstead crew owns your project from the first measurement to the day the utility signs off. Scroll to watch the roof come together.
Step 1 of 5 · Roof scanDay 1
-
01Day 1 · 45 minutes
Roof scan
We map your roof from satellite and drone imagery: pitch, direction, vents, and the shade from that big live oak, hour by hour across the year.
- 47 roof measurements
- 8,760-hour shade model
- Free, no visit needed
-
02Day 3
System design
An engineer places every panel along the sun's real path over your address and sizes the Vaults to the way your house uses power, then walks you through it on a call.
- 18 × S-440 · 7.92 kW
- 11,600 kWh / year
- Fixed price, in writing
-
03Day 21 · on site
Install day
Permits are back, so the crew arrives at 7 AM. Rails go down on flashed mounts, then panels go up row by row. Most roofs are done before the afternoon heat.
- 1-day install
- Leak-proof flashed mounts
- Our crews, no subcontractors
-
04Day 22
Vault and wiring
Your Vault mounts on an outside wall with conduit from the roof. It holds its own inverter and gateway, so there is no extra box in the garage.
- 13.5 kWh per Vault
- Rated to 122°F outdoors
- City inspection booked
-
05Day 35
Power on
Once the utility grants permission to operate, we switch the system on and set up your app. From that moment your roof is a small power plant.
- Permission to operate
- App live the same hour
- First bill credit next cycle
Hardware
Rated for 110° summers and golf-ball hail.
We use two pieces of hardware on every home and test both against the worst Texas weather on record.
Home power station
Solstead Vault
A battery, inverter and backup gateway in one sealed wall unit. It fills up with afternoon sun, runs the house through the night, and takes over in 20 milliseconds when the grid drops.
- Capacity
- 13.5 kWh
- Continuous power
- 11.5 kW
- Outage switchover
- < 20 ms
- Operating range
- −4 to 122°F
- Stacks up to
- 4 · 54 kWh
- Warranty
- 15 years
Solar module
Solstead S-440
A 440-watt bifacial panel with half-cut cells. It loses less output in the heat than most panels, which matters on a roof that hits 160°F in August.
- Power
- 440 W
- Efficiency
- 22.5%
- Heat loss per °C
- −0.29%
- Hail tested
- 55 mm @ 30 m/s
- Wind load
- 2,400 Pa
- Output at year 25
- ≥ 88%
Plans
Pick the size of your power plant.
Prices shown are illustrative for this concept and assume a single-story composition-shingle roof. Monthly figures use 6.99% APR over 25 years with $0 down. Your fixed quote comes after the roof scan.
Savings calculator
What would your roof earn?
Move the bill slider. We size the system to cover your usage, then run 25 years of Texas rates with a 3.5% yearly increase.
System12.76 kW29 × S-440 panels
Covers100%19,000 kWh a year
Installed price$47,990or $339/mo
Saved, year one$2,410about $201 a month
25-year savings$61,400breaks even in year 12
Backup9 hrs7.0 t CO₂ avoided a year
Cumulative cost over 25 years
Stay on the utilityGo Solstead
Peak sun hours6.2 west → 4.6 east
Built for Texas
From El Paso sun to Gulf Coast storms.
Eight metros, one standard. Tap a city to see its sun and how many neighbors already switched.
Heat
Panels mount with a 4-inch air gap and lose only 0.29% per °C, so a 104°F afternoon still looks like peak output on your app.
Hail
Tempered 3.2 mm glass tested against 55 mm hailstones. If a storm still wins, the 25-year warranty covers the panel and the labor.
Wind
Coastal installs use extra rail attachments rated for 160 mph gusts, from Corpus Christi to Galveston.
Grid
When ERCOT calls for conservation or the lines go down, your Vault islands the house and keeps the essentials running.
The Solstead app
Watch your house make its own power.
The phone on the right is wired to the same simulator as the house at the top of the page. Scrub the day up there and it follows.
- Live energy flowsSee what the panels make, what the house uses and where the rest goes, second by second.
- Storm WatchWhen the National Weather Service issues a severe alert for your county, Vaults charge to 100% and hold it.
- Bill forecastA running estimate of this month's bill and buyback credit, before the utility sends it.
1:30 PMRound Rock
Good afternoon. Your roof is earning.
84%Vaults charging
Solar6.8 kW
Home2.9 kW
Grid0.0 kW
Saved today$4.12
Storm Watch on. Severe storms possible in Williamson County after 6 PM. Vaults will hold 100% until they pass.
Questions
What Texans ask us first.
Still curious? The roof scan is free and comes with a 20-minute call with the engineer who drew your design.
What happens when the grid goes down?
The Vault senses the outage and separates your home from the grid in under 20 milliseconds, so lights, Wi-Fi and the fridge stay on. Your panels keep recharging the Vault during the day. With two Vaults, most homes run their essentials for three days or more.
How long from first call to a working system?
About five weeks for most homes. The install itself takes one or two days. The rest is design, city permits and utility approval, and we handle all of it.
Will the panels survive Texas hail?
S-440 panels use 3.2 mm tempered glass and are tested against 55 mm (2.2 inch) hail at 30 meters per second. Hail damage is covered by our 25-year warranty, parts and labor.
Do panels lose power in 100°F heat?
All panels make a little less power when they're hot. The S-440 loses 0.29% per °C above 77°F, roughly half the loss of older panels, and our mounts leave an air gap so the panels run cooler.
Can my HOA stop me from going solar?
In most cases, no. Texas Property Code §202.010 limits an HOA's power to ban rooftop solar, though it can set reasonable placement rules. We prepare and submit the HOA application for you.
Can I sell extra power back?
Yes, in most of Texas. In deregulated areas you choose a retail plan that pays for solar buyback. Austin Energy and CPS Energy run their own programs. We'll show you the best option for your ZIP code during design.
Free roof plan
Your roof plan in 48 hours.
Send your address and a recent bill amount. An engineer will scan your roof and send back a design, a production estimate and a fixed price.
- 1We scan your roof from imagery, no visit needed
- 2You get a design, a price and a savings forecast
- 3A 20-minute call to answer every question