Sykesville native David Silverstein is the vice president of American Home Contractors, which was recently certified to install Tesla Solar Roofs. The Baltimore Sun interviewed Silverstein about his company and his experience with Tesla solar.
Several months ago, American Home Contractors completed the training before being approved by Tesla as a certified installation company. In November of last year, Silverstein added Tesla solar tiles to his home, and he along with his family now receive clean and reusable energy from the sun. His goal is to reduce his carbon footprint and get away from fossil fuels.
“It’s really important that we transition people over to sustainable energy,” Silverstein said in the interview. “This is obviously satisfying that mission. There’s no better time to go solar than when you’re replacing your roof.”
Tesla’s integrated roofing system is the first of its kind in Carroll County, and Silverstein’s company has already installed several in the area. Silverstein noted that his next project is in Eldersburg. His company serves customers in Maryland, Virginia, and Pennsylvania. He noted that fewer than 100 Tesla roof systems have been installed around Maryland so far, so there’s a lot of market space to expand into.
He’s also using Tesla Powerwalls to store energy collected during the day for use later at night or on cloudy days.
“I’m thrilled with it, and everyone that we’ve installed the roof for has been ecstatic,” he told The Baltimore Sun. “The pictures online don’t really do it justice.”
His system was turned on back in January and his home ran smoothly during the winter months. “It’s completely sustainable,” he said. “If the power goes out, or if the grid goes down, we’re able to generate clean electricity and consume it, charge, discharge, and continue that cycle indefinitely.”
American Home Contractors’ marketing director, Sarah Jachowski, also shared her thoughts in the interview. She pointed out that partnering with Tesla has been a boon for the company and that the company is the only certified Tesla installer in the Mid-Atlantic region. “Tesla was kind of on our radar for sure,” she said. “It was one those, we wanted to reach for the stars and hopefully land on the moon at some point.”
Silverstein believes that even though Tesla’s solar system can cost $50,000 and up, many will see this as an investment rather than a cost. After all, a new roof also isn’t cheap, and it doesn’t create electricity for decades to come like a Solar Roof does. “I think a lot more people are going to be interested in this product as more and more people adopt it and it’s getting out in the market,” he said. “There are going to be additional versions. They’re going to optimize this.”
“Partnering with Tesla has been great,” Silverstein said. “This is just the start, this is just the beginning. … I want to try and help as many people in Carroll County as we can.”
