Kelly Roofing recently completed the first-ever international Tesla Solar Roof installation, marking a significant milestone in green-energy innovation for roofers. The Florida-based company managed negotiations, logistics, and operations to extend its services into the international field, starting on the Caribbean island of Nevis in the West Indies. This installation has opened up worldwide possibilities for the company's next steps in solar roofing installations, said President Ken Kelly.

“This job is the pay off of years of work and innovation, it’s incredible to watch it come to life,” said Kelly, RC's 2019 Residential Roofing Contractor of the Year. “Our team has been working with Tesla on building the solar roof deployment process from the ground up since they began developing it in 2019. Roofing innovation is what we do. It’s what we’ve been known for for the last 50 years at Kelly Roofing. This client, and this job have brought us to a new level and let us begin to really see the fruit of that labor.”

Installing a Tesla Solar Roof internationally required a multi-faceted and carefully honed system to complete. Kelly Roofing worked with the customer to understand their goals and negotiated a general price for the raw job. They then navigated duty, tariffs, shipping, customs, holding, and transportation fees. The company’s prior experience in these logistics laid the groundwork for the job in Nevis and made the job seamless for the customer.

“We had the advantage of having solid shipping partners in place and a tested process, it was a matter of fitting the pieces together strategically for what this client needed,” Kelly said.

The Kelly Roofing team’s extensive experience with Florida’s stringent roofing codes allowed them to navigate the legal hurdles of Nevis’s roofing regulations. The team also partnered with a local contracting team to ease relations with the government and the local community, providing on-the-job training and bringing the job to life.

Kelly added that the Tesla system is also unique in its durability and innovation. It is connected to an app that is designed to be intuitive for the homeowner, helping control power consumption and usage. The roofs are also designed to last over time, making them hurricane-force-wind resistant and impact resistant to hail. Each tile is independent, allowing for expansion and contraction in extreme temperatures.

“The Tesla system gives peace of mind to our clients. We saw roofs come out of Hurricane Ian basically untouched and the Powerwall system kept up," Kelly said. "There were entire blocks where neighbors were charging their phones at the only house with a Tesla Solar Roof because no one else had power."

— Provided by Kelly Roofing