Last month Tesla took the wraps off the company’s latest efforts, solar roof tiles. Basically the idea is that instead of installing ugly solar panels on top of the roofs of our houses, we can use these tiles which will do the same job, but blend right in. Also because of their design, you can use more of them to cover your entire home.However there was the question of price because given the cost of owning a Tesla car, we’re sure some were a bit worried that these solar roof tiles would be just as expensive. The good news is that if you can afford regular roof tiles, then these should not be a problem as Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk said that the tiles will cost less to manufacture and install than a regular roof.
He also says that this is also before the savings from the electricity bill due to the use of solar energy, and that “Electricity is just a bonus.” He adds, “So the basic proposition will be: Would you like a roof that looks better than a normal roof, lasts twice as long, costs less and—by the way—generates electricity? Why would you get anything else?”
Exactly how much these tiles will cost remains to be seen, but as Bloomberg points out, they will still be positioned as premium products, and that Musk’s rhetoric seems to be based on the costs from shipping and also from the reduced consumption of electricity once they’ve been installed.