Tesla is no longer a company that just sells electric cars. Its acquisition of SolarCity has made it a player in the clean energy game as well. Tesla announced solar roof tiles last year. They look like conventional roof tiles but actually do much more because they have almost the same efficiency of normal solar cells. This means that homeowners can harness energy from the sun throughout the day without requiring additional solar panels. Tesla CEO Elon Musk has confirmed that interested customers will be able to order the company’s solar roof tiles starting next month.
If they take off, Tesla’s solar roof tiles will go a long way in popularizing the use of solar panels to harness the sun’s energy which has more or less remained limited to those who are really enthusiastic about green energy. This is going to make solar energy a practical option for the average homeowner.
Tesla will be offering them in four different visual styles which will look like four different types of conventional roofing material but the company is only going to sell one or two of these in the beginning.
As far as the cost is concerned, the company has previously said that it’s going to be the same or even below that of a conventional new roof for a home, and that doesn’t include any energy savings.