Tesla’s solar shingles will cost less than a traditional roof
Glass tiles ‘look better, last longer’ and power your home and vehicle
NEW YORK It’s official: After Tesla shareholders approved the acquisition of SolarCity, the new company is now an unequivocal sunto-vehicle energy firm. And chief executive officer Elon Musk didn’t take long to make his first big announcement as head of this new enterprise.
Minutes after shareholders approved the deal — about 85 per cent of shareholders voted yes — Musk told the crowd he had just returned from a meeting with his new solar engineering team. Tesla’s new solar roof product, he proclaimed, will cost less to manufacture and install than a traditional roof — even before savings from the power bill.
“Electricity,” Musk said, “is just a bonus.”
If Musk’s claims prove true, this could be a turning point in the evolution of solar power. The rooftop shingles he unveiled a few weeks ago are something to behold: They’re made of textured glass and are virtually indistinguishable from high-end roofing products. They transform light into power for your home and your electric car.
“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?” Musk said. “Why would you get anything else?”
Make no mistake: The new
shingles will still be a premium product, at least when they first roll out. The terra cotta and slate roofs Tesla mimicked are among
the most expensive roofing materials on the market — costing up to 20 times more than cheap asphalt shingles.
Much of the cost savings Musk is anticipating comes from shipping the materials. Traditional roofing materials are brittle, heavy and bulky. Shipping costs are high, as is the loss to breakage. The new tempered-glass roof tiles, engineered in Tesla’s new automotive and solar glass division, weigh as little as a fifth of current products and are considerably easier to ship, Musk said.
When Musk first unveiled the tiles on Oct. 28, the pricing details were murkier. He said that someone who buys a Tesla roof when the product is released next summer will save money compared with someone who buys a comparable traditional roof plus electricity from the grid.
But on a large house over a long period of time, the value of that electricity could exceed US$100,000.