A new solar roof will also be expensive up front compared to a conventional roof, but Tesla says that it will last for 30 years, the length of a standard United States mortgage, or longer. The glass-covered tiles are created to look like a traditional roof, doing away with the need for separate solar panels.
Musk said that he would give more information in 10 hours, and did not reveal a price for the solar roof tiles. Installations will begin next month in the USA, starting with California. Tuscan and French Slate styles will be available in around six months, according to Musk.
The new roof tiles are claimed to be more durable than your standard tiles, allowing for a greater lifespan and better resistance to year-round weather. The results, which draw on Google's Project Sunroof, vary according to energy costs and other factors.
The product could also pave the way for increased interest in Tesla's home-energy storage product, a wall-mounted battery pack that provides backup power.
"The pricing is better than I expected, better than everyone expected", said Hugh Bromley, a solar analyst at Bloomberg New Energy Finance who had been skeptical about the potential market impact of the new product. From the street, the company says, the two look identical.
The cost of the roof will depend much on the portion of solar tiles in it, calculated based on the power demand of the house.
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The most eagerly awaited upgrades are at the Red Bull camp though. "We are obviously in a much better position, but it is still early", Vettel said.
A federal tax credit drops that amount by almost $14,000, but Tesla's Powerwall battery adds a $7,000 expense.
The actual roof tiles would come with a structural "infinite" warranty, while the energy generation would only be under warranty for 30 years. Electric cars and Solar panels and roof tiles could be some of the examples to prove their innovative attempts.
The company says Solar Roof will cost $21.85 per square foot of Solar Roof tile for a 3,000 square foot roof, using the same calculation method in a Consumer Reports roof tile comparison from November 2016. But the SpaceX and Tesla CEO, later on, refuted his statement by saying that they will sell the Solar roofs at even lower price than common roofing systems. Moreover, if the Tesla solar panels are hooked to a Powerwall, one will be storing generated electricity and may reuse it when the sun goes down.
Tesla said it expects the product to be popular in locations beyond where its SolarCity subsidiary now operates, and plans to expand installation crews accordingly.
He also confirmed that deployment - i.e. delivery and installation - will be this year in the USA, and in 2018 for overseas orders. For 2017, the solar tiles will be installed only in the US, the company says.