Elon Musk has a lot of irons in the fire at any given time. Many of these irons have a timeline of decades. Hyperloop and Mars colonies weren’t built in a day, after all. But his solar roof tiles? You can order those, in at least some of the styles, starting now. And they might be incredibly popular even before they’re wired into anybody’s house.
Musk confirmed on Twitter today that two styles of roof tile will be available, with the other two in six months:
Tesla solar glass roof orders open this afternoon. I think it will be great. More in about 10 hours …
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 10, 2017
Black glass smooth and textured will be first. Tuscan and French Slate in about six months.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 10, 2017
It’s important to note that while the tiles will have solar cells built into them, and over the lifetime of the roof Musk claims the power savings can total up to $100,000, that’s not the fundamental sales pitch of the roof. The real pitch is that the tempered glass tiles that are a fifth the weight of asphalt roof shingles, but a lot tougher. So while it costs more up front, it’ll last much longer and be more durable. And, of course, if you wire it to your house, the power savings will help offset the cost.
If that weren’t enough, the power cells are from Tesla’s “gigawatt” plant in Buffalo, which is committed to making a gigawatt of solar cells every year. The main question now becomes who will order, how many orders will come in, and what it’ll be like once these are in the wild. We’ll find out soon enough, as Tesla has promised installations will start later this year.
(via Business Insider)