The Tesla Solar Roof: An Overview

Back in October, Tesla/SolarCity CEO Elon Musk made a big announcement with a preview of Tesla’s upcoming integrated solar roof shingles. This was a pretty exciting preview of what’s to come.

Now in all fairness, integrated solar roof shingles are not a new thing - in fact, they’ve been around for almost a decade. Up until the summer of 2016, most of that market belonged to Dow Chemical, when they let go of that product line, citing difficulties in selling the value prop behind these shingles that proved to be less efficient than a traditional mounting system. Other manufacturers are still out there as well, most notably, Certainteed (Saint-Gobain).

So what makes the Tesla roof shingles special? It comes down to two things: 1) aesthetic appeal, and 2) price (although that still isn’t confirmed - we’re basing this on the claimed price). Musk even went so far as to say these “solar glass tiles can also incorporate heating elements, like the rear defroster on a car, to clear the roof of snow and keep generating energy.”

Bringing Beauty to Solar

One of the biggest knocks against switching to solar for many homeowners has been how the majority of systems are big, intrusive, and visually distracting/unappealing.

Most people still want a beautiful home, and traditional PV systems have never had that mainstream aesthetic appeal - in fact, their look has contributed to slower adoption. So with an approach that is both beautiful and seamless, it’s another point of friction towards adoption that is removed.

Having an integrated solution, or in this case, a refined version of the typical BIPV (building-integrated photovoltaics), makes the proposition much more enticing. Tesla announced four roofing styles that are close to the common roofing styles that are out there today: A modern smooth glass tile, a textured glass tile, a Tuscan tile similar to Spanish roofs, and a slate glass tile.