Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced that the Tesla glass tile solar roof which will be sold under a combined Tesla-SolarCity merger would most probably cost less than a conventional roof. This price is not after deducting the value of the electricity it generates over some period of time, but it will be cheaper right at the time of installation.
Musk said, “It’s looking quite promising that a solar roof will actually cost less than a normal roof before you even take the value of electricity into account. So the basic proposition would 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?’ Why would you get anything else?”
How they made it possible:
Musk explained that there is no compromise with quality. Much of the cost savings is expected to come from shipping the materials. Shipping costs of traditional roofing materials is high as they are brittle, heavy, and bulky, whereas the new tempered-glass roof tile by Tesla weighs almost one-fifth of current products and are much easier to ship.
