Elon Musk wants to make solar-roof panels as sexy as his electric luxury cars.
"This is sort of the integrated future".
Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and chairman of SolarCity, introduced highly anticipated solar roof tiles and the newest Powerwall energy storage product during an event at Universal Studios in Los Angeles on Friday.
For the event, Tesla stripped a series of houses on the fictional Wisteria Lane of their old roofing material and replaced it with one of four visually similar new styles of solar tile - Textured Glass, Slate Glass, Tuscan Glass or Smooth Glass.
"When Tesla and SolarCity embarked to design and engineer the solar roof together, the goal was to create the most attractive and efficient roof ever - one that would make homes look better while reducing the cost of electricity", Tesla said in a statement. "An electric vehicle, a Powerwall and a solar roof". "The key is it needs to be handsome, affordable and seamlessly integrated".
Musk's presentation was short on details about the efficiency of the solar roofs, their warranty, cost or when they will be available. This time around, the home battery is slightly more square and rectangular, and should fit into your existing home or garage decor slightly easier. It's also using the announcement of the new product as an explanation for why its acquiring Solar City.
That's because each roof tile is a smaller solar panel. Musk said the Powerpack 2 similarly doubles the power of the previous generation, offering 210 kWh/50 kW, and he added, "This can scale to unlimited size". He then showcased several houses with different roofing styles and said they were all solar, with solar panels embedded into glass shingles.
SolarCity, which has $6.34 billion in liabilities, including debt, has expanded dramatically in the last five years, but it relies heavily on borrowing money to finance its no-money-down residential solar installations.
Tesla is making its case to shareholders that a combination with solar panel maker SolarCity Corp. would be financially as well as environmentally beneficial.
Some remained critical of the merger between Tesla and SolarCity - particularly given the latter's high debt levels and Musk's involvement in both companies - but Tesla's surprising third quarter profit could allay some shareholder fears about the deal, analysts said last week.
Source: Electric-car maker Tesla plans to sell solar roof tiles, too
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