Elon Musk: Tesla's Solar Roofs Will Be Cheaper, Better Looking Than Regular Roofs

Elon Musk says Tesla’s solar roof will be cheaper than regular, boring shingles, Bloomberg reported.

Shareholders on Thursday approved Tesla’s acquisition of SolarCity. More than 85 percent of Tesla shares voted in favor of the $2 billion deal, the company said in post. The transaction will be finalized in the coming days.

After the vote, Musk said the solar roof he unveiled a few weeks ago will cost less to manufacture and install than a conventional roof. The solar roof turns light into electricity for the owner’s home and electric car.

“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,” said Musk. “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?’ It’s like, why would you get anything else?

“Electricity,” Musk added, “is just a bonus.”

Musk says the solar roof will be cheaper because shipping the materials will be easier than it is with regular roofs. Conventional roofing materials are large and heavy and the cost of shipping them is high. Since regular-roofing materials are fragile, the products could be lost when they break. Meanwhile, the solar roof shingles weigh as little as a fifth of current materials and are easier to ship.

Apart from the price, Musk also points out the look of the solar roofs. The roof is made up of durable textured glass tiles. The shingles come in different colors, including terra cotta and slate, and imitate high-priced roofing materials on the market.

“You’ll want to call your neighbors over and say ‘check out the sweet roof.’ It’s not a phrase you hear often,” Musk said in October.

Tesla hopes the acquisition of SolarCity helps the environment.

“This year, CO2 concentration levels permanently exceeded the alarming 400 parts per million threshold. Many climate scientists believe this level will have a catastrophic impact on the environment,” said Tesla on its site, adding that 2016 had the warmest September in 136 years.

“Tesla’s mission has always been to help solve this problem by accelerating the world’s transition to sustainable energy.”