Solar Roofs that Actually Look Sexy?

Tesla's big secret is out. Standing in front of a crowd on the old set of the Hollywood hit series "Desperate Housewives", Musk casually informed the crowd who was expecting to hear a speech on climate change that the houses all around them were actually solar powered houses.  To the amusement of the crowd the slate and Spanish clay roofs used not he set were solar powered. "This is the future of solar, you'll want to call your neighbors over and say check out the sweet roof," Musk proclaimed.  

Musk's roof tiles are made of textured glass and look just like ordinary shingles.  They however, allow light to pass through them onto a flat solar cell.  Rather than a solar panel, homeowners select from a range of four solar roofing materials that are indistinguishable from high end terra-cotta, slate or slick modern asphalt shingles.

Panasonic will be producing the solar cells and Tesla will put together the glass tiles and everything else that goes along with them. According to Musk, the new solar shingles are part of an all-in-one energy solution for home owners.  The company is currently in the process of buying SolarCity which makes and installs solar panels, as it attempts to become a sustainable energy company.  

Solar experts view the concept as exiting, particularly from a design perspective, however, the verdict is still out on the cost, performance and reliability of the newly released Tesla solar roofs.

 Source: Bloomberg