Tesla’s Solar Roof Tiles bring us one step closer to the self powered home

Author | Paul Skuse

This summer saw the first installations in California of Elon Musk’s much anticipated solar roof tiles as the South African born billionaire owner of Tesla Motors, SpaceX and Solar City continues his crusade to wean us off our dependence on fossil fuels and the utility grid.

The Tesla Solar Roof, which integrates the solar panels directly into the roof tiles will initially be available in four styles. The Tuscan Glass Tile matches the look of classic clay tiles with a traditional orange colouring, and will suit classic British homes perfectly. The Slate Glass Tile is a classic grey slate look, which will easily replace many existing standard roof tiles. Two additional options are also available – the Textured Glass Tile and the Smooth Glass Tile, both of which will enhance a modern build and all are almost indistinguishable from regular tiles.

Although the solar tiles are slightly less efficient per square metre than regular solar panels, they have the advantage of covering every inch of the roof, allowing a far larger amount of power to be generated overall.

Energy from the tiles will be stored in a “Powerwall Storage System” fully integrated into the house as Musk looks to make every home a self contained energy source, powering our houses as well as the electric car parked on our driveways (also manufactured by Tesla of course!)

These solar glass tiles will also be able to withstand our harsh British winters by incorporating heating elements, like the rear defroster on a car, to clear the roof of snow so generating energy all year round.

Tesla has yet to give details on cost, except to say that the cost of the roof would be less than a conventional roof plus solar panels, adding that the shingles would be more durable and have better insulation qualities than conventional roofing.

With prices and expected availability in the UK due to be released later this year it’s believed that the first opportunity for British homes taking advantage of this state of the art technology could be as soon as summer 2019.

We’ll keep you up to date on these events and post more news on this subject as we hear it.