Will Elon Musk’s Solar Roof Tiles Power the Future?

While we wait for Elon Musk to build his human colony on Mars to combat global warming, his latest product — Tesla’s Solar Roof — aims to help protect the planet in a far more practical and cost-effective way. 

Musk, never one to shy away from grand statements, says the panels are positioned to revolutionize how we power and design our homes.

Unlike the bulky and ugly panels on most solar roofs, these are sleek and stylish, designed for a clean, streamlined look. Moreover, the panels come with an “infinity warranty.”

Let’s explore this latest invention from our favorite visionary entrepreneur and mad scientist — starting with some background on how Musk got to this point.

Ready to feel like an underachiever? Ok, here goes. At age 12, Elon Musk sold video game computer code that he created for approximately $500. After earning a bachelor’s degree in both physics and economics, he moved to California with his brother and using $2,000 they borrowed from their father, started Zip2, a web software company. Four years later, in 1999, Compaq acquired the company for $307 million. Musk was 28.

Following this, Musk would go on to start nearly a dozen other innovative and ground-breaking companies, including PayPal and Tesla. Moreover, he’s emerged as one of the country’s most powerful and influential voices on matters of business, science, and the environment. One of his more aspirational goals is to establish the Mars colony. 

And now, we have Telsa’s Solar Roof.

Tesla, the company Musk is perhaps best known for, was incorporated in 2003 by Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning, who were both active in the company’s early development. While Musk led a series of investments for the company, served as chairman of the board, and helped oversee design of the Tesla Roadster, he wasn’t initally involved in day-to-day business operations. That changed after the recession. Musk took over as CEO in 2008 and spearheaded a number of innovative new electric cars, including the Tesla Model S and Model X, which are priced between $84,800 to $128,650.

While still involved with Tesla, Musk invested in and helped launch SolarCity in 2006 with his cousins Lyndon and Peter Rive. By 2013, the company was the leading residential solar installer in the U.S. Last summer, Tesla acquired SolarCity for $2.6 billion. Musk says the acquisition is part of his plan “to change the world and humanity” and will enable Tesla to transition from an electric-vehicle automaker into a renewable-energy products company. Tesla is now developing a $900 million, 1.2-million-square-foot factory in Buffalo, New York, where it will produce proprietary solar cells. The factory just recently got started. As the new factory ramps, the company continues to manufacture it’s solar roof tiles in a Fremont, Calif., factory.

Tesla offers four styles of the solar glass panels: textured, smooth, Tuscan and French slate, which are produced using a special hydrographic printing process that makes each tile unique (Musk uses the French slate tiles on his own roof). With each tile, the solar cells are located behind the glass, so the roof is both aesthetically appealing and efficient.