Tesla Ready To Roll Out Solar Roof In US — China & Europe To Follow

Sign up for daily news updates from CleanTechnica on email. Or follow us on Google News!

In a series of tweets this week, Elon Musk said Tesla is ramping up the installation of its third-generation solar roof — called Solar Roof — in the San Francisco Bay Area, and it expects to announce availability in China and Europe soon.

Tesla recently completed the installation of a second-generation Solar Roof on the new home of CleanTechnica correspondent Kyle Field. You can read all about that process and how Kyle likes his solar roof and the components that go into it here.

Image courtesy Tesla

TechCrunch reminds us that Elon announced last October the Solar product would be ready for widespread deployment soon. “Version three is finally ready for the big time,” he said. The original Solar Roof has glass panels that mimic the appearance of conventional asphalt roof shingles, but the Solar product uses glass panels that are significantly larger than traditional shingles.

TechCrunch also notes that an estimator on the Tesla website says a the price of a solar tile roof with 10 kW of solar on an average 2,000 square-foot (186 sq. m) home costs $42,500 before an $8,550 US federal tax incentive.

It will take a while for customers to get used to the new look. Condo associations, homeowners, and historic preservation organizations will rail against the new design, but it is intended to be less costly to manufacture and quicker to install. At first, the Solar Roof will be available only in black, but Musk suggested Monday that other colors and finishes would be available “hopefully later this year.” Don’t hold your breath.

Elon also tweeted this week that he will host a “company talk” at Gigafactory 2 near Buffalo, New York, in April. There have been many derogatory reports over the years claiming that the facility is underutilized, but after a tour of the factory recently, state representative Sean Ryan said he was quite pleasantly surprised at how well things are progressing there. “The factory is built out. It has complete lines running, product moving around, people are there, so it’s really transformed itself into what we’ve been hoping for,” he said. Tesla has until April to hire 1,460 workers or face tens of millions of dollars in fines by the state of New York. How is that going? Ask us in April.


Have a tip for CleanTechnica? Want to advertise? Want to suggest a guest for our CleanTech Talk podcast? Contact us here.

Latest CleanTechnica TV Video


Advertisement
 
CleanTechnica uses affiliate links. See our policy here.

Steve Hanley

Steve writes about the interface between technology and sustainability from his home in Florida or anywhere else The Force may lead him. He is proud to be "woke" and doesn't really give a damn why the glass broke. He believes passionately in what Socrates said 3000 years ago: "The secret to change is to focus all of your energy not on fighting the old but on building the new." You can follow him on Substack and LinkedIn but not on Fakebook or any social media platforms controlled by narcissistic yahoos.

Steve Hanley has 5455 posts and counting. See all posts by Steve Hanley