In 2016, Elon Musk and Tesla announced that they had developed an innovative solar roofing tile that looks almost identical to traditional roof shingles currently on the market. Standard solar panels look be large and clunky on a roof, which made many excited about a nearly “invisible” solar tile option. After 3 years, we recently got a major update into how the installations of the product is going.
Tesla began taking pre-orders for the solar roof shingles in Spring of 2017 and included a really handy calculator for how much the roof would cost out of pocket. Later that year, Tesla announced that the first installations had taken place, although they were all on Tesla executive’s homes.
Last summer, reports surfaced that Tesla had experienced major manufacturing delays, as Musk wasn’t happy with how the tiles looked aesthetically. It’s understandable, as the look was the main selling point of the product.
Currently, Tesla is now rolling out installations of the Solar Roof Shingles in 8 states, as stated by Elon Musk at the Tesla Annual Shareholders Meeting. He did not mention which 8 states are getting the tiles.
Musk also stated that the roof tile is on its 3rd iteration, which Musk says has helped them stay competitive with entry-level shingles when taking into account the energy savings the solar tiles provide. Musk cited difficulties making sure that the product looked good, captured even solar energy, was durable enough, and lasted 30 years.
You can watch Musk’s remarks starting at the 48:40 mark in the video below:
Like most of the other electric machines that have been announced previously, Volvo promises that this midsized, 14 metric ton excavator will have the same performance as a similarly sized diesel version. The X03 is currently in the concept stage, so Volvo does not have immediate plans to bring it to market, but it shows the possibilities that electronics on heavy machinery can allow for.