So, What DID Happen To Those Tesla Solar Roof Tiles? Not Much, Apparently...

About two years ago, Tesla's head honcho, Elon Musk, revealed something jaw dropping. And, frankly, very cool.

The company's latest innovation were solar roof tiles. They looked great and the message was simple: Use these to generate passive power and protect your home from the elements.

As with any Tesla debut, details were slim, timelines aggressive and, of course, the technology company was happy to take your money if you were stupid enough to front them $1,000. What was a novel idea seemed a bit dirty around the edges.

And here we are, about to head into October 2018 and yet the Tesla Solar Roof is still has yet to reach General Availability (GA). What happened?

Learn about where TSLA is at with the production of its Solar Roof product in this CNBC video. The information in the clip may surprise you — or not, if you've been following Musk's antics for years now.


Elon Musk unveiled prototypes of Tesla's Solar Roof tiles In October 2016. They came in four styles that looked just like normal roofing material but were essentially miniaturized versions of traditional solar panels.

The announcement helped Tesla justify its $2.6 billion acquisition of SolarCity one month later and represented Musk's vision for what the businesses could do together.

It's been almost two years since then. So where are the tiles?

"We now have several hundred homes with the Solar Roof on them, and that's going well. It takes a while to just confirm that the Solar Roof is going to last for 30 years and all the details work out," Musk said on Tesla's Q2 earnings call in August.

TheSteve - 9/30/2018 3:38:33 PM

+2 Boost

As I mentioned in my previous posts on AutoSpies, the realities of today's solar (photovoltaic) panels means that if you install them on a car roof:

1) Even under the best conditions possible, in a 24 hour period, you'll "collect" enough electricity to power a small fan (for a few hours), but not nearly enough to add any meaningful distance to the car's driving range.

2) It's an expensive option with very little payoff -- except perhaps to impress people who aren't knowledgeable on the matter ("Awesome man! You get to power your Tesla from the energy of the sun! Free driving!"... NOT!)

Vette71 - 10/1/2018 10:40:59 AM

+1 Boost

Ahhh the article is about solar roofing for your house, not your car. This dream, using nanotechnology, has been around for some 15 years. Early versions were on the clay tile roofs used in warm climates. Great idea but it has been hard and expensive to implement.

Truthy - 9/30/2018 10:32:10 PM

+5 Boost

Lyndon Rive the co-founder and CEO of Solar City and his brother are cousins of Elon Musk. They faked sales to increase the valuation. So another Elon con-job to enrich relatives at the expense of everyone.

Truthy - 10/1/2018 11:56:05 AM

+1 Boost

I am as surprised as you are. His father somehow made a lot of money too despite not having a function at Tesla.