New York: Tesla has successfully installed its first batch of solar roofs. These roofs are made of solar tiles that look similar to the traditional roofing materials. Tesla earlier this week revealed that the first installations have been completed.
The design was aimed to encourage people to adopt renewable energy without changing the aesthetics of their homes. The company started taking pre-orders for the solar roof installations, this May, for a payment of $1,000 (Rs 63,000 approximately). While the deliveries are expected to start by end of this year or early 2018, reports HT.
These installations are done on the homes of Tesla’s employees, including the founder Elon Musk.
Production of the tiles began at Tesla’s Fremont solar plant in California but will shift later this year to its new factory in Buffalo, New York.
“This is version one,” he was quoted as saying. “I think this roof’s going to look really knock out as we just keep iterating.”
Before launching as the commercial units of its products, Tesla tests its products with its own employees. The company reportedly delivered first batches of Model 3s to Tesla employees before the official roll out.
However, the date of the official roll out of these tiles is not yet revealed.
Tesla claims that its solar roof tiles are three times stronger than conventional roofing glass. In a bid to encourage people to adopt the solar tiles, the company is offering a warranty till “lifetime of your house or infinity, or whichever comes first.” Tesla’s solar tiles come with Class 4 ANSI FM 4473 for hail rating, Class F ASTM D3161 for the wind, and Class A UL 790 for fire.
“We recommend that every Solar Roof is installed with a Powerwall battery to enable you to use more of the solar power your roof produces and keep your home running during a grid outage. In states that do not have Net Energy Metering policies, we estimate and recommend a number of Powerwalls that will enable you to realize the full benefit of the energy your Solar Roof produces,” Tesla explains on its website.