Metal roofs have been known to last over 30 years with minimal maintenance. They are high quality roofing products that keep a home’s warmth inside and protect a home’s occupants. The future, however, could bring even better metal roofing — namely, roofs featuring Tesla’s solar panels.
“So the basic proposition will be: would you like a roof that looks better than a normal roof?” asked Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Motors. A roof that “lasts twice as long, costs less, and — by the way — generates electricity? Why would you get anything else?”
According to Fortune, the announcement comes after the majority of Tesla shareholders approved plans for the all-electric automaker to work alongside SolarCity to use more solar energy for its products.
“Electricity is just a bonus,” Musk said to an enthusiastic crowed as he unveiled his plans to simultaneously improve the roofing industry and the solar industry.
Business Insider reports that Tesla plans to produce the solar cells for the roofing with Panasonic at a manufacturing plant in Buffalo, New York.
“[The roof would be] a fundamental part of achieving differentiated product strategy, where you have a beautiful roof,” Musk added. “It’s not a thing on the roof. It is the roof, which is a quite difficult engineering challenge and not something that is available anywhere else.”
Musk’s announcement of the new roofing product was first heard at a Tesla event in late October, where Musk announced that the material developed by Tesla and SolarCity would look and act like any traditional roof, but with the ability to be fully equipped with solar panels for energy generation.
The plan to merge Tesla with SolarCity was approved by an 85% majority of company shareholders. Musk’s main plan for venturing into the roofing industry is to make these solar-paneled roofs “as appealing as electric cars.”