Tesla to launch 'solar roof' with Powerwall battery end October
Tesla CEO, Elon Musk, has announced the company's solar-roof technology will be released in San Francisco on 28 October. The highly anticipated solar technology will be integrated with Powerwall 2.0, Tesla's new domestic battery and charger. “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”, said Musk. The ultimate aim of the roof is to not only power the user’s home, but their car as well.

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At the tail end of last year, Elon Musk unveiled SolarCity's glass solar roof panels. Less than a year later, the company has been consumed by Tesla and the first tiles have been fitted onto houses and are generating electricity.

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Designed to look like any old roof tile the panels are able to capture sunlight and convert it into electric energy. In a Tesla earnings call, Musk said the initial installations have happened on the homes of Tesla employees – including his own and co-founder JB Staubel's.

This is just the first step for Tesla, though. Pre-orders for the technology started in the US during the second quarter of this year and those who take the leap are offering a lifetime warranty. Installations on early adopters' houses are due to start before the end of 2017 and could be available outside the US in 2018.

Prices depend on your need and Tesla has created a calculator using data from Google Sunroof, a 2015 project that used 3D modelling to determine how much solar output houses can generate. This calculator factors in the cost of a 14kWh Powerwall – an optional extra that can be installed with Solar Roof panels – and state taxes. The "energy value" number is calculated over 30 years, which is the length of the warranty covering power production from the tiles. Tesla is offering an "infinity warranty" on the tiles themselves.