Elon Musk Says Tesla's Solar Roof Tiles Have "Infinity" Warranty

The sweet solar roof of the future is getting closer. Two of Tesla’s solar roof tiles will be released to the public in a few weeks, Elon Musk announced in a TED Talk in Vancouver on Friday.

Musk demonstrated Tesla’s glass solar roofs on the set of Desperate Housewives in October when the tiles were first announced. While in conversation with Chris Anderson about Tesla’s solar roofs and the future, Musk clarified that two of the four Tesla Glass Tiles will be released in the coming weeks, and the remaining tiles will come out early in 2018. Details on the specs of the Tesla solar roof shingles haven’t been released yet, but Musk was brimming with confidence about the durability of the Tesla Glass Tiles during the TED talk, and the idea that someday we will all have solar roofs.

While on stage, Anderson asked Musk about the upcoming launch of the Tesla Glass Tiles, and the four different types that Musk demonstrated back in October.

“We’re starting off with two initially and the second two will be introduced early next year,” Musk said.

It’s not yet clear exactly which two tiles are going to be the first on the market, but all four styles are made of a tempered glass material that allows the roof to look solid from the ground, but is transparent when you’re directly above them. In side-by-side comparisons that Tesla has released before, the tiles look to be seriously tough. And Musk is so convinced in their ability to survive, he told Anderson that the tiles would last basically forever.

“We thought about having the warranty be ‘infinity,’ but then we thought that might sound like we were just talking rubbish, but actually this is toughened glass,” Musk said. “Well after the house has collapsed and there’s nothing there, the roof will, the glass tiles will still be there.”

And although we do not yet have a price for the solar roof, Musk told Anderson, “we’re very confident that a solar glass roof will be less than the cost of a normal roof plus the cost of electricity. This will be economically a no-brainer, we think it will look great and it will last.” He added that most houses have enough roof surface to power an entire house.

Musk didn’t mention in his TED talk that the tiles can also defrost themselves, but that’s just another feature to look forward too. Despite the tiles coming out soon, Musk mentioned that he still thinks it will take about 15 years for most houses in the United States to have solar roofs, mainly based on the fact that roofs are only replaced every 20 to 25 years. But if you need to replace your roof soon anyway, it might be worth checking out the solar tiles in a few weeks.