Tesla eyeing new opportunity in solar roofs market

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Tesla Motors is exploring a new opportunity in the US roof replacement market following their acquisition of Solarcity. The electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla will acquire the solar panel maker Solarcity for $2.6 billion following an all-stock buyout agreement reached between the two companies.

Tesla chief and Solarcity chairman Elon Musk is now discussing the idea of integrating solar panels with roofs to create solar roofs. With five million roofs added or replaced each year in the US, Musk senses a big opportunity in the US roof replacement market with the solar roof concept, providing homeowners with a unified solution as opposed to merely selling solar panels to be installed on existing roofs.

According to Musk, people with end-of-life roofs would not install solar panels when they know they would be replacing the roofs. He believes this is a huge market segment that’s currently inaccessible to Solarcity, and which he plans to address with solar roofs.

Musk’s vision is for Tesla drivers to power their cars off the grid by recharging at home using Solarcity's panels, and hopefully in future, with solar roofs.