Using a special coating, the tiles appearance changes based on the viewing angle. The coating basically becomes transparent when seen directly but from the angle of the street, it looks like an average slate shingle or terra cotta style and it essentially camouflages the underlying solar cells. Musk said that they are working with 3M on the coating.
The presentation also highlighted the fact that the tiles are hydrographically printed, making each one a “special snowflake.” This will allow two houses side-by-side to have the same style without a cookie cutter sameness pervading the neighborhood.
The billionaire innovator also emphasized the durability of the panels and showed off a drop test comparison between his new tiles versus stone and clay. The solar roof held up better. Pulling out a nice buzzword that should be part of every tech presentation he said, “It’s never going to wear out, it’s made of quartz, it has a quasi-infinite lifetime.” Quasi-infinite baby.