Dive Brief:

• In a tweet early this morning, Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced that the company would open orders for its much-anticipated rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) system today, although the company was expected to debut them last month, according to TechCrunch.

• The system will feature solar-collecting tiles, not panels. Two tile styles — a black smooth glass and a textured glass — will be available for order starting today, with the remaining two — French and Tuscan slate — to roll out in six months, CNBC reported.

• The solar roof system will debut in the U.S., with availability expanding to other countries in 2018. Musk said in a separate tweet this morning that the tiles will be available for order in "almost any country."

Dive Insight:

There seems to be no end to the hype around Musk’s solar roof system, and the slow trickle of news about the much-anticipated product is surely helping to build interest. Part of the excitement concerns the replacement of relatively hefty panels with roof tiles that have embedded solar-gathering tech.

Tesla, which made its name in streamlined, high-efficiency sports cars, has understandably taken aesthetics into consideration. The company has promised to integrate the PV technology into the individual shingles, and renderings released (top image) of the product in installation show that much.

So far, however, panels have dominated rooftop solar. Even if Tesla’s new shingles are a success, the latter category still has plenty of market share to capture. And Tesla’s going after that, too.

Last month, Tesla announced a new solar panel to be made exclusively for the company by Panasonic at Tesla’s Gigafactory 2 in Buffalo, NY. The panel will be used on future residential projects through its newly acquired installation business unit, SolarCity.

As for the solar roof, more details are expected this afternoon, according to Musk in — yes — a tweet. Bloomberg previously reported that the tiles will look like typical rooftop shingles but will feature a glass layer through which light can pass to reach an embedded photovoltaic cell. The panels are said to cost less to make and install than high-end roofing materials like terracotta or slate — not including the electricity offset of using solar power in the home — though for now, we’ll have to take Musk’s word for it.