Elon Musk's Solar Ambitions Raise The Roof

Amid plenty of M&A talk involving Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) and SolarCity Corp (NASDAQ: SCTY), Elon Musk announced plans to release a “solar roof.”

Musk’s idea is different in the sense that a solar roof is not a regular roof with solar panels, but a very large solar panel itself.

"If your roof is nearing end-of-life, well, you've got to get a new roof anyway," Musk said during SolarCity’s earnings call on Tuesday. "And so, why not have a solar roof that's better in many others ways as well?"

This could open a whole new market, executives said. This is a "fundamental part of achieving a differentiated product strategy,” Musk added.

Related Link: Tesla + SolarCity = The 'Apple Store' For Electricity?

Seamless Integration (Or Why Tesla Should Buy SolarCity)

However, Musk’s ambitions go through the roof. It's not only a solar rooftop that he’s aiming for. In his recently updated master plan, Musk said he’d like to have these roofs "seamlessly integrated" with Tesla's home battery storage technologies.

"Solar and battery go together like peanut butter and jelly," Musk commented during Tuesday’s call.

Several analysts have stipulated that one of the two products that SolarCity said it would launch before the end of the year could be the solar roof.