In a new bid to expand Tesla Motors even further and venture into the clean energy market, Elon Musk is spearheading yet another merger.

Tesla has finalized a $2.6 billion deal to buy solar power company SolarCity to produce solar "shingles." The photovoltaic material that would not just be fashioned into panels for roofs, but would be the roofs that will then be installed on  houses.

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Talking to The Guardian, Musk said, "I think this is really a fundamental part of achieving differentiated product strategy, where you have a beautiful roof."

"It's not a thing on the roof. It is the roof," he added.

Musk is currently the chief executive of Tesla and is also the chairman and largest shareholder of SolarCity, whose chief executive is Lyndon Rive - Musk's cousin. The two entrepreneurs formulated the idea for SolarCity during a trip to the Burning Man desert festival in 2004.

Musk is planning to push the company's upcoming product to people who are looking to replace their roofs. Since installing new solar panels on defunct roofs is not cost effective, making roofs entirely with solar power capabilities makes much better sense for consumers.

According to Rive, there are 5 million new roofs installed every year in the US alone. The vast majority of American houses have asphalt roofs, which soak up a lot of heat and can be hard to replace. Installing a solar roof that is much better than the ordinary roof, will prove to be a game changer.

SolarCity have set up a new Gigafactory in Buffalo, NY where these solar "shingles" will be manufactured.  Speedy employment of clean energy will be essential if the US, and other countries, are to cut emissions quickly enough to meet the targets set in the international climate change summit in Paris last year.