• Tesla opened up orders for its Solar Roof product on Wednesday.

• The company says the roof will cost about $21.85 per square foot.

• Installations in the US will begin this year on a first-ordered, first-installed basis.

• You can secure your order on Tesla's website with a $1,000 deposit.

Tesla opened up orders and announced pricing information for its Solar Roof product on Wednesday.

"The typical homeowner can expect to pay $21.85 per square foot for Solar Roof and benefit from a beautiful new roof that also increases the value of their home," Tesla said in a statement.

The company also launched a calculator to show people how much it would cost to replace their roof with a Tesla Solar Roof. It uses information like the size of the roof, the average local price of electricity, and how much sunlight a neighborhood receives during a year to calculate the price.

Consumers in the US can secure their Solar Roof order now on Tesla's website with a payment of $1,000.

Tesla's Solar Roof uses both solar and nonsolar tiles, which allows consumers to choose how many solar tiles they need based on their home's electricity consumption, the company said.

Tesla's estimate of $21.85 per square foot is based on a roof that's 35% solar tiles. CEO Elon Musk said most roofs would likely be around 40%, but depending on the home, it could be 70%.

To help put the cost into perspective, a Tesla Solar Roof for a home needing 3,000 square feet of roofing would cost more than $65,000 if 35% of the tiles were solar. According to Consumer Reports, a slate-tile roof for a home the same size would cost about $45,000, and an asphalt roof would be about $20,000.

Tesla said that while the cost of its nonsolar tiles was comparable to that of regular roofing tiles, the initial cost of its solar tiles was more expensive. However, it said the cost would be offset by the value of energy the tiles produce. Tesla's roof will also come with a lifetime or "infinity" warranty, and Tesla is guaranteeing solar-power generation for 30 years.

Musk said during a press call Wednesday that besides offering energy savings, its product would look better than any other roof replacement available.

"When you have this done, you will have the best-looking house in the neighborhood," he said. "I think the aesthetics are really that good."

People can now order the smooth black glass shingles and textured-glass shingles for their Solar Roof. The Tuscan and French Slate shingles should be available by early 2018, the company said.

Tesla unveiled its solar shingles at a press event in October. Musk said at the unveiling that Tesla had established a glass division and that it had worked with SolarCity to design the product.

Tesla acquired SolarCity in November in a deal worth $2.1 billion.

At the event, Musk said Tesla's roof would price competitively with normal roofs and could even cost less.

"It's looking quite promising that a solar roof will actually cost less than a normal roof before you even take the value of electricity into account," Musk said at the event. "So the basic proposition would be: Would you like a roof that looks better than a normal roof, lasts twice as long, costs less, and, by the way, generates electricity? It's like, why would you get anything else?"

But in Tesla's blog post on Wednesday, the company said its Solar Roof would be more affordable because it generates energy.

"Solar Roof is more affordable than conventional roofs because in most cases, it ultimately pays for itself by reducing or eliminating a home's electricity bill," Tesla said.