Michigan company has made solar shingles for years

Elon Musk made headlines last week when he introduced Solar City's new solar roof shingles. The tech world loved it, but a Michigan company has been making almost the exact same thing for 10 years.

Robert Allen from Luma Solar joined us on The Nine to tell us about his solar roof shingles.

"We've been telling the solar world for 10 years that, rather than put a solar apparation on top of a roof, why not make it into a roof? Which is what we did 10 years ago, but no one would listen," Allen laughs. "I think he's going to create a lot of interest in solar roofing, but it's what we've been doing for 10 years."

Solar City's shingles look like individual shingles, while Luma Solar's product sits is a larger Bermuda metal roof shingle.

It's different than just a solar panel, Allen says, because they can cover a whole roof with it.

You can learn more about Luma Solar's roofing panels by watching Allen's interview in the video player above.