The aesthetics is just what you are used to, culturally. If 80% of the houses in a neighborhood go solar, suddenly tiles stop looking so good.
I guess progressives actually know nothing about aesthetics if they think they are culturally, that is to say "norminatively" determined by top down management or even herd reactions.
" pretty " is not the same thing as politically correct nor an issue settled by consensus. It's how someone individually feels. For an explanation about this from Russian literature from the the 1920s look up a book called "We". It took some artful dodging to get this published. . . .because politically inconvenient truths don't get much play under authoritarian idealism of any kind.
that said, asphalt shingles are heavy, and wear out all too soon, and are subject to wind damage and tiles might be heavy but they can last a hundred years and give good insulation especially against the hot desert sun, and once they're in place they are better than money in the bank. Until solar panels can beat that I'm gonna go for a heat pump system and put any solar I get on ground level. Maybe build chicken coops or something and put solar on those roofs.