With Tesla backing away from its once-high-touted Solar Roof, two groups have been left in the cold: the installers that invested heavily in the product and the homeowners who already had one installed.
Here's what to know
According to Electrek, Tesla stopped supplying Solar Roof tiles in August and informed certified installers that later shipments would consist of conventional solar panels instead.
It marked the disappointing end for a product that never came close to Elon Musk's oft-repeated goal of 1,000 weekly installs by 2019-2020. Instead, over about seven years, Tesla put roughly 3,000 Solar Roof systems on U.S. homes, and its weekly pace topped out at only 21 to 32 installs, per Electrek.
Many roofing contractors bet heavily on Solar Roof, forking over the money necessary to become a certified installer.
According to a report in Roofing Contractor, certification involved multiweek training on the West Coast, and some installers were also required to complete three supervised projects.
"It wasn't simply taking a training; there was investment in learning the system," said Ryan Westfall, president of Westfall Roofing, per Roofing Contractor.
The difficulty of the Solar Roof installations themselves added to the financial hit to local contractors. Solar Roof installations took a bit more than two weeks, compared with about two days for a standard rack-mounted system.
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More background
While installers are facing the immediate fallout of the Solar Roof discontinuation, homeowners who had the roofs installed could face costly problems down the road.
Tesla has said it will honor existing warranties and keep replacement parts available for roofs already installed, though some contractors have expressed skepticism that support will remain dependable over the product's 25-year life, per Roofing Contractor.
As for projects already in progress, Electrek reported that some might require redesigns or mid-install changes.
For households comparing solar options, EnergySage's solar map shows the average cost of a home solar panel system by state, along with details on solar panel incentives for each state. Together, those resources can help homeowners get the best price for rooftop solar panels and access available incentives. With EnergySage's help, the average person can save up to $10,000 on solar purchases and installations.
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Where can I learn more?
• Tesla's solar subcontractors say small firms are being pushed toward bankruptcy after costly commitments.
• Tesla is leaning on an AI customer-service fix as complaints about support persist.
• Some Tesla households say their Solar Roofs and Powerwalls generate monthly grid revenue.
• Tesla and IronRidge teamed up on a lower-cost rooftop system for residential installers.
• Tesla says its homebuilder program has created more than 600 solar neighborhoods across the US.
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