Overview
- Company action: Tesla has removed the Solar Roof product page and told its certified installers it will stop supplying the solar tiles, directing customers to conventional solar panels.
- Scale failure: The Solar Roof never reached the volumes Elon Musk promised, with industry estimates showing only several thousand installs over nearly a decade versus targets of 1,000 installs per week.
- Manufacturing troubles: Production problems at Tesla’s Buffalo facility and the exit of partner Panasonic helped stall commercialization and keep costs well above early price estimates.
- Customer and legal fallout: Tesla settled a 2023 class-action suit over Solar Roof pricing for $6 million and has not provided detailed public answers about long-term warranty or support for existing tile owners.
- Strategic pivot: Tesla will continue to sell panels, Powerwall and Megapack products and has filed plans for a proposed $10.1 billion solar-cell factory near Houston to scale domestic cell production and free resources from the Solar Roof program.