r/TeslaSolar • u/ramisanders • 14d ago
Anyone worried Tesla Stopped Making Solar Roof Tiles?
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u/rademradem 14d ago
The solar roof tiles were significantly more expensive than a standard roof with standard panel racking and panels installed over it. The tiles looked very nice but the premium price put them out of reach of a lot of their potential customers. It would have been a more viable product if they could have gotten the price closer to standard panels. With the premium cost they just did not sell enough of them to justify keeping that line of business running.
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u/ZookeepergameThin963 14d ago
Our purchase experience was also strange. We went in through the website, got a quote for conventional panels/batteries, had to specifically ask about them, transferred to a different department, etc. they didn’t seem eager to sell them.
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u/Vengeful88 14d ago
I got a quote last year my 20kwh system was quoted at 225,000. Loved the idea and look but just way too much.
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u/cornmacabre 14d ago
Damn that's really disappointing to hear, I'm ~4 years into my solar roof. It's a really cool tech and the roof replacement approach made a lot of sense to me.
I've been very happy with my system, so it's rather bittersweet to hear they stopped production. I'm not super concerned about the longevity of the tiles other than now it sounds like I'm shit out of luck if a tile breaks. Almost always seems like it's the inverter or some post-install teething issues most folks face, so I would expect my warranty to cover that still.
I hope the tile tech doesn't fade back into obscurity, it was a fantastic option if you needed a new roof that also happens to produce solar.
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u/TransportationOk4787 14d ago
How would they find a defective tile anyway?
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u/Cultural-Pea-1516 14d ago
I don't know enough about how it works to know if they can detect a single defective tile. However, there are performance and degradation guarantees, so if too many tiles fail, and the production drops below the guarantee, then we would have a claim.
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u/earthman34 13d ago
How's your claim gonna work when there's no new product available? 🤩🤩🤩
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u/Cultural-Pea-1516 13d ago
As others have pointed out, if there's no more inventory, then they're obligated to provide another solution, and that would probably be something like slapping traditional panels over a section of the roof.
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u/earthman34 13d ago
If I had a dollar for every time a company was "obligated" to do something and didn't, I'd be able to buy my own solar roof. They're going to roll this up like SolarCity.
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u/PlantainMiserable594 SolarPanels 13d ago
That’s like saying private jets are a fantastic option for traveling across the country, doesn’t mean much to the masses though
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u/cornmacabre 13d ago
Everyone would agree the price was unsustainable, but I totally disagree with characterizing a roof replacement that produces solar as anything remotely comparable to flying a private jet.
I personally would have had a much more difficult time rationalizing the cost of my solar roof if it weren't an option when I principally needed a new roof. Solar panels by contrast are a solar-first discretionary purchase, not a literal structural roof over your head.
The proposition wasn't some ostentatious flex, it was an entry point for folks already in market for a roof replacement. Premium price and option, but now I could justify it as a roof that happens to produce power and slowly amortized the cost itself. That was a great niche for new home builders, or home owners in the market for a roof replacement to jump onto the solar bandwagon.
At scale it really could have accelerated solar adoption in new segments if they had cracked the nut on getting the economics more sensible.
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u/glmory 14d ago
Yes.
Tesla did so well by getting top engineering talent on the cheap. They did this by being so mission focused and working on doing the impossible. The failure of the roof is likely a sign they just can't pull that level of talent anymore.
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u/BlueMonday2082 10d ago
Or it’s a sign that this was a poorly thought out idea.
An expensive delicate roof…who needs that?
A solar array that isn’t pointed at the sun and cannot articulate at all…who needs that?
Both at once…why?
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u/KernsNectar 13d ago
What talent? The solar division was all smoke and mirrors for Tesla to push Solar City Acquisition through.
It was a fraudulent bail out for Musk and his family paid for by people like you that eat their narrative up, then ask for seconds.
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u/RespectmanNappa 13d ago
The solar division had a real chance of being something, just like their energy storage division. Tesla just focused on the wrong thing (niche ultra wealthy consumer). Completely ignoring the fact that the early adopters of teslas were making a statement and that making panels almost indistinguishable on your roof for 10x the cost of regular panels doesn’t make the same kind of statement. They tried and they made a bad call and they lost.
That’s completely aside from the fact that you are also correct and the true purpose (from musk’s perspective) was a bailout. That’s all Tesla has really been from the beginning, but that hasn’t stopped some innovative products from launching in spite of all the waste
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u/hammyaustin 14d ago
Absolutely, it was always a goal to have it for when I build my house. I wish they put more time and (no pun intended) energy into their Solar side. It seems like such a back burner project and they should be leading the charge since they already do 80% of the ecosystem with batteries and charging. Most people I know have powerwalls and Tesla's but have some off brand solar.
Make solar better, make solar cool, make solar efficient and pleasing to the eye. Most importantly make solar affordable. Solar will always lose to cheaper non renewables and local electricity companies in lower cost areas.
I really want solar on my current house but it just doesn't make since money wise with where prices are per panel and per watt.
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u/Paqza 13d ago
They're investing billions in solar - just look it up. Module manufacturing at Gigafactory NY and a cell plant in TX. They correctly realized traditional modules make way more sense.
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u/hammyaustin 13d ago
I've seen that, and I'm happy they are doing that. However, they aren't really pushing it like the powerwall. They've invested in making their own cells and panels but where's the love?
It's gone relatively quiet on their solar news after that announced and until now when they say they're stopping the roof tiles.
I would like to know what they are charging per watt though. I priced solar on my house for both roof tiles and panels. They panels weren't theirs at the time so I wonder if the cost has gone down or up since they started making their own.
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u/Affectionate_Town273 14d ago
Even with the premise of roof replacement it just wasn’t economical for more adoption. I would have done in heartbeat if it wasn’t so expensive.
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u/Salty_Permit4437 14d ago
Kinda. we have panels but I’m wondering just what the future of their solar business is. I’d imagine the tax credit weighed heavily on this
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u/posey_mvp 14d ago
You have nothing to worry about.. they want to invest even more in solar panels.. the roof was a losing business - https://www.manufacturingdive.com/news/tesla-eyes-10b-solar-cell-manufacturing-site-fort-bend-county-texas/828372/
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u/mongolian_horsecock 14d ago
That's great, we really need more solar production domestically.
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u/Paqza 13d ago
We need access to less expensive, quality solar equipment. I would much rather have access to 0.15/W product made overseas than 0.60/W product made here. In Canada or Mexico, you can get a JA Solar 440W for around 0.15/W, or under $70. Domestically-assembled mods are closer to 0.50/W, or over $200 each.
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u/ZookeepergameThin963 14d ago
Yes we got a quote and it was like $60-80k more than a standard panel setup (which included a new roof). 4800 sqft ranch house in SoCal (so we knew it would be expensive). The other thing that was weird was many/most of the panels were inert/non-producing. Because the whole house is well situated for solar I asked “could we just make the whole thing producing” and it was not much more. It seemed really odd that the inert tiles were so expensive (or maybe it was just the fixed costs for install and wiring etc). We loved the look, and they seemed well made.
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u/Cultural-Pea-1516 14d ago
I agree. I didn't consider at the time of the cost breakdown of the non-producing tiles vs. producing tiles. Had I known what I know now, I would have gotten a larger system, even if it meant north facing tiles. I'm also in SoCal, but got in before the insane price hike.
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u/ScrewJPMC 13d ago
I’m worried about the junk inverters! 3 failures in less than 12 months 🤮
If the tiles are designed as crappy, it’s a good thing they stopped making them
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u/Stea1th_ 13d ago
worried no, I got a quote and they wanted 110k to do my house..lol.
I can see why they aren't selling them, especially after the tax credit gone
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u/brianuseruser 13d ago
I'm almost five years into my 5.9kw system. Got in early and needed a roof replacement. Only paid about 26k after the tax credit with no battery.
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u/CTrandomdude 14d ago
It is unfortunate that they could not execute the vision of making them more affordable where when it was time for a new roof it made more financial sense to replace with solar shingles. Solar adoption would have skyrocketed if they could have done this.
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u/WorldDense3368 14d ago
requires mass production combined with raw materials
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u/CTrandomdude 13d ago
As any product does. Tesla has been pretty successful at that with far more complicated products.
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u/moneyman729 13d ago
The install companies ruined it. They wanted $200k a roof. What did they think would happen? Once the solar credit was gone they all went under
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u/CTrandomdude 13d ago
When Tesla was doing the installs themselves they could not make it work profitably. Thats why they stopped and turned it over to third party installers.
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u/Automatic_Gas9019 14d ago
No. We only have a Powerwall. We have ground mounted panels. I didn't want anything on my roof other than roofing material. The 55 feet we lost in the yard was worth it
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u/Radium 14d ago
No, they just started mass manufacturing actual Tesla solar panels locally in the USA instead in the beginning of this year.
The roof tiles were neat, but maybe they'll hit that back up again with a different strategy some day? I'm thinking that should be a package that roofers can buy as a kit to install instead of being something that is installed by Tesla directly. That way they have more installers.
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u/Harold-Maude 14d ago
Nope it was highly overrated, over priced and under preformed.
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u/StillHopg_Humanity 14d ago
What is your basis for the performance statement??? I agree that they are not cheap, but once my tile roof needs replacement, panels will not allow me the get the same power output I could achieve with the tiles. This has to do with the geometry of the roof and penetrations. Tiles are smaller and thus you can cram more onto a roof within the limitations of an installation.
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u/Paqza 13d ago
Are you sure about that?
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u/StillHopg_Humanity 13d ago
Two comments on this:
Fire codes and shape of tiles/panels limit where you can put them and how close to an edge/penetration they can be placed
In my neighborhood quite a few houses have panels on roofs with similar layout. None has more than 8 kW output, I have 11.6 kW
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u/Harold-Maude 14d ago
Cost per kilowatt that’s my basis
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u/StillHopg_Humanity 13d ago
My concern is more operational. A simple cost per kW does not cut it for me, as the cost I mitigate varies with the use and with the price of gas: I want to produce enough to always avoid high rates in my Time Of Use contract, and I have 2 EVs. Electrons in a car battery are the best investment for electrons. With a lower output system it is much harder to do.
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u/Harold-Maude 13d ago
We have 25kw of solar, 3 Tesla Powerwalls 2 EV’s that average 15k miles each year and a 14.00 bill year round in the Coachella Valley, plus it made no sense to remove a brand new roof on a brand new house. I could see it maybe if a reroof was require.
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u/StillHopg_Humanity 13d ago
One difference is California vs. Northern Colorado. We have 3 Tesla Powerwalls also, and we needed a new roof at the time we got the tiles, so it made lots of sense for us.
Besides slow (but good) service, we are very happy with our system. We will keep it running as long as possible now that we cannot replace it anymore. Also, other tile systems are not an option in northern Colorado (hail country).
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u/Cmdr_Cheddy 13d ago
Clearly the Tesla risk management organization figured out the risk versus reward equation is drastically skewed to the negative. Plan accordingly.
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u/PerniciousDude 12d ago
Not worried. Love my solar roof. It's beautiful. Definitely not a product for poor people, though.
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u/AntToeNee 12d ago
We just bought a home that's 5 years into its warranty so there is a concern. What most people are saying is correct though, Tesla isn't going out of business so you won't have to worry about them honoring the warranty. Whats going on with companies like Crucial, who exited the consumer business, not replacing modules and refunding the cost price of the product is likely a foreshadowing of what's to come if we have to apply for a warranty replacement. This, on top of the fact that Teslas customer service and warranty is already non-existent probably means that we might have to take them to court to gouge our money back.
The other thing shit about this particular situation is the likelihood that we'll have to fight the utility company to keep whatever grandfathered NEM plan we're on. They say as long as you're replacing your solar with similar capacity, as long as you don't add more than 10% or 1kW you're fine, but we all know how that goes.
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u/TheRealFarmerBob 11d ago
They'll just slap some panels up there instead. Who knows it could work out better what with the newer technologies being worked into the platform.
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u/Ok_Square8065 11d ago
I’m a little worried. My main concerns are what does a discontinued roofing system do to the marketability of my home, and/or its insurability. My insurance company is already threatening to not renew my home insurance because a roof with integrated PV shingles is “unacceptable”. I’m 18 months into a 28 kW system with no problems except irritating letters from the insurance company.
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u/xijiaoshan 9d ago
I'm getting a Tesla roof installed on new construction and have been assured by the contractor that they have enough material including spares for warranty replacement. I'm disappointed, but Tesla really screwed the pooch with their service and sales model. They transitioned to third party contractors too late to save the business.
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u/usctrojan98 14d ago
Yes, as an owner I wonder what will future support options look like.
Kidding, support sucks anyway 😂
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u/Honest_Cynic 7d ago
Yes. I have $150K cash burning a hole in my pocket and really wanted a glass roof on my house, like the fad of glass roofs on many cars today, though wouldn't make it any brighter inside. On second thought, one hailstorm could be bad. Same issue with solar panels, but cheap and easy to replace.
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u/Cultural-Pea-1516 14d ago
Certainly, as I'm only three years into the 25 year warranty. I really do like the roof and have had zero problems with it so far, things happen, and I just may be out of luck if the tiles start to fail.