Tesla Drops Solar Roof Tiles

Tesla has discontinued its Solar Roof tiles, a product that was introduced nearly a decade ago. The company had aimed for 1,000 installations per week but only achieved 20-40 per week as of 2022.

The Solar Roof URL on Tesla's website now redirects to its generic solar landing page, and the company has informed its third-party installer network that Solar Roof is no longer available to order. This move comes after Tesla achieved mass production of Solar Roof in March 2020, but failed to gain significant traction in the market.

According to a Wood Mackenzie report from 2023, only 3,000 US homes had Solar Roof installed since its launch. This is a far cry from the company's initial target of 1,000 installations per week. Tesla first revealed the Solar Roof project in 2016, but it seems that the product was not financially viable for the company.

## What's Next Tesla is planning to build a new $10 billion factory near Houston, Texas, to ramp up production of regular solar panels. The company is seeing greater success with its regular solar panels, and this new factory is expected to increase production capacity.

## Background The Solar Roof was positioned as a luxury product, and its high cost was a major factor in its lack of success. The product was compared to the cost of solar panels plus roof replacement, but even with this comparison, the cost was still prohibitively expensive for many consumers. With the discontinuation of Solar Roof, Tesla will focus on its more successful regular solar panels.

The discontinuation of Solar Roof is a significant shift in Tesla's strategy, and it will be interesting to see how the company's solar business evolves in the future. With the new factory in Texas, Tesla is clearly committed to increasing its presence in the solar market, even if it's not with the Solar Roof product.