Nearly a decade ago, Tesla introduced its solar roof, which was essentially a mini-power plant that happened to look like high-end shingles, fancy terracotta tiles or refined slate slabs. Now, the solar roof is dead. Tesla has scrubbed public-facing mentions of the product from its website.
TechCrunch has confirmed that the solar roof URL now redirects to its generic solar landing page on Tesla’s website, and all of the support pages redirect, too. Electrek was first to report on the product’s disappearance. But like other Tesla initiatives, the concept might have a life beyond the company.
Two solar installers told TechCrunch their company was still offering the solar roof, though one said availability would depend on the timeline of the project. That suggests Tesla is working to offload existing inventory. Depending on how full that warehouse is, the solar roof might be available for some time.
Tesla had lofty goals for the product, aiming for 1,000 installations per week, but after years of refinement and process improvement, the project got to somewhere between 20 to 40 per week as of 2022. Tesla’s solar roof never had a bright future. From the start, it was positioned as a luxury product, and it only got more expensive over time.
In its marketing materials, Tesla compared the solar roof with the cost of solar, plus roof replacement. That positioning made the product seem attractive, especially if you really didn’t like the looks of regular solar panels. But even when you factored in replacement, the product could be eye-wateringly expensive.
People reported receiving quotes of $200,000 to install one. Even as silicon-based technology got cheaper over time, the solar roof proved an aberration. Regular panels dropped in price because the world makes billions of standardized solar cells every year and assembles them into largely standardized panels.
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