Tesla announced its Solar Roof to much fanfare back in 2016, and three years ago the company stated that it had a goal of 1,000 installations per week. Yet, only about 3,000 Solar Roof systems have been installed to date, according to data from Wood Mackenzie, with a total capacity of nearly 30 MW (DC).
Wood Mackenzie, for the first time, identified Tesla Solar Roof installations using its proprietary project-level data sets and summarized the key findings in a report titled, ‘Five Years In: Tesla Solar Roof deployments miss expectations’.
“The Tesla Solar Roof, an innovative roofing system made of glass tiles with embedded photovoltaic cells, attracted considerable attention after its initial launch several years ago. But granular installation data has always been elusive, making it challenging to analyze the product’s growth – until now,” said Max Issokson, research analyst and lead author of the report.
Despite Tesla’s 2020 stated goal to install 1,000 systems per week, Wood Mackenzie analysis shows that average Solar Roof installations per week were just 21 in 2022, and the largest quarter for installations was the first quarter of 2022, which saw 32 systems installed per week.
Tesla Solar Roof capacity installed by year, 2017-2022 (Source: Wood Mackenzie)
Looking at the entire roofing market in the U.S., which installs an estimated 5 million roofs built annually, Tesla held less than 0.03% of the total roofing market in 2022, according to the report.
“As the residential solar industry continues to grow, solar roofing solutions will play an important role in offering customers flexibility and alternatives to conventional modules. The future potential of Tesla’s Solar Roof will rely on the company’s ability to simplify and streamline installations and tap into a broader customer base,” Issokson concluded.
Tesla is not alone in the building-integrated solar roofing market. GAF Energy, CertainTeed, SunStyle, Suntegra Solar, Forward and Luma Solar are other manufacturers who have gotten in on the game. Today GAF Energy, a prominent residential roofing company, is a market leader in the sub-sector with its Timberline Solar product. Its nailable solar shingle was announced at CES 2022, where it won the Best of Innovation award. What sets the Timberline apart from Tesla’s Solar Roof is that the roof system directly integrates solar technology into traditional roofing processes and materials, according to Wood Mackenzie.
“GAF Energy’s Timberline Solar roofing system is better positioned to achieve widespread adoption,” said Issokson. “The product is faster and easier to install, and the company captures customers when they are considering roof replacements.”
Tesla has had a tough time in the residential solar installation market as well. Wood Mackenzie noted in its 2022 solar installer Leaderboard that Freedom Forever had overtaken Tesla in the top three residential market spot for the first time, securing 4% of the U.S. market the previous year. Sunrun and Titan Solar Energy held the top two spots, respectively.
Tesla’s stock, which trades on the Nasdaq exchange as ‘TSLA,’ was up 1.25% today to $196.25 per share, however, it traded down about 5% over the last month.
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I own a Tesla Solar Glass Roof and it was installed in October of 2020. The system worked great until we had a fire that destroyed the wiring and Delta Inverters on March 22, 2023. When the roof is ready to be replaced, they will replace the whole roof again. When I called them, one day after the fire, they had a person come out and investigate and report back to sales the situation and they assured me when ready, they will be here. I will get a whole new Tesla Solar Glass Roof if articles like this do not put Tesla out of business. The Tesla Glass Roof is only for those who need a new roof and solar at the same time since it is combined into one system and the costs reflect that.
The Fire spread from the garage to the main house through the “Tesla Ridge Vent” that they installed the breached the 2-hour fire wall separating the garage from the main house attic. The ridge vent slit, over the garage, should be stopped short 18 inches of the fire wall and continue after 18 inches after the firewall. I hope they fixed this since I had may Tesla Solar Glass Roof installed… I am still awaiting a response on their investigation. All I have been told is the whole house’s Tesla Solar Glass Roof must be removed before they will install the new one and that may be more than my homeowner’s policy will allow, even though I added extra coverage for it in 2020 since the Tesla Solar Glass Roof is now 3 times more costly today than in 2020.
I appreciate that PV Mag is treating and evaluating Tesla just like any other company in the solar/storage space. It felt to me like for far too long, we were all supposed to just drink the kool-aid and never be critical, even of things that most of us would never put up with, with just about any other company.
Two months ago I was working with Tesla to get my new home plans approved. After a lot of back and forth Tesla instructed me that the trusses in my plans were not strong enough. I had to go back to my architect and engineer to ensure everything was ready to submit. I go back to Tesla ready to move forward with the updates they required and now they tell me they can no longer work with new construction. The text message they sent me says “you will need to re order solar once your home is built.” Why would I need a solar roof installed after my house is built?! So frustrating and such a waste of my time and money. And I was a huge fan girl. I own a tesla, have a cybertruck on order and even had Tesla install solar panels at my parents house.