Owning an electric vehicle is a great way to save on gas, but it comes at the cost of higher electricity bills. You can charge electric vehicles with solar panels, but in 2016 Tesla went further and bought SolarCity to manufacture and sell solar roofs, that is, roof tiles with integrated photovoltaic cells. However, in August 2026, Tesla abandoned the project. Like many business decisions, it came down to money.
According to Electrek, Tesla determined that this solar roof program was not making enough money and decided to discontinue the product. Electrek’s sources don’t specify whether the company was making too little money or the project was operating at a net loss, but the website says things have been on the wall for several years. Tesla hasn’t released solar roof sales and installation figures since 2024, nor has the company announced the project in some time.
Although Tesla has yet to announce the cessation of operations, you don’t have to take Electrek’s word for the news. Simply type “Tesla Solar Roofs” into Google (or your favorite alternative popular search engine) and click the link to what should be Tesla’s solar roofing website. Your browser will be redirected to the Tesla Solar Panels page and you will not find solar roofs in the internal navigation options of the website.
Nothing more than a dream
Some people might call Elon Musk a visionary, and he certainly dreams big and is good at selling those dreams to the public, but not so much at turning those dreams into reality. His company Hyperloop liquidated its assets in 2023. Earlier this year, Tesla’s Optimus robot was unveiled in front of a live audience and failed to impress attendees. You can probably add solar roof to this ever-growing list.
While Musk officially announced the Tesla Solar Roof at an event in 2016, the demonstration was all smoke and mirrors; the product he demonstrated was completely non-functional, and although Musk had promised that installation would be affordable for most customers, the actual costs turned out to be much higher. In many cases, Tesla caught buyers off guard and raised prices after they had already signed contracts. Class action lawsuits quickly followed and Tesla had to pay around $6 million.
Although Elektrek’s sources did not provide any specifics on why Tesla’s solar roofs struggled financially, it can probably be assumed that Musk overestimated the product’s popularity, leading to a snowball effect. Elektrek also reported that Tesla was manufacturing up to 1,000 solar roofs per week, but data analytics firm Wood Mackenzie found that Tesla had only installed about 3,000 roofs in its lifetime before 2023, or about 32 installations per week at best. If true, the Tesla solar roof failed because the company decided to put the cart before the horse.
The solar roof is dead; long live the solar roof
Your home would probably be better off without a Tesla solar roof. There have been horror stories about components melting and warping from the heat of the sun, and in many cases, solar installations did not produce as much power as advertised. So what does the future hold for the approximately 3,000 people who actually own Tesla solar roofs? That’s the million dollar question.
Since the news of the sunset is so new (and Tesla representatives have yet to comment), it’s anyone’s guess what will happen to existing facilities. Since Tesla has already gotten into trouble due to contract shenanigans after the company raised installation prices, Tesla will likely continue to maintain existing roofs (to the extent stipulated in contracts), so existing owners may not be left out in the cold. Since Tesla is ending the project, these roofs could be on borrowed time. Then again, given how many solar roofs Tesla makes, the company could easily cannibalize unsold products and use the parts for maintenance and repairs.
Companies like GAF Energy and SunStyle can fill the void left by Tesla with their own solar roofs, but the failure of the Tesla solar roof could just as easily scare off potential customers, killing the customer base before it has a chance to grow. In the meantime, if you’re considering solar power, you may want to err on the side of caution and simply purchase quality solar panels instead of a solar roof.
