Tesla Solar Roof sales lag dramatically behind ambitions - WoodMac

Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) has installed only 3,000 Solar Roofs, representing almost 30 MW DC of capacity, across the US, since the electric car maker unveiled its solar roofing product in 2016, Wood Mackenzie has estimated.

This is well below the company’s ambition, stated in 2020, to install 1,000 Solar Roofs per week.

According to Wood Mackenzie’s report, announced last week, installations averaged at just 21 per week in 2022. They were strongest in the first quarter of 2022, when 32 Solar Roofs per week were deployed.

The research firm said its report, based on proprietary project-level datasets of its distributed solar practice, shows installation volumes for the Solar Roof for the first time.

Wood Mackenzie calculates that Tesla’s Solar Roof accounted for less than 0.03% of the total US roofing market in 2022.

Tesla’s main competitor in the building-integrated solar roofing segment is GAF Energy and its Timberline Solar roofing system, which, according to Wood Mackenzie’s analyst Max Issokson, is better placed to achieve widespread adoption. “The product is faster and easier to install, and the company captures customers when they are considering roof replacements,” said Issokson.

Tesla announced a milestone of 4 MW of Solar Roof production in a single week, enough for as many as 1,000 homes, in its 2020 first-quarter results.

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