Tesla Reportedly Calls It Quits On Failed Solar Roof Program - Here's Why

Owning an electric vehicle is an excellent 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 one step further and purchased SolarCity to manufacture and sell solar roofs, i.e., roof tiles with built-in photovoltaic cells. As of August of 2026, though, Tesla discontinued the project. Like many business decisions, it came down to money.

According to Electrek, Tesla determined that this solar roof program isn't making enough money and has decided to sunset the product. Electrek's sources don't elaborate on whether the company was making too little money or if the project was operating at a net loss, but the website did say the writing has been on the wall for several years. Tesla hasn't published solar roof sales and installation numbers since 2024, nor had the company advertised the project for a while.

While Tesla has yet to actually announce the sunsetting, you don't have to take Electrek's word for the news. Just type "Tesla Solar Roofs" into Google (or your favorite alternative popular search engine) and click on the link to what should be Tesla's solar-powered roof tiles website. Your browser will be redirected to the Tesla Solar Panels page, and you can't find solar roofs in the website's internal navigation options.

Some people might call Elon Musk a visionary, and he certainly dreams big and is skilled at selling audiences on those dreams, but turning those dreams into reality, not so much. His Hyperloop company liquidated its assets in 2023. Earlier this year, Tesla's Optimus robot was unveiled before a live audience and failed to wow attendees. You can likely add the solar roof to this ever-growing list.

While Musk officially announced the Tesla Solar Roof during an event in 2016, the demo was nothing but smoke and mirrors; the product he demoed was completely nonfunctional, and even though Musk promised installation would be affordable to most customers, actual costs proved far more expensive. In many cases, Tesla blindsided buyers and increased prices after they had already signed contracts. Class-action lawsuits quickly followed, and Tesla had to pay out around $6 million.

While Elektrek's sources haven't provided any specifics on why Tesla's solar roofs floundered financially, it's probably safe to assume that Musk overestimated the product's popularity, which resulted in a snowball effect. Elektrek also reported that Tesla was manufacturing as many as 1,000 solar roofs per week, but the data analytics firm, Wood Mackenzie, found that Tesla only installed around 3,000 roofs within its lifetime prior to 2023 – that's 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.

Your house is likely better off without a Tesla Solar Roof. There have been horror stories about components melting and warping due to heat from the sun, and in many cases, the solar installations didn't produce as much energy as advertised. So what does the future hold for the 3,000 or so people who actually own Tesla Solar Roofs? That's the million-dollar question.

Since the sunsetting news is so recent (and since Tesla representatives have yet to comment), it's anyone's guess what will happen to existing installations. Since Tesla already got in trouble for contract shenanigans after the company raised installation prices, Tesla will likely still service existing roofs (to the degree stipulated in the contracts), so existing owners might not be left high and dry. Since Tesla is ending the project, though, these roofs might be on borrowed time. Then again, given how many solar roofs Tesla manufactured, 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 Tesla Solar Roof's failure could just as easily scare off potential clients, killing the customer pool before it ever had a chance to grow. In the meantime, if you have been eyeing solar power, you might want to err on the side of caution and just purchase quality solar panels instead of a solar roof.