For customers of a Tesla solar roof, it’s the tile! Indeed, difficulties in supplying solar tiles are delaying installations, which can no longer be programmed.
Bad news for those waiting for the installation of a Tesla solar roof. Interruptions in the production and deliveries of the manufacturer’s solar tiles are forcing it to delay certain installations. In the end, some customers who had planned the installation of their solar roof as much as possible as part of the construction of their house may find themselves without a roof for several weeks or even months. The roof repairs in the old building by integrating Tesla solar tiles will have to be delayed (with lesser consequences).
No global industry was able to escape supply disruptions last year. Tesla nevertheless fared rather better than most other automakers, having managed to double its car production in 2021. On the solar part, its activity also recorded an increase in 2021 before marking time at the very end. of year. Indeed, as of December 2021, the first alerts were issued concerning the postponement of certain solar roof projects.
Houses without roofs until the end of the year
At the time, the supply of tiles was not the problem, but it quickly added to the difficulties of logistics and labor as early as February 2022. A month later, the situation was even more tense, Tesla being forced to not only postpone, but also suspend certain planned installations until further notice. An internal Tesla memo, intercepted by Electrek, invites Tesla employees to refocus activity on traditional solar panels as long as the supply of tiles is low. The sales team is also prohibited from planning any solar roof installation.
Tesla’s solar tiles are produced at the New York Gigafactory with the goal of producing enough tiles to power 1,000 solar rooftops per week. Initially, a lack of manpower and logistics disrupted by the health crisis were mentioned to explain these difficulties, but the supply of raw materials would now be the main bottleneck.
Electrek cites the example of Ryan Prijic, a Tesla customer for a solar roof, whose roof was completely dismantled for the installation of said tiles within eight days. That was in January and, to this day, his roof is still not installed. A waterproof tarpaulin had obviously been put in place before the start of the work, supposed to keep the house dry for at least six months. Unfortunately, leaks broke out, forcing Tesla to schedule interventions to plug them. Calling on Tesla’s services, he ended up getting an answer concerning the installation window of his solar roof: not before the end of 2022. He would be far from being an isolated case.