Tesla Discontinues Solar Roof Tiles After Missed Targets and Cost Spikes

Tesla is discontinuing its Solar Roof tiles, according to an August 2026 Electrek report, after the product missed sales targets and faced high costs and reported issues. The company's Solar Roof page now redirects to conventional solar panels, and its third-party installer network is set to be supplied with conventional panels going forward.

What the Solar Roof was

The Solar Roof was designed to look like regular shingles while delivering 98 percent of a normal solar panel's efficiency. Tesla's patent application says the louvers provide viewing obstruction to the photovoltaic cells when viewed from a side angle but minimally impede solar energy passed to the cells. The tiles reflected light so they appeared like normal shingles from street level while remaining transparent when viewed from above.

Nearly 10 years after a glitzy reveal at homes that appeared on the Desperate Housewives TV show, Tesla appears to be sunsetting the tiles. Shortly after the launch event, Tesla acquired SolarCity, described as America's then-largest solar energy provider and founded by Musk's cousins, for $2.6 billion. Years later, shareholder litigation over that acquisition revealed that the tiles shown at the event were not operational, according to Electrek.

Tesla's Solar Roof page, tesla.com/solarroof, has been redirected to its solar panels. The product is also nowhere to be found in its Energy navigation menu. The company's online configurator for a Solar Roof quote now redirects to conventional panels, indicating a pivot away from its poorly selling product.

Why it was discontinued

High prices and missed sales targets led to the downfall. In 2021, Electrek found customers faced a drastic spike in costs. Using a 3,947 square-foot roof with a 12.3 kW solar roof tile system as a frame of reference, pricing went from $54,966 before incentives to between $79,938 and $100,621 within a year. Tesla bet on aesthetic value while traditional solar panels became cheaper each year through efficient modules and mass production.

Tesla installed between 21 and 32 Solar Roofs per week at its peak in 2022, according to Wood Mackenzie data. That was far below Elon Musk's target of 1,000 installations per week. In a first-quarter 2021 earnings call, Musk admitted that "significant mistakes" were made, leading to overspending and significant delays. Two years later, a Wood Mackenzie report found only 3,000 U.S. homes had installed the product. Despite multiple redesigns, the tiles sold well under Tesla's expectations of 1,000 installations per week.

User reports of roofs underproducing electricity and cases of roof underlayment melting also hurt Tesla's odds. TechCrunch learned that solar installers are still offering Tesla's Solar Roof depending on the timeline of the project. Flexible panels from rivals such as Merlin Solar are still being sold, so integrated solar panels have not gone extinct, but Tesla's exit risks an industry-wide shift away from the concept despite its aesthetic merits.

Sources: Engadget