Tesla is starting to partner with other companies to install solar roof tiles and deploy the new solar product faster.
In October of last year, Tesla launched version 3 of its Solar Roof tiles, which is now also known as Solarglass, and it saw a significant price decrease through optimization and faster installation.
We posted a Tesla Solar Roof V3 real quote comparison showing that the price dropped by 40%.
Since launching the new version of the tiles, CEO Elon Musk wants an acceleration of production and installations of solar roofs.
In March, Tesla announced that Gigafactory New York was now producing enough solar tiles to install 1,000 solar roofs per week.
While the company based that claim on producing 4 MW of solar tiles, which isn’t really enough for 1,000 roofs, it is still more than Tesla can install in a week as the installation capacity remains the bottleneck to expand solar roofs.
We previously reported on Tesla trying to hire many new roofers in order to expand its capacity, but it is also looking to certified third-party installers to install its novel solar product.
We have only heard of a handful of companies being onboarded onto the program, but it might be about to change as Tesla started to supply them with the tiles, and some are actually starting their own installations.
Good Faith Energy, one of the biggest solar installers in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, just confirmed that they are now authorized to install Tesla solar roofs, and they installed their first solar roof system.
Mohammed Abdalla, CEO and founder of Good Faith Energy, announced:
Last December, I reached out to Bob Anderson for the ~6,000th time to ask him when Tesla Solar Roof was being rolled out. A week later, Michael Solano and I were on a plane to L.A. to be among the first group of installers to learn how to install this product. Two months after the initial training, we sent a team of 6 to Santa Barbara to install their first real job and gain some on-the-job training. Fast forward to August and Good Faith Energy is among a few elite companies nationally that’s capable of installing a Tesla roof autonomously.
He shared a picture of the installation of a 9.3 kW Tesla solar roof on his own house:
Sunpro, a large solar installer mostly operating in the US South, has also been getting certified to install Tesla solar roof.
Tesla has been aiming to install a solar roof as fast or faster than it takes to install a regular non-solar roof, which is about a week, depending on the roof.
It’s far from the case at the moment, with some installations taking even more than a month, according to customer reports.
Musk said that they will have installation crews compete at a new test structure at the Fremont factory to see who could install the new solar tiles faster and better.
Ultimately, the number of Tesla solar roof installations is limited by the roofers available to install them, and supplying third-party installers is expected to rapidly increase the capacity.
Tesla Solar and energy storage products might be a great solution for your home or business, and you can use our code (frederic5610) for a $100 award on your solar roof or Tesla solar panel installation after activation of the system.
However, we suggest getting quotes from more than one installer to make sure you get the best energy solution for your place. UnderstandSolar is a great free service to link you to top-rated solar installers in your region for personalized solar estimates for free. Tesla also offers price matching for solar panelsnow, so it’s important to shop for the best quotes.
You can check out our Tesla solar roof and solar panel guide for more details.
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Author: Fred Lambert
Source: Electrek
