Tesla goes all-in with new solar rental product, now removes system at no cost

Tesla is going all-in with its new solar rental product as it now even removes the cost to remove the solar system if the customer doesn’t want it anymore. It virtually offers solar for as little as $50 a month with no risk.

Last month, Tesla launched a new solar rental service that turns out to be quite a unique way to sell home solar power systems.

Tesla’s “Rent Solar” program is a month-to-month agreement to use Tesla’s solar power to reduce your electric bill.

For as little as $50 per month, Tesla will come to your home and install a solar system.

There’s no long-term contract. As long as you pay the monthly fee, the system will generate solar power, and it will reduce your electricity bills.

Here are the base fees and projected returns in the markets where the new Tesla solar rental program is available:

Tesla’s “small” system is rated at 3.8 kW and produces an average of 9-12 kWh per day.

Homeowners can also directly purchase such a system for $9,500 before incentive, but now they have the option to pay nothing up front and have the advantage of solar power for as little as $50 per month.

It’s quite possibly the cheapest way to get access to solar power.

Tesla is so confident about the product that if you don’t want the solar power from your roof anymore, the company will simply de-energize the system at no cost, and you can go back to paying your electric utility for more electricity.

However, if you wanted Tesla to actually remove the system, the company previously charged $1,500 to deinstall it from your roof.

This week, Tesla updated its contract to remove this fee.

Here’s the new section from the contract:

System Removal. If the system needs to be removed for any reason, such as your cancellation or for roof repairs, you agree to give Tesla reasonable access to your Home to remove the System at Tesla’s convenience and availability. Tesla will remove the system at no cost to you. Tesla, or one of our subcontractors, will patch and seal all roof penetrations associated with removal of the System. Tesla shall have no obligation to repair any ordinary wear and tear on the home, or to provide any replacement parts. You may not modify or remove the system without written consent from Tesla.

It virtually removes any possible cost to Tesla’s new solar rental service other than the monthly fee to get access to the solar power generation on your roof.

Here’s an example of the contract in full (h/t to Joe):

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Electrek’s Take

This is another show of confidence from Tesla in its new product. It basically removes any risk associated with signing up to Tesla solar rental.

However, it might open up Tesla to bad actors taking advantage of them.

Again, I might just be paranoid here, and I’d like to hear from you in the comments below, but Tesla has a lot of enemies. They could get people to sign up to Tesla’s solar rental and quickly have them cancel the service after a month and remove it.

This would be really costly to Tesla.

Aside from this malicious approach, I think it should be quite an efficient product to add more solar power.