Tesla has communicated to employees and some customers that its supply chain issues are now extending its solar roof product, and for now, it is stopping scheduling for new installations.
It’s not clear when those problems will be solved.
Supply chain issues are affecting many industries.
When it comes to Tesla, the focus is on how it is affecting its car business – which is significantly – but the Texas-based automaker is doing better, while the rest of the industry has doubled its production last year, and most other automakers saw decline year-over-year.
But the solar industry is also under great pressure from supply chain issues and Tesla’s solar business is also being affected. Last year, we reported on early signs that supply chain issues are affecting Tesla’s solar panel business.
In December, we released a report on how Tesla was starting to delay some solar rooftop projects. At the time, Tesla’s solar roof installation weren’t affected by the same issues, but now it is starting to be the case.
This week, Electrek learned that Tesla informed employees that the supply chain issues are now affecting solar roof projects:
Most of the solar industry has been experiencing supply chain delays. These constraints are beginning to impact Solar Roof as well. This will lead to delays in scheduling installations for Tesla customers not already on the calendar.
Several customers are reporting having received the following message from Tesla’s solar team:
Supply Chain Delays May Impact Your Installation Timeline
Due to supply chain delays, your installation timeline may be extended. These delays are broadly impacting the U.S. solar industry and are outside Tesla’s control. We do not currently have a firm timeline from our suppliers as to when these delays will end. We will be in touch with you as soon as we have updated information.
Thank you for your patience and for helping accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy.
Tesla says that it doesn’t want to share any updated timeline until it received the material from suppliers. It didn’t specify what material is problematic right now.
The company produces its own solar roof tiles at Gigafactory New York in Buffalo, but it is dependent on many suppliers, especially solar cell suppliers, who have been greatly affected by the current supply chain issues.
Last quarter, Tesla’s solar deployment was down 1% year-over-year to 85 MW.
With those supply chain issues, it’s fair to expect the down trend to be significant in Q1 20221. In Q1 2021, Tesla had deployed 92 MW of solar power. That includes both solar roof tiles and regular solar panels.
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