Tesla quietly slashes referral program reward for solar roof

Tesla has updated its referral program reward for solar roof installations by reducing the reward from $500 to $300 per referred installation.

Last year, we reported that Tesla plans to completely revamp its referral program:

According to a source familiar with the matter, Tesla plans to eliminate referral links, which owners often spam on social media, and instead turn to an app-based referral program promoting in-person referrals.

A few months later, Tesla ended its referral program for everything except its solar roof.

The company has yet to launch a new version of its referral program for electric vehicles. We don’t expect it to come for a while as the company still has a massive backlog of orders, resulting in being production constrained for the foreseeable future.

But in the meantime, it has been tweaking the referral program for solar products. While it was only for solar roof installations at first, Tesla added solar panel installation back to its referral program with a $300 award per installation late last year.

Now Tesla is reducing the $500 reward for solar roof referrals to match the reward for solar panel installations.

The automaker updated the language on its referral program support page:

Friends and family who order through your referral link can earn $300 for Solar Roof or Solar Panels upon permission to operate, while also reducing reliance on the grid and producing clean solar energy. You will earn $300 for each Solar Roof or Solar Panels referral.

Tesla has been known to not always pay out its awards from the referral programs. Most famously, it has yet to deliver on the many Roadsters and Roadster discounts that it had promised buyers for the referral program between 2017 to 2019, a critical time in Tesla’s history. The company has also yet to deliver on some special rewards, like sending an image of the referrer’s choice to space on a SpaceX rocket.