Tesla has changed requirements for new solar roof projects – they now all require at least one Powerwall per project.
For years now, Elon Musk has been saying that he believes Tesla’s energy business could grow as large as its automotive business.
This is hard to believe right now, considering Tesla’s auto business brought in $14.6 billion in revenue last quarter while its energy division brought in $866 million – that said, over the last year, we have seen Tesla focusing greatly on the energy side of the business.
At $866 million, this last quarter was the division’s best quarter in years, and Tesla’s energy storage and solar power deployment are at record highs.
Tesla Energy Products
On top of ramping up deployment, Tesla has been working on new energy products and testing a new version of Solar Roof (v3.5), but the company is also looking to leverage its energy assets to provide grid services, like through its virtual power plants leveraging Powerwall installations.
Last week, we reported that Tesla is finally getting more Powerwall availability with an impressive production ramp to 6,500 Powerwalls per week.
Now Electrek has learned from sources familiar with the matter that starting last week, Tesla is requiring every new solar roof project to include a Powerwall. The move will accelerate Powerwall deployment and add more prospective members to Tesla’s growing virtual power plants.
Earlier this year, Electrek obtained data on Tesla’s solar roof installations for the first time and confirmed that the company deployed 2.5 MW of solar roofs during the second quarter of 2022, or about 23 roofs per week, which is extremely low and behind Tesla’s goal of 1,000 roofs per week.
Furthermore, we also reported that Tesla had paused the scheduling of its solar roof installations in the third quarter in virtually all markets in the US, which is the only country where Tesla is installing solar roofs. Third-party roofing and solar companies are able to continue installations.
Tesla is now restarting scheduling for the fourth quarter, and it now looks like it will be with Powerwalls.
Electrek’s Take
Powerwalls are not cheap so it will increase the cost of the solar roof projects, but I would bet that already most projects include Powerwalls since they do add a lot of value.
I have two of them at my house, making power outages a thing of the past which is truly awesome.
Then in markets where Tesla is making deals for virtual power plants with electric utilities, you can help pay for it by allowing some power output when the grid needs it.
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