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The article notes they think Tesla should be about to find customers for solar easily, so asked, what's going on? And that a high point for them was installing

The article notes they think Tesla should be about to find customers for solar easily, so asked, what's going on? And that a high point for them was installing 100 megawatts -- which struck me as small. Some quick googling and clicking result #1 (risky, I know) showed this [1] claiming that 2024 was the second record-breaking solar installation year in a row. And that 50 gigawatts had been installed in the US. That makes me think: * Isn't Tesla Solar's max 100Mw number rather, well, tiny? A small drop? Why, for a company like Tesla? * The article's exactly right. They _should_ be able to find more customers. Does anyone have more insight? Does this part of the company have a good reputation? [1] https://seia.org/research-resources/us-solar-market-insight/ https://seia.org/research-resources/us-solar-market-insight/

acdha 2y ago
Everyone I know who’s looked said they cost too much. I think they’re walking away from a commodity market because they don’t want to spend time on lower margin business lines.
- sharemywin 2y ago
  True much more money to be made hyping crypto, AI and robotics.
rsynnott 2y ago
> The article's exactly right. They _should_ be able to find more customers. It's an ultra-competitive commodity business; the business goes to whoever will sell and install the things the cheapest.
crote 2y ago
The market shifted. Solar used to be a luxury product, with only some environment-conscious rich people putting them on their roof. In that market the solar shingles made a lot of sense. But solar has become a commodity product. Panel-wise the big bucks is in massive industrial greenfield installations, but Tesla's private-label brand can't compete on that market. In the residential market they are competing with every single local contractor who's willing to make a few bucks throwing bargain-bin panels on your roof, and their own system of proprietary panels and subcontractors can't compete with that either - especially when they force you to buy a power wall as well.

acdha 2y ago

Everyone I know who’s looked said they cost too much. I think they’re walking away from a commodity market because they don’t want to spend time on lower margin business lines.

sharemywin 2y ago
True much more money to be made hyping crypto, AI and robotics.

rsynnott 2y ago

> The article's exactly right. They _should_ be able to find more customers. It's an ultra-competitive commodity business; the business goes to whoever will sell and install the things the cheapest.

crote 2y ago

The market shifted. Solar used to be a luxury product, with only some environment-conscious rich people putting them on their roof. In that market the solar shingles made a lot of sense. But solar has become a commodity product. Panel-wise the big bucks is in massive industrial greenfield installations, but Tesla's private-label brand can't compete on that market. In the residential market they are competing with every single local contractor who's willing to make a few bucks throwing bargain-bin panels on your roof, and their own system of proprietary panels and subcontractors can't compete with that either - especially when they force you to buy a power wall as well.