According to Electrek, Tesla is temporarily suspending scheduling for new solar roof installations due to supply chain issues.
In a communique seen by the publication, Tesla told employees:
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.
Supply chain issues started slowing Tesla’s solar installations and causing delays late last year, shortly after Tesla expanded solar roof availability throughout the U.S. in October. However, the company was not forced to stop scheduling new installs — until now.
Several of Tesla’s solar customers are reporting having received the following message from the company:
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.
While Tesla weathered gruesome supply chain issues in the automotive industry throughout 2021 and managed to raise deliveries by a whopping 87% year-over-year, it looks like supply constraints are catching up to the company’s solar business and have started materially affecting it.
Last quarter, Tesla’s solar deployment was down 1% year-over-year to just 85 MW, and suspending new installs does not bode well for this quarter’s results.
Supply chain bottlenecks have also worn down other offerings from the company, with its residential energy storage solution, the Powerwall, hitting a major backlog back in July.
While the company manufactures its own solar roof tiles, it is dependent on several suppliers for components like solar cells, which have been hit hard by supply constraints as of late. Tesla did not say exactly which components for its solar products are in short supply at the moment.
