Tesla Is Discontinuing the Solar Roof After Nearly 10 Years

One of Tesla's most ambitious products appears to be finished. Nearly a decade after Elon Musk unveiled it on a Hollywood back lot, the Tesla Solar Roof is being discontinued — and true to form, Tesla hasn't said a word about it publicly.

According to NotaTeslaApp, certified installers have been told that Solar Roof tiles are no longer available to order. Tesla has also scrubbed the product from its website entirely: it's gone from the Energy section, and the old Solar Roof page now redirects to Tesla's traditional solar panels.

How the News Came Out

American Home Contractors, a Tesla-certified Solar Roof installer, announced the end of the product on X — then deleted the post. Electrek followed up and reported that two sources close to the program independently confirmed Tesla had informed certified installers that the tiles could no longer be ordered. One of those sources said Tesla had concluded the product simply wasn't financially viable.

There's no official press release, and there may never be one. As the report notes, when Tesla removes a product or feature, it usually happens quietly. But with the product pulled from the website and installers told to stop ordering, the writing is on the wall — or, in this case, on the roof.

A Decade of Big Promises

Tesla revealed Solar Roof in October 2016, right around the time it acquired SolarCity. Production began in Buffalo in late 2017, and several revisions followed, each meant to simplify manufacturing and installation:

• 2016 — Solar Roof unveiled alongside the SolarCity acquisition.
• Late 2017 — Production starts at Tesla's Buffalo factory.
• 2019 — Solar Roof V3 arrives; Musk targets 1,000 roofs per week, a rate Tesla never hit.
• 2022 — V3.5 begins testing on employee homes as Tesla keeps working on durability and installation.
• 2024 — Tesla steps back from doing its own solar installs, leaning on certified third-party installers.
• 2026 — Tiles pulled from ordering; product removed from the website.

Why It Never Caught On

The concept was genuinely appealing. Instead of bolting panels on top of an existing roof, the roofing material was the solar panel. It promised better durability and a seamless look, and for a while it was widely seen as the future of residential roofing.

The panels were far more expensive than traditional solar panels and were only applicable when a home needed a new roof.

That second point was the real ceiling on demand. Solar Roof only made sense for homeowners who were already replacing their roof — a much smaller pool of customers than "anyone who wants solar." Combine a narrow window of opportunity with a significant price premium, and the math gets hard for both Tesla and the buyer.

Traditional Panels Are the Focus Now

Tesla isn't leaving home solar — it's just leaving the tile approach behind. Earlier this year the company introduced its own 420-watt solar panels manufactured at Giga New York. The specs are solid and clearly aimed at homeowners who care about looks as much as output:

• 420 watts per panel
• 20.5 percent module efficiency
• All-black design
• Low-profile mounting that sits about 1.57 inches above the roof

With Solar Roof gone, Tesla's energy lineup is now limited to conventional solar panels, Powerwall, and Megapack.

What This Means If You Charge at Home

For most EV owners, this is a minor course correction rather than bad news. If you were holding out for Solar Roof to pair with home charging, that option is off the table — but conventional panels have always been the cheaper, faster, and more flexible way to offset charging costs, and they don't require you to replace a perfectly good roof first.

A few practical takeaways:

• Existing Solar Roof owners: Your system keeps working. Tesla still sells and supports Powerwall, and traditional solar remains part of the lineup.
• Planning a home energy setup: Standard panels plus a Powerwall is now the straightforward Tesla path — and it doesn't hinge on your roof's replacement timeline.
• Charging comes first: Solar only pays off if your charging setup is actually dialed in. A properly installed Level 2 connection, the right adapter for your car, and a quality charging cable do more for your day-to-day ownership than any rooftop decision.

Whether or not solar is in your plans, the home side of EV ownership is where most owners see the biggest quality-of-life gain. Make sure your garage setup — charger, adapters, cable management, and a backup charging kit in the trunk — is ready before you start thinking about panels.

Tesla has not officially confirmed the discontinuation, so treat this as strongly reported rather than announced. Given how quietly the company usually retires products, the website redirect may be the only confirmation anyone gets.