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Tesla Powerwalls and Solar Roof, two of Elon Musk's innovative strategies to bring consumers to the solar grid, require delays of six months or more. The company says the customers are hungry, but they do not have the product yet.
USA TODAY & # 39; HUI
House with a Tesla Solar Roof and a Model S. (Photo: Tesla)
SAN FRANCISCO – When the CEO of Tesla Elon Musk launched a few years ago, his vision of independence from fossil fuels has dazzled.
Houses equipped with Tesla Solar Roof would provide power to Powerwall, a Stylish storage unit designed to serve as an electric charging station.An electric car Tesla
But this sunny promise is accompanied by a rain test: low production rates make that little Powe rwalls are available for customers interested in this three year old product. The first solar roofs were installed for customers earlier this year, two years after the unveiling of these futuristic solar panel glass shingles
Meanwhile, the old SolarCity, bought by Tesla for 2 billion in 2016, lost market share. Rival installers who take advantage of the excitement generated by Musk's off-grid openings.
This is a familiar situation to many Tesla fans and its brazen CEO, whose vision to overturn the transportation and energy industries does not appear with the factories and systems in charge of make your future a reality.
With solar energy, a combination of factors – including Musk's emphasis on critical production of the model car requires electric batteries and Powerwall industrial energy storage products, and a repositioning of its SolarCity gambit – means that homeowners now ready to buy rival products must add a dose of patience to the purchase price.
March in a Tesla store and show interest in a $ 6,000 Powerwall, and you will be told that the wait is six to nine months. Inquire about the high-end solar roof and you will get a price estimate and a possible installation date of 2019.
And enter one of the Home Depot locations away from its headquarters Palo Alto, California, and you may not have answers. Tesla recently announced that it would withdraw its new partnership with the big box retailer at the end of the year, and a recent 9% reduction in Tesla staff means it's hard to find sellers there now.
But Tesla says everything is going Tesla is reconfiguring the stores to put more emphasis on its solar offerings, as the company moves toward full-time sales of these products from its 110 American stores that were previously mainly exhibition halls. for his electric cars. (Photo: Tesla)
The company will double the sale of solar energy through its 110 Tesla stores in the United States, which it has reconfigured in recent months to ensure that Powerwall is on prominent displays and internal solar experts, "Nobody should see us as a recoil of solar energy, in fact, it's the opposite," says JB Straubel, technical director from Tesla, USA TODAY & # 39; HUI. "It's like with Model 3. People have invaded and are waiting for the product, so we're aggressively increasing our capacity."
For now, Tesla says not being able to track the deposits deposited on Powerwall or the interest shown in Solar Roof, which are produced as Nevada Gigafactory and Buffalo, NY, plant, respecitvely.
Straubel would not give details on how many sales of Powerwall or Tesla deposits has reserved and how much it plans to increase the production of the factory to meet this demand. He says production will resume later this year for Powerwall, reducing wait times. On the solar roof, production is expected to accelerate next year,
While Tesla can equip a house with traditional PV or photovoltaic panels manufactured by SolarCity in six weeks, its dominant position in the market slipped against rivals Sunrun and Vivint Solar. Tesla held 16% of the facility market in 2017, compared with 33% in 2015, according to GTM Research.
Barry Cinnamon has been installing solar systems in homes around San Jose for years. His Cinnamon Energy Systems would install the new Tesla goods. But it's not an option right now, so it is directing customers to other products such as LG Chem's and Panasonic's storage units.
Cinnamon: "Tesla has done a great job of promoting the benefits of solar technology and, but it seems to be in conflict with their efforts to be a profitable auto maker."
Solar Residential a "tough business" [19659030] Pressure on Tesla to Turn Model 3 into a Leading Vehicle in the Electronic Market and Financial Success With the current backlog on Powerwall and Solar Roof, Tesla may have lost the "first-mover advantage" after having sparked interest in such categories, says Dylan Miller, a solar research analyst at Ibis World. "People will be attracted to those who have products if the savings are there to be now."
Allison Mond, solar analyst with GTM Research, she will not be surprised if "Tesla's residential solar activity shrinks at next few quarters. (that's) a really tough business, especially if it's not your only goal. "
But other analysts disagree, arguing that if Tesla is ready to pounce on good products once the market matures, "The size of the market is not a problem for Tesla, they just need to manufacture products at a quality level that people demand" says Mark Osborne, founding publisher of the PV Tech solar information site. Tesla's CEO, Mr. Straubel, says the company will not only offer cutting-edge products, but that by moving its sales channels to its stores, it will be better able to control a process that traditionally relies on "We focus on the customer experience, not on a higher market share," says Straubel, noting that in March, Tesla / SolarCity lost the top spot in the residential solar installation "
The solar is about to double by 2023
Formerly a favorite home accoutrement by environmentally conscious consumers, the solar seems to be about to multiply as costs decrease. A recent survey of Morning Consult found that 58% of Americans would be willing to add solar energy, while 63% said they would favor a new California regulation requiring that by now 2020, most new homes
