Energy
Tesla Solar Roof long-term review: Insights from a homeowner’s journey with Elon Musk’s solar tiles
If recent announcements by Tesla are any indication, the Solar Roof tiles will see a production ramp next year. Unveiled in October 2016, the Solar Roofs, which are PV modules that have the appearance of traditional roofing materials, were received warmly, with Tesla noting that the product was sold out “well into 2018” within the first few weeks of reservations being opened.
One of these reservation holders was Amanda Tobler. After initially living in a rental house from 2002 to 2004, Amanda and her family moved to a CA townhousein 2004, where they stayed for 12 years. The Toblers attempted to get solar panels installed on their townhouse then, though they were unsuccessful due to the area’s homeowners association prohibiting rooftop solar systems. Things changed in 2016, when Amanda and her family moved to a two-story suburban home in the Bay Area. This time around, the Toblers was free to add a solar system for their house.
The home that the family acquired, which was built in 1965, had an aging stamped metal roof that was nearly ready for replacement. In an emailed statement to Teslarati, Amanda noted that when they heard about the Solar Roof tiles, her family immediately thought that the product would be a perfect fit for their new home. Within days of Tesla opening reservations for the shingles in May 2017, the Toblers put down their $1,000 deposit.
In July 2017, Tesla sent someone over the home to conduct a site survey. As a way to determine the size of the PV system which would best fit the Toblers’ needs, Tesla asked for copies of past utility bills. Amanda notes that her family actually consumes a fair amount of power every month, especially since they charge two plug-in vehicles — a Nissan Leaf and a Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid — on a consistent basis. Considering the family’s average energy consumption, Tesla opted to install a 9.9 kW Solar Roof system on the house, paired with one Powerwall 2 unit.
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- A Solar Roof tile installation on a residential unit. [Credit: Amanda Tobler]
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- A Solar Roof tile installation on a residential unit. [Credit: Amanda Tobler]
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- A Solar Roof tile installation on a residential unit. [Credit: Amanda Tobler]
The Toblers’ home fitted with Tesla’s “Textured” Solar Roof tiles. [Credit: Amanda Tobler]
Tesla only manufactures two variants of the Solar Roof tiles today — Textured and Smooth — though other options such as Tuscan and Slate are due to enter production in the near future. In Amanda’s case, she opted for the Textured Solar Roof variant. Just as luck would have it, the Toblers’ home ended up becoming the first residential Solar Roof installation in the country, partly due to the roof’s simple design and the house’s proximity to the Fremont factory.
“I was told that we were chosen because we live in the Bay Area, which is convenient to the Tesla factory in Fremont. Additionally, we have simple roof lines, and they wanted a straightforward install in the beginning,” Amanda stated.
The Solar Roof installation took place in early March 2018. The entire process took about three weeks to complete, partly due to rains and Tesla’s discovery of a cedar shake roof underneath the house’s metal roof. Despite her house being built in 1965, and despite Tesla having to haul away two roofs instead of one, Amanda notes that the installation process, including the setup of the Powerwall 2 unit, remained seamless nonetheless. Even the permits for the solar system, which are required for homeowners, were handled by the electric car maker.
“Tesla took care of all permitting and getting permission to operate the solar roof. We did e-signing for plenty of documents in this process, but I didn’t have to complete any of them outside of providing a signature and date,” Amanda noted.
The Toblers were permitted to activate their Solar Roof tiles two weeks after the project was complete. Considering that the roof covered around 2,000 square feet, and that 40% of the tiles were solar, Amanda notes that the $62,000 she paid for the 9.9 kW system was not too far from the cost of a new premium roof and conventional solar panels. That said, she did mention that if her house didn’t really need new roofing, she probably would have opted for traditional solar panels instead to save on costs. Nevertheless, the homeowner pointed out that the aesthetics and functionality of the Solar Roofs have been worth the investment so far.
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- The average stats for the Toblers’ Solar Roof over the past seven months. [Credit: Amanda Tobler]
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- The average stats for the Toblers’ Solar Roof over the past seven months. [Credit: Amanda Tobler]
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- A sample of the Solar Roof tiles’ daily stats. [Credit: Amanda Tobler]
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- A sample of the Solar Roof tiles’ daily stats. [Credit: Amanda Tobler]
At its peak, the Toblers’ Solar Roof tiles provided enough power for the family’s needs. [Credit: Amanda Tobler]
“The main value is that we got the new roof we needed and the solar we wanted in a slick package. Of course, the product is considerably more expensive than regular solar panels—you’re getting a roof and solar panels. If you consider the cost of purchasing a high-end roof with solar panels in the Bay Area, the cost wouldn’t be that far off from the cost of the Solar Roof.”
The Solar Roof tiles have held up well over the past seven months since the system was installed. The day after the Solar Roof tiles were activated, the homeowner woke up to her roof producing 4 kW of power, with 0.4 kW flowing straight into the house and the rest charging her Powerwall 2. At its peak during summer in June and July, the Solar Roof tiles were producing about 60 kWh in one day, which was more than enough to power the Toblers’ house and their two plug-in vehicles. As the days got shorter and more overcast amidst the approaching winter, though, the Solar Roof tiles generated less energy, now producing about 20 kWh a day.
Amanda’s observations with her Solar Roof tiles echo those of another Solar Roof early adopter, Tri Huynh from Northern CA. In an interview with Alex Guberman of E for Electric earlier this year, Tri noted that his Solar Roof installation, which covers his 1,000 square foot roof, produces about 3 kW during days when skies are overcast. While the generated power is not enough to charge his three Powerwall 2 batteries, Tri noted then that his Solar Roof helps him lower his electricity bill nonetheless.
When Elon Musk unveiled the Solar Roof tiles, he candidly remarked that the shingles, if they prove successful, could end up being a “Keeping up with the Joneses” situation. In Amanda’s case, her Solar Roof had attracted a notable amount of curiosity from her neighbors, especially when the system was being installed. Once it was operational, interested members of her community also paid a visit to Toblers’ home to learn about how the Solar Roof worked. That said, the homeowner notes that the attention her Solar Roof attracts has mellowed down since.
Tesla’s Solar Roof variants — Smooth, Textured, Tuscan, and Slate. [Credit: Tesla]
While the Solar Roof has performed well since it went online earlier this year, Amanda notes that the system still has some room for improvement. Her Powerwall 2, for one, faults about once a month, which makes the battery storage unit appear like it had lost connection with the system. So far, the Toblers have been manually resetting the Powerwall 2 to address the fault. In the event that the family is not home, Amanda states that the system eventually detects the error and automatically resets the Powerwall 2 after about four hours. Amanda describes these faults as a “minor annoyance,” particularly since the rest of the system has been consistently operating smoothly.
Tesla’s energy business, led by industrial-grade batteries like the Powerpack and novel residential products like the Solar Roof, is expected to see notable growth in the coming years. Billionaire investor Ron Baron, for one, estimates that Tesla Energy would likely be worth $500 billion on its own by 2030, equal to his estimates for the company’s more well-known electric car business. Considering that Tesla’s electric cars and energy products form an ecosystem of renewable solutions, the adoption of products like the Solar Roof would likely be as quick as the products’ production ramp.
During Tesla’s third-quarter earnings call, Elon Musk explained that the production of the Solar Roof is taking longer than expected due to the tiles’ long development cycle. The Tesla CEO did state, though, that Solar Roof production should see a production ramp in 2019. This was highlighted in a later announcement on Twitter, with Musk listing the solar tiles as one of Tesla’s high-priority products, directly after the Model Y. With Tesla focusing on both its electric car and energy business in 2019, the number of customers buying into the full Tesla ecosystem would likely increase. Amanda, for her part, notes that her family might do just that.
“The success of the vehicles played a big part of us choosing to trust Tesla in being a part of early solar roof adopters. It is very possible that we’ll become Tesla vehicle owners in the future,” she said.
Tesla has started to perform earthworks engineering on the roughly 3,000-acre site in Fort Bend County, Texas, advancing the massive $10 billion Project Crystal Sun plan to build a vertically integrated solar manufacturing complex.
Flyover drone footage from S.E. Robinson, Jr. released this morning shows the location under development. Tesla has crews on site performing large clearings, but you can also see equipment staging areas, the use of an existing homestead, and active leveling across a substantial portion of the property.
Tesla has started construction on Project Crystal Sun, its $10B vertically integrated solar factory near Houston, Texas.
The plant will make everything from silicon ingots and wafers to finished cells and panels, with operations targeted for Q1 2029.
@SERobinsonJr with a great flyover of the facility:
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) November 9, 2026
Public filings first submitted in July under Texas’s Jobs, Energy, Technology and Innovation Act describe a plant that would manufacture the full solar chain: everything from silicon ingots, wafers, coated cells, and finished modules.
Tesla projects 9,712 permanent jobs by 2033, ramping from roughly 1,900 positions in the first year of operations, plus a peak of about 1,147 construction jobs. Construction is targeted for 2026–2028, with commercial production beginning in the first quarter of 2029. An accompanying economic analysis estimates the project could add roughly $107 billion to Texas GDP over several decades.
Local incentives have cleared major hurdles. Lamar Consolidated Independent School District unanimously approved school-tax limitations in September, and Fort Bend County commissioners approved a package of abatements and related agreements in late October that could extend equipment tax breaks for as long as 35 years.
Tesla had previously indicated it was evaluating a competing out-of-state location.
The effort fits broader statements by Musk that Tesla and SpaceX are each working toward 100 gigawatts of annual U.S. solar manufacturing capacity. If built as described, Project Crystal Sun would stand as one of the largest domestic attempts to create a fully integrated solar supply chain on American soil.
While Tesla has not issued a formal groundbreaking announcement, the visible site preparation and high-profile social media activity represent a concrete step forward for a project that has moved from confidential filings to active earthworks in a matter of months.
Energy
Taiwan power firm bets big on Tesla Megapacks as AI data center thirst grows
Taiwan’s Apollo Power orders 260 Tesla Megapacks, betting AI data centers will need more electricity.
A Taiwanese power company has ordered 260 Tesla Megapack 2XL units, roughly 1GWh of storage, betting that electricity rather than chips will decide how fast AI data centers come online. Apollo Power signed the contract with Tesla’s Taiwan energy arm on October 8, according to the company’s filing with the Taiwan stock exchange.
The filing says the units are meant for behind the meter storage and resilient grid projects, with delivery in batches from the end of 2027 and sites operating in 2028. Apollo and Tesla did not disclose a price, citing a confidentiality agreement. Apollo plans to pay for the equipment through a cash capital increase and bank financing, and it noted the purchase is not revenue and does not mean it holds firm orders from its partners.
Biggo reported that only about 33 units are under signed customer contracts, with roughly 150 more in negotiation. The same report put total project investment near NT$130 billion, but that figure includes installation work, with the equipment itself making up about 40 to 50 percent. In other words, a large share of this order is Apollo reserving supply ahead of demand. Apollo’s chairman told local media global large storage supply is tight, which is why the company locked in the units early, according to Yahoo Taiwan Finance.
Apollo also launched an AI data center and grid resilience alliance with Phison, Gigabyte and Shihlin Electric. The pitch rests on a pilot at Phison’s Zhunan plant, where Apollo and Tesla Energy Taiwan installed grid forming Megapack 2XLs in June. Tesla Energy Taiwan general manager Sun Hsiao-Han said the project went from demo to 1GWh in four months, and that Tesla Energy has deployed more than 50GWh worldwide.
Taiwan’s cabinet has approved amendments that would require large energy users to install their own generation and storage, which gives enterprise storage a regulatory tailwind.
The deal fits a pattern Teslarati has tracked. Tesla’s Megablock targets 1GWh commissioned in 20 business days, a pitch aimed squarely at fast moving data center builds. Megapacks already back xAI’s Colossus in Memphis and a 400MW AI campus in Brazil. Sun Media adds that Megapack 2XL was named among the first products in Nvidia’s DSX Ready qualification for battery storage in AI factories.
Deliveries are more than a year away, so the real test is how much of that 260 unit order turns into signed customer contracts.
Energy
Tesla Model 3 and Model Y can now do what only Cybertruck could
Tesla Model 3 and Model Y can power your home with Powerwall 3 during outages.
Tesla has turned its two top sellers into backup batteries for the house.
Tesla Energy announced on Tuesday that Powershare Home Backup is now available for new Model 3 and Model Y vehicles paired with a Powerwall 3, saying the car can “extend your home backup by over 2 days.” Minutes later, Tesla’s main account quoted the post with a broader pitch: “With Powerwall 3, every Tesla can now serve as your home’s backup battery.”
Until this week, the Cybertruck was the only Tesla that could send power back into a home, and that capability only began working alongside Powerwall 3 last month, after years of ambitious targets.
Tesla’s updated Powershare page says every Model 3 and Model Y ordered in the U.S. or Puerto Rico on or after October 1, 2026 can use the feature. Some, but not all, earlier cars also qualify. Owners can check on the touchscreen under Software, then Additional Vehicle Information, where a capable car shows “Powershare Support: Enabled.” As Electrek reported, bidirectional power on the two cars runs through an inverter Tesla calls PCS2 Lite, and the company has not said when that part entered production on each trim.
The home side is simpler. A house that already has a Powerwall 3 and either a Wall Connector 3 or Universal Wall Connector needs no additional equipment, and Tesla says compatibility is enabled through a software update. When the grid drops, the Powerwall and the car work together, with up to 11.52 kW of continuous power available. Tesla’s “over two days” estimate assumes a home using 30 kWh per day and a car starting at a 90 percent charge. Standard trims are rated for up to two days, while the Cybertruck adds more than three.
There are limits. Powerwall 2 and Powerwall+ support is listed as “coming soon.” Model S and Model X are not included, and Grid Support, the program that lets Cybertruck owners in Texas send power back to the grid during demand spikes for bill credits, is not available for Model 3 or Model Y.
The rollout also lines up with something Elon Musk said more than three years ago. At Tesla’s March 2023 Investor Day, Musk said, “I don’t think very many people are going to want to use bidirectional charging, unless you have a Powerwall.” Tesla has now shipped the feature for its volume cars with exactly that requirement attached.
The Powerwall pairing was the hard part on Cybertruck. Tesla told owners in December 2025 that Powershare with Powerwall had been pushed to mid 2026, and lead engineer Wes Morrill explained that two devices capable of forming a home’s grid have to negotiate which one leads during an outage, across multiple generations of hardware. With that work done for the truck, Tesla was able to extend it to the Model 3 and Model Y within a month.
Ford and GM have offered home backup from their EVs for several years, but both require a separate inverter and backup hardware. Tesla’s version leans on equipment many Powerwall 3 owners already have on the wall. Powershare for the two cars also ships as part of software update 2026.38.3, the same release that began delivering Halloween Mode on Tuesday.
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