Tesla Scraps Production of Solar Roof Tiles Designed to Generate Electricity (1 Photo)
As the longtime leading EV manufacturer, US-based Tesla naturally backed alternative energy initiatives, launching not only traditional solar panels but also high-end aesthetic roof tiles capable of generating electricity. Now, this product line is officially being relegated to the history books. 
According to tech outlet Electrek, citing knowledgeable sources, Tesla has notified its third-party installers that the solar tiles are no longer available for purchase. Moving forward, Tesla will only supply traditional solar panels to homeowners looking to equip their roofs with solar power. Reports indicate that the energy-generating tiles proved economically unviable to produce.
According to the source, Tesla's website page previously dedicated to the "Solar Roof" now redirects visitors to the solar panel section. The energy solutions page has also stripped all mentions of the roof tiles, featuring only solar panels, Powerwall home energy storage systems, and industrial Megapacks.
Tesla had been pushing the initiative since autumn 2016, when Elon Musk engineered a $2.6 billion shareholder-funded acquisition of SolarCity from his cousins to bolster the business. An investigation later revealed that Tesla used dummy prototypes during its October unveiling, and the company only managed to reach a production rate of 1,000 sets per week by 2020. The solution turned out to be expensive and impractical: at its peak, Tesla and its partners installed only around two to three dozen solar roofs per week, far short of Musk's expectations. Over seven years, no more than 3,000 sets were installed in the US. Furthermore, customers had to wait months for repairs due to staffing shortages. In short, the venture failed to justify itself—though that in no way diminishes the viability of Tesla's standard solar panels, which, while not particularly stylish, get the job done just fine.
