- Tesla’s Q1/2023 financial results show the company installed 67 MW new solar
- Deployments were down 33% on quarterly basis but increased 40% annually
- Management blamed volatile weather and supply chain challenges among other factors for this slow pace of installations
Automotive giant Tesla has blamed volatile weather, supply chain challenges and ‘other factors’ for its solar deployments going down 33% quarterly to 67 MW in Q1/2023, even though the company reported 40% annual improvement.
The company had earlier reported 48 MW solar installations in Q1/2022, and 100 MW in Q4/2022 (see 2022 Gets Tesla ‘Highest’ Annual PV Deployment, Since 2017).
In terms of energy storage, deployments increased by 360% annually in the reporting quarter to 3.9 GWh which is its highest to date thanks to ongoing Megafactory ramp of the 40 GWh fab in Lathrop, California. Tesla is also adding a new 40 GWh Megafactory in China’s Shanghai.
Of Tesla’s total Q1/2023 revenues of $18.87 billion, energy generation and storage contributed $1.53 billion, up from $1.31 billion in the previous quarter.
In March 2023, Wood Mackenzie said Tesla is likely to have installed close to 3,000 Solar Roofs across the US since 2016 when these were first launched, representing a total capacity of 30 MW DC. It means the company missed its goal of 1,000 installations per week as announced in 2020 after it aimed to manufacture 1,000 Solar Roofs per week by late 2019.
Wood Mackenzie’s report Five Years In: Tesla Solar Roof deployments miss expectations, finds that Tesla was able to install only 21 Solar Roofs per week on an average with the largest quarter being Q1/2022 when it deployed 32 systems. In comparison, Tesla’s direct competitor with a similar roofing product, GAF Energy is ‘better positioned to achieve widespread adoption’, according to the report.
“As the residential solar industry continues to grow, solar roofing solutions will play an important role in offering customers flexibility and alternatives to conventional modules. The future potential of Tesla’s Solar Roof will rely on the company’s ability to simplify and streamline installations and tap into a broader customer base,” stated Wood Mackenzie Research Analyst and Lead Author of the report, Max Issokson.
