--- title: "Tesla Reportedly Canceling Solar Roof Installations Across the Country" description: "According to reporting by Elektrek, Tesla's solar division is pulling out its solar roof program across the country, with solar employees getting laid off." date: "2022-11-11" modified: "2022-11-11" authors: - name: "Frank Landymore" job_title: "Contributing Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/flandymore" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/tesla-reportedly-canceling-solar-roof-installations-across-the-country" categories: - "Advanced Transport" - "Energy" - "Renewable Energy" - "Science & Energy" - "Solar Power" - "Tesla" tags: - "solar energy" - "tesla" - "the digest" --- # Tesla Reportedly Canceling Solar Roof Installations Across the Country ![According to reporting by Elektrek, Tesla's solar division is pulling out its solar roof program across the country, with solar employees getting laid off.]() *\Image: Tesla/Futurism\* ## The Sun Sets Eager customers of Tesla's solar roof program have been left holding the bag as the EV automaker says it's nixing operations in numerous markets, [*Electrek* reports](). The cancellations underscore the degree to which the program has never really taken off. By *Elecktrek*'s [estimates](), Tesla only installed its solar roofs on around 300 houses during the second quarter of 2022 — an underwhelming figure, especially since CEO Elon Musk [has claimed]() the company's energy division will become as large as its automotive one. And now, some Tesla Solar customers have been receiving emails from the company telling them that their orders for solar panels are being canceled. "Upon further review of your project, our team has determined that your home is in an area we no longer service," the emails read, as quoted by *Electrek*. "As we cannot complete your order, we have processed your cancellation." ## Solar Scapegoat Tesla tends to be opaque when it comes to its energy division, so it's unclear which specific markets got screwed over. *Electrek* says the reports it's received have come from customers "in major solar markets including the greater Los Angeles area, Northern California, Oregon, and Florida." In addition, the outlet also reports that Tesla has laid off employees in the solar scheduling, planning, and design department, but just how many is unspecified. Historically, Tesla's solar program — [controversially acquired]() by buying the company SolarCity in 2016 — is the one that gets the short end of the stick when it comes to reining in the budget. In 2019, Musk admitted [in a pre-trial deposition]() that, "If I did not take everyone off of solar and focus them on the Model 3 program to the detriment of solar, then Tesla would have gone bankrupt." "So I took everyone from solar, and said: 'instead of working on solar, you need to work on the Model 3 program.' And as a result, solar suffered, as you would expect," he added. Musk similarly [admitted in 2022]() that, for the year before, he had "shortchanged" Tesla's energy division in favor of pushing out more cars. Considering that Musk bought the division from SolarCity with the alleged intention of [bailing out his cousins that owned it](), maybe it's not too surprising that the CEO seems to have no qualms over gutting it multiple times. **More on Tesla:** *[Elon Musk Is Suddenly Selling Tesla Stock Like Crazy]()* ## Author At Futurism, my work has often centered on bringing a sense of clarity and insight to complex topics ranging from the regulation of emerging technologies to the esoteric ideologies of Silicon Valley executives, while striving not to lose the poetic sense of awe inspired by often-obscure fields like astrophysics and quantum computing. I broke the story of CNET using AI to produce articles that turned out to be riddled with factual errors and plagiarism — a dam-breaking inflection point, as I've reported, that's inspired copycats and endless discourse while beguiling stakeholders ranging from tech giants to purveyors of spam around the web. My work at Futurism has been cited by publications including CBS News, the Los Angeles Times, Vice, Gizmodo, Engadget, the Verge, and Vanity Fair. I grew up in locales ranging from India to China, and now live in the exotic suburbs of Virginia. In my free time, I'm an avid reader of weird sci-fi literature, an aficionado of East Asian cinema, and, regrettably, a relapsed gamer. Allegedly, I’m working on a debut novel, currently untitled. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()