Tesla's Solar Roof panels were designed to look like regular shingles while delivering 98 percent of a normal solar panel's efficiency. It did so by reflecting light to make the tiles appear like normal ones from street level despite being transparent when viewed from above. Unfortunately, the novel concept didn't live up to expectations. In August 2026, Electrek reported that Tesla was discontinuing the product and that its third-party installer network would only be supplied with conventional solar panels going forward.

First revealed in 2026, the Solar Roof hit mass production in 2020. In a first-quarter earnings call in 2021, Tesla CEO Elon Musk admitted that "significant mistakes" were made that led to overspending and significant delays. Two years later, a Wood Mackenzie report found that only 3,000 U.S. homes had installed the product. Despite multiple redesigns, the Solar Roof tiles sold under Tesla's expectations of 1,000 installations per week. Here's how it all went down.

The Solar Roof's claim to fame was that it didn't look as unsightly as a traditional solar panel. Tesla's patent application notes that "The louvers are designed to provide viewing obstruction to the photovoltaic cells... when viewed from a side angle but to minimally impede solar energy passed to the photovoltaic cells."

Nearly 10 years after its glitzy reveal at homes that appeared on the Desperate Housewives TV show, Tesla appears to be sunsetting the Solar Roof tiles. 6 billion. Years later, shareholder litigation over the acquisition revealed that the tiles shown at the event weren't operational, according to Electrek .

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