Elon Musk has announced that Tesla will be bundling its solar-powered products, solar-powered roofs and solar panels, with its Powerwall home battery pack in the future.
You are not going to be able to buy one without starting the other one next week.
Last month, Electrek exclusively reported that Tesla was stopping taking orders for Powerwall without solar panels or sunroofs.
Powerwall has become extremely popular.
Waiting times increased despite Tesla’s best efforts to increase production, and the company even doubled the price of the battery within a few months.
It made sense to limit the ways of buying the product by linking it to other Tesla products.
Now Tesla goes a step further and makes it the other way around.
Elon Musk, CEO, said that people will only buy solar products with a Powerwall:
“Starting next week, Tesla Solar Panels & Solar Roof will only be sold as an integrated product with the Tesla Powerwall battery.”
While people could still order solar panels and solar roofs without a Powerwall after the change last month, it now sounds as if the change is going both ways.
Tesla now only wants to sell its home energy products as a bundle with energy generation (solar roof and panels) and energy storage (Powerwall).
Update: Now Musk has also added that solar power will now only import directly into Powerwall:
“Solar power will be applied exclusively to Powerwall. Powerwall will only connect between switch meter and main breaker panel, allowing for a super simple installation and seamless backup for the entire home during utility outages. ”
Electrek’s Take
This is not a huge change, as Tesla has already taken the step to sell only Powerwalls through its solar installations last month.
As for people ordering solar power without Powerwall, I’m sure it was a decent part of Tesla’s solar power orders, considering the cost of a Powerwall, but I would not be surprised if it was about half or even the minority of the projects are not.
Powerwall integration was actually one of the benefits of purchasing Tesla solar, but the company also partnered with other solar installers to add Powerwall to their offering.
I would rather Elon try to address the price dispute over the roof of the sun, especially if contracts have already been signed, but I do not think that happens.
What do you think of this latest move from Tesla? Let us know in the comments below.
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