2023-07-12 04:22:00
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12.07.2023 07:22, Dmitry Fedorov
Tesla has agreed to pay more than $6 million in a class action lawsuit settlement filed by customers facing a sudden price increase for Solar Roof systems in 2021. The price increase caused more than 6,300 people to terminate their rooftop solar contracts with Tesla Energy.
Image Source: Tesla
The Tesla Solar Roof system was previously known as solarglass. The company’s CEO, Elon Musk, first introduced the system in 2016 as an architecturally attractive roof that generates energy and looks as good as shingles on a house without solar panels. It was later revealed that the glass solar tile he showed at a shareholder presentation regarding Tesla’s planned acquisition of SolarCity was a prop, not a working prototype.
Tesla Solar Roof customers had already signed contracts with the company and were getting ready to install the systems in their homes, when suddenly in 2021 they were surprised by a sudden price increase that required increased payments to continue installation. That same year, Tesla increased the price of its solar installations at least twice, and for customers ordering solar panels or roof tiles, the purchase of a Powerwall home energy storage system became a prerequisite.
The price increase was not insignificant. Lead class-action plaintiff Matthew Amans found that the price of his solar roof had risen from regarding $72,000 on the original contract to $146,000. rooftops with Tesla Energy more than 6,300 customers.
By early 2023, Tesla had installed just 3,000 of its Solar Roof systems in the US since the technology was unveiled seven years earlier. By the first quarter of 2023, Tesla’s total solar deployments were 67 MW, representing a 40% year-on-year growth. At the same time, Tesla’s energy storage system sales growth in the first quarter of 2023 was 360% year-over-year, indicating that Tesla’s energy division’s revenue is more dependent on backup batteries for home and utility systems than it is solar. installations.
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