PALO ALTO, Calif. — Tesla Inc. said it plans to ramp up production photovoltaic roofing tiles by the end of the year.
Tesla (Nasdaq: TSLA) released financial results Tuesday for the second quarter ending June 30.
Though the company reported an overall loss for the three-month period, Tesla appears undeterred in growing as a player in the solar market.
“Our solar sales strategy went through a significant change in Q2, as we prepare to sell energy products exclusively at Tesla retail locations and online,” the company said in a letter released with its financial results and signed by Elon Musk, chairman and CEO, and Deepak Ahuja, CFO.
Tesla said it deployed 84-megawatts of solar energy generation systems in the second quarter, up 11 percent compared with the previous quarter.
The company said it expects solar volumes to “remain relatively stable” as it continues to build out its own retail channel.
Musk and Ahuja noted much of Tesla’s plans for the renewable energy market involve its solar roofing products, and that the company continues to refine the design and the production process for its solar roof line.
The company started producing its photovoltaic glass tiles last December at a newly built factory in Buffalo, N.Y.
“We are steadily ramping Solar Roof production in Buffalo and are also continuing to iterate on the product design and production process, learning from our early factory production and field installations,” the company said in its letter. “We have deployed Solar Roof on additional homes in Q2 and are gaining valuable feedback from each new installation. We plan to ramp production more toward the end of 2018 and are working hard to simplify the production and installation process before deploying significant capital into factory automation.”
According to the Tesla website, the company’s “solar roof consists of uniquely designed glass tiles that complement the aesthetics of any home, embedded with the highest efficiency photovoltaic cells. It is infinitely customizable for a variety of different home styles, each uniquely engineered so that the photovoltaic cells are invisible. Customers can choose which sections of their roof will contain the hidden solar technology while still having the entire roof look the same. These new roofs will seamlessly and beautifully supply renewable energy to homes, battery storage systems and back into the grid creating savings for owners. When combined with Tesla Powerwall, the solar roof can power an entire home with 100 percent renewable energy.”
