According to reports, Tesla has agreed to pay more than $6 million to settle a class action lawsuit initiated by Solar Roof customers. In 2021, customers have agreed to allow Tesla to install the solar system Solar Roof, but the sudden price increase of Solar Roof has caused customer dissatisfaction.

Solar Roof was promoted in 2016. It can generate electricity, but it looks like tiles instead of solar panels. In order to develop the solar business, Tesla has acquired SolarCity.

The client who initiated the lawsuit has already signed a contract with Tesla and is preparing to install the Solar Roof system. However, the price of the product will suddenly increase in 2021, and the total installation cost will increase. Raising prices is no small matter! According to one defendant, the total cost under the original contract was about $72,000, but after the price increase, it became $146,000.

In 2021, Tesla will raise the price of solar energy systems at least twice. It also requires customers who order solar panels or solar roof tiles to order Powerwall home storage systems.

According to court documents, as of the end of June this year, approximately 8,636 households were affected. Due to rising costs and changes in terms, more than 6,300 households canceled the Solar Roof contract signed with Tesla Energy. In addition, 1,656 Solar Roof contracts were completed at the original price, and by the end of June, there were still 57 customers who would install Solar Roof at the original price. In addition, there are 616 customers who have not canceled the contract or booked at the original price, and will install Solar Roof in the future.

According to estimates, from 2016 to early 2023, the installation volume of Tesla Solar Roof solar energy systems in the United States is about 3,000 sets, which is far lower than expected.

In the first quarter of 2022, the installed capacity of Tesla's solar energy system (including traditional solar panels and roof tiles) is about 48MW, which is only half of that in the same period in 2021. Why decrease? Tesla claimed that it was due to the delay in the import of certain components, which is out of the company's control. In the first quarter of this year, Tesla installed about 67MW of solar energy systems, a year-on-year increase of 40%.

According to data provided by EnergySage, considering the US solar tax credit, the average cost of installing a 10KW solar panel is about $20,000.