Tesla Reached 1,000 Solar Roof Production In A Single Week, Exceeding 4MW

Tesla's Q1 earnings followed a powerful quarter in which the electric car maker earned $5.985 billion in revenue and $1.24 earnings per share, which exceeded Wall Street estimates.

The company reported in its Shareholder's Letter for Q1 2020 that Gigafactory New York had reached a significant milestone. In one week, the production of solar roofs exceeded 4 MW, which is enough for the production of up to 1000 houses. Tesla said that it will continue to work to ensure that the number of roofs produced matches the number of installations:

"We will continue to onboard new installers in order to synchronize our ability to both produce and install Solar Roofs. Feedback from Solar Roof owners has been very positive."

The customer reviews that installed Solar Roofs are indeed the most positive, and at the moment the number of product orders exceeds the actual capabilities of the installation speed, which today is the main problem.

Photo by ERIC WESOFF

Roof installation is a difficult task, which is complicated by the fact that installer team must remove the old roof from the house. “Demand is good, production is good. The hold up is the installation,” Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk said, stating that installing the Solar Roof is the hard part. To install 1,000 roofs per week, a company needs 1,000 installer teams. Tesla is also thinking of collaborating with other companies in order to help with installations.

During a earnings call, Musk noted that before Tesla’s entire production was shutdown due to COVID-19, the Solar Roof ramp really gained momentum. However, he is optimistic about the flagship product. “I’m confident that maybe by the end of the year, we may be installing about a 1,000 a week,” Musk said. Tesla CEO noted that outside North America there is great interest in Solar Roofs, especially in China.

Featured image: Tesla