Tesla Solar: What to Know Before You Order
Tesla sells solar differently from almost everyone else, largely online with a standardised process. That has real advantages and real trade-offs.
Tesla offers solar panels, the Solar Roof tile product and the Powerwall battery, sold primarily through an online ordering process rather than in-home sales. The main considerations are limited design customisation, service handled through Tesla rather than a local contractor, and installation lead times.
What is publicly known
Tesla sells conventional solar panels, the Solar Roof tile product, and the Powerwall home battery. Ordering is largely online with standardised pricing, rather than through the in-home consultation model most of the industry uses.
The Powerwall is separately available through Tesla-certified third party installers, which is a different route from buying a full Tesla solar system and is worth distinguishing when comparing quotes.
The structural trade-offs
Standardised pricing
Transparent and easy to compare, but less room to tailor a design to an unusual roof.
Online ordering
No in-home sales pressure, which many people prefer. Also less scope to discuss options with someone who has seen your roof.
Service through Tesla
One party for equipment and service. Response times and escalation are Tesla's process rather than a local contractor's.
Solar Roof is a roof
The tile product replaces your roofing rather than mounting on it, so it only makes sense when you need a new roof anyway.
Local permitting knowledge
Interconnection and permitting still happen locally. Ask how familiar the installing crew is with your utility and municipality.
Verify these four things
NABCEP directory
Check whether the individuals doing your installation hold the industry standard credential. NABCEP certifies people, not companies, which is worth knowing when a company advertises it.
NYSERDA participating contractor list
In New York this is not optional. The NY-Sun rebate is only available through an approved contractor, and the state tax credit is calculated after that rebate.
Your state licensing board
Verify electrical licensing, and ask for current certificates of general liability and workers compensation insurance before work starts.
Third party review platforms
Google, the Better Business Bureau and EnergySage carry real customer reviews. Read the negative ones and look at how the company responded.
Questions worth asking
- Is this a purchase, a loan, a lease or a power purchase agreement? The answer changes everything else.
- If financed, what is the dealer fee, and what is the cash price of the identical system?
- If leased or a PPA, what is the annual escalator and what does the payment look like in year 20?
- Who actually performs the installation, the company or a subcontractor?
- What does the workmanship warranty cover, for how long, and who honours it?
- What production is guaranteed, and what happens if the system underperforms?
- Is a service upgrade included or excluded from this price?
- How does the agreement transfer if I sell the house?
Questions people ask about this
Tesla publishes standardised pricing, which makes comparison straightforward, but whether it is cheaper for your roof depends on your specific situation. Get at least one conventional quote alongside it so you are comparing against something real.
It replaces your roofing material rather than mounting on top of it, so it generally makes sense only if you need a new roof anyway. Compared against a new roof plus conventional panels, the economics are worth modelling carefully.
Yes. Powerwall is available through Tesla-certified third party installers, which means you can pair it with panels from another company. Certification requirements narrow which installers can fit and warrant it.
Through Tesla's own process rather than a local contractor relationship. Some people prefer having a single accountable party. Others prefer a local company they can telephone. Worth deciding which you value before ordering.
How to check any solar contractor
This is a new site with no customer reviews, so we are not going to show you any. What we can do is tell you exactly what to verify about whoever contacts you, and where to look it up. That applies to the installer we refer you to and to every other quote you get.
NABCEP certification
The North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners is the industry standard credential for solar installers. It certifies the individual professional who holds it, not the company, so a firm advertising it may have one certified person and twenty who are not.
How to check. Ask which named individual holds it, then search that name in the directory.
Search the NABCEP directoryNYSERDA participation
Registration in the state's NY-Sun programme. This one is not a nice to have: the New York State incentive is only available through an approved contractor, so using an unregistered installer forfeits it. Some also hold the Quality Solar Installer designation, which requires at least 12 NY-Sun projects in the past year and an average of 4 out of 5 on NYSERDA's own field inspections.
How to check. Search the company name in NYSERDA's list before you sign anything.
Check NYSERDA's contractor listLicensing and insurance
Appropriate electrical licensing for the work, plus general liability and workers compensation cover. A contractor without workers compensation can leave you personally exposed if someone is injured on your roof.
How to check. Ask for certificates of insurance naming you, and check the licence with your town or county before work starts. Do not accept a policy number alone.
Local experience
Interconnection is where most New York solar timelines slip, and it is handled very differently by Con Edison, National Grid, NYSEG, RG&E and PSEG Long Island. Permitting varies again by town.
How to check. Ask how many systems they have energised on your specific utility in the past year, and for two addresses in your county you can drive past.
NY Solar Finder is operated by RBR Growth Consulting. We are not a solar installer, we hold no industry certification, and we do not guarantee the credentials of the company that contacts you. We name these standards, and link to the bodies that issue them, so that you can check that company yourself before you sign anything.
Related reading
See what solar would look like on your roof
One local installer, one free consultation, one written proposal. Your details are never sold.