Tesla Energy Solar reviews
• last updated FEB 26, 2026Loading map...
The Verdict
Tesla solar is a gamble you will almost certainly lose. We analyzed hundreds of reviews and found a company that routinely ghosts customers during breakdowns, causes roof damage it won't fix, and runs a support system seemingly designed to frustrate people into giving up. One customer paid $25,000 for a system that barely produced energy because Tesla used the wrong inverter setup for a shaded roof, an issue any site survey should have flagged. Another went nine months without panels after a reroof, still paying the lease while Tesla ignored every follow-up call. The pattern is consistent: systems fail (inverters die every few months, firmware updates brick the app, voltage spikes fry appliances), and when you need help, you're routed to a chatbot that schedules repairs two months out. In one case, an electrical panel error caused by missing neutral wiring blew out a washer, dryer, and entertainment system. The repair wait for a total power shutdown? Four weeks, because Tesla doesn't classify "no electricity in winter" as an emergency. If you want solar from a company that answers the phone when something breaks, this is not it.
If you're weighing Tesla purely on upfront cost, the price may look appealing. But when your inverter dies in July and the next available appointment is October, that discount evaporates. Choose an installer with a track record of answering calls and honoring service commitments.
Reviews That Shaped Our Verdict
In 2016 Jen C. signed a 20-year PPA and had SolarCity install panels on her roof. In 2019 she discovered a major leak coming from a mounting puck that hadn’t been installed correctly, which ruined insulation and damaged the bedroom interior. After Tesla bought SolarCity, crews removed the panels, relocated them elsewhere on the roof, and replaced the ruined insulation and Sheetrock—yet the problems never truly stopped. Over the years leaks kept recurring in that same bedroom: two in one spot, another nearby, and now a total of seven separate leaks over the room. She ended up with six buckets in the attic and a coffee can catching drips, while Tesla insists the problem is the roof (which was replaced in 2008) and points to the contract to avoid further responsibility. Tesla had just been back in July to address multiple leaks, and one month later she found seven more, almost all new; no one else has been on the roof and there are no leaks elsewhere despite panels over the front and garage. The most lasting image is this: she’s left with buckets and a coffee can in her attic and no clear contractual way to force Tesla to fix the repeatedly caused damage.
Prav moved forward with a Tesla Solar system that finally got activated five months after he submitted the application — only after three attempts to secure city approval. The array ran without issue for about a year until one morning the lights began flickering and appliances started doing a power-on/off dance. PG&E checked and found the utility side balanced at 120/120, but the voltage at his breaker box was all over the map — readings down in the 30s and up near 200 volts on different checks — so they shut off service and told him to contact Tesla. When he called Tesla on Nov 30, scheduling treated a complete loss of household power as non‑urgent; the earliest tech they offered was Dec 22, effectively leaving him without heat or hot water for weeks. Faced with cold nights, he hired an after‑hours electrician who, within five minutes of opening the panel, laughed and pointed out there was no neutral connection. The electrician tied the neutral in and restored power, but the voltage swings had already killed the washer, dryer, home entertainment system and a bunch of LED lighting. Prav is now chasing Tesla for reimbursement, but getting a response has turned into a drawn‑out,,
When Darine moved into her new house in early 2021 she sought a solar setup to erase an average $330 monthly electric bill. Tesla gave a preliminary estimate online, collected past bills, and assured her their design would cover her usage — a promise that convinced her to pay just over $25,000 in full for a 36-panel system after a couple of roof inspections that declared the roof itself in good condition. She chose Tesla despite previous positive experience with SunPower because Tesla promised an optimized, tech-forward solution. By the August true-up, she discovered the system had produced almost nothing: a single bill landed near $3,100, effectively negating the expected savings. She spent countless hours in chats and phone calls — about six hour‑plus conversations and many app messages — trying to get answers. An outside energy technician examined the meter and found next to no output, then suggested the array used a string-inverter layout with only a few inverters, so shading on any portion of a string would shut down large portions of production. That explanation was new to her. Tesla eventually sent a technician after charging $200. He confirmed there were four inverters,認d
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Serving customers for 10 years
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What You Can Expect
Scott chose Tesla Solar for the low price, brand name and promise of easy ordering for his home, but under a two-year track record he discovered the system never hit the promised output and then went dark for about two months when a firmware update failed to install. He watched the company move slowly: it took three weeks just to decide to send someone and another three weeks to get the earliest appointment, which wiped out his peak production and peak-usage months. The outage added roughly $700 to his electric bill. When a technician finally arrived, the panels were back online in about two hours — a quick fix after a six-week wait that left him feeling abandoned by a company that had appeared cheap and convenient at purchase.
Doug J. had a years-old solar array on his home and arranged for Tesla to remove the panels so a new roof could be installed. What was supposed to be a short interruption stretched: the removal alone took more than two months. Now he's been told it will take another four months to put the panels back on, despite an original promise of about a two-week turnaround. He faces roughly six months or more without his system — a much longer disruption than the company initially communicated.
Edmund B. signed a $42,110 contract for a 21-panel Tesla Energy solar installation on his Southern California home on 9/27/22 and quickly discovered the project would demand more than he expected. He learned during installation prep that his roof had moss — a problem that cost him just over $2,000 to remove — and he also had to dig up a small tree at the side of the house. Because the sales rep was not local, an on-site visit never happened early in the process, and he ended up absorbing unexpected coordination and expense for work he wanted fully outsourced. He and his wife both work full time and parent young children, so they needed the company to bring local contacts; instead the sales rep could only explain that Tesla Energy is separate from Elon’s Tesla and couldn’t help find roof crews. He was passed between account managers after signing; the first suggested he could power-wash the roof himself before the installer would proceed, which led him to hire a pro who spent two days with lift equipment to do the job and later earned his recommendation. A second account manager tried scheduling the 21-panel install as a secondary job of the day, so he insisted the team take it as a