Companies Elon Musk’s Tesla loses the lead in residential solar energy in the US Sunrun has overtaken the sector’s pioneer — but the whole sector is missing the marketing drive led by SolarCity, which Tesla bought a year ago BL PREMIUM

New York — Elon Musk is no longer leading the charge in residential solar. Tesla installed 87MW of commercial and residential solar in the fourth quarter, including about 50MW at homes, according to a GTM Research estimate. Rival Sunrun added 85MW of residential systems in the same period, according to a statement on Tuesday. Counting only that part of Tesla’s operation, Sunrun took the lead in the third quarter. The changing of the guard comes more than a year after Tesla bought Musk’s debt-burdened SolarCity for $2bn. Tesla has since prioritised profitability in solar over growth at all costs, as the company seeks to transform itself into a solar and battery giant to complement its electric vehicles. Tesla has ceded solar market share in most quarters since that deal, and without SolarCity trumpeting solar, the US residential market contracted in 2017 after at least 16 consecutive years of growth. "SolarCity was the marketing and lobbying machine for the entire industry, and every...