Tesla Cuts Prices Of Solar Systems To Counter Drop In Federal Rebate

January 21st, 2020 by Kyle Field

Ringing in 2020 brought many changes to the US solar industry, including a drop in the US federal incentive for residential solar systems. The tax credit fell from 30% of the solar system cost to 26% effective January 1st, 2020. This first step-down in the tax credit is a small piece of recognition for just how much the financials for solar have improved over the last 10 years.

Tesla made a serious push on the solar side of its business in 2019, including the introduction of a rental model that lets homeowners add solar to their home for just $100 down and a flat fee per month thereafter. To drive economies of scale, Tesla standardized its solar systems to four sizes.

This week, Tesla responded to the smaller federal incentive by slashing prices across its four options — small, medium, large, and extra large out-of-the-box solar systems. For example, the after-rebate price of Tesla’s small 3.8 kW solar panel system was slashed from $8,342 to $7,770, a 6.9% drop compared to the price of the system just last week.

The falling prices create what Tesla CEO Elon Musk called a money printer and make the systems even more financially attractive for those considering a rooftop solar system.

To further sweeten the deal, Tesla also beefed up its referral program for solar systems. Customers signing up for a new Tesla Solar system using a referral link will earn a $250 award. The person referring new customers to purchase or rent a new Tesla Solar system also gets a $250 award. It’s not cash, but does add a nice perk to the purchase of a system that’s already pretty cool by itself. The awards cannot be redeemed for cash, but can be used to purchase more Tesla swag, vehicles, or products.

If CleanTechnica has helped you learn about Tesla or Tesla’s Energy products, feel free to use my Tesla Referral code — https://ts.la/kyle623 — to get free Supercharging miles for purchasing a new Tesla vehicle or a $250 award after activating a new Tesla solar system. If you’re anything like me, the award serves as a nice bonus after doing something great and feels a lot like finding a toy in a box of cereal, back when that was still a thing.









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