Tesla To Sell Solar Products In 800 Home Depot Stores Starting This July
By Amanda Froelich Truth Theory
As of July 2018, 800 of Home Depot’s 2,200 stores will begin selling Tesla solar products. Everything from the infamous Powerwall storage battery system to solar panels to rooftop solar systems will be available to purchase in high-profile, 12 foot high x 7 feet wide displays, located in the stores.
As Clean Technica reports, the new marketing strategy eliminates the need for SolarCity to go door-to-door. An estimated one-third of the cost of the rooftop solar systems SolarCity sold went to commissions, promotional costs, and office overhead. By displaying its solar products in Home Depot, Tesla will save money and receive exposure to a much broader market.
Tesla will be able to meet the demand for its products, thanks to its Gigfactory 2 located in Buffalo, New York. As Bloomberg reports, Tesla is also partnering with Panasonic to manufacture solar panels at the same location. According to the company’s website, prices for a Tesla rooftop solar system range from $10,000 to $25,000. The Powerball energy storage battery costs an extra $7,000.
As Elon Musk has stated in the past, it is his hope that adding residential solar systems becomes a seamless process. Once a customer chooses which technologies they would like to install, Tesla will take care of the permitting, engineering, installation, service, and repairs under warranty. This may entice more consumers to invest in solar — for their personal benefit, and for the environment. Whether or not the new tariff proposed by the Trump administration in recent weeks will affect Tesla is unknown.
Reportedly, there is a rumor that Lowe’s, a competitor of Home Depot, is also considering adding Tesla displays in its stores. This has not been confirmed by Tesla, Home Depot, or Lowes, however.
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