Tesla Energy Operations, Inc. is the sustainable energy division of Tesla, Inc. that develops, manufactures, sells and installs photovoltaic solar energy generation systems, battery energy storage products and other related products and services to residential, commercial and industrial customers.
The division was founded on April 30, 2015, when Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced that the company would apply the battery technology it developed for electric cars to a home energy storage system called the Powerwall. In November 2016, Tesla acquired SolarCity, in a US$2.6 billion deal, and added solar energy generation to Tesla Energy's business. This deal was controversial; at the time of the acquisition, SolarCity was facing liquidity issues.
The company's current power generation products include solar panels (manufactured by other companies for Tesla), the Tesla Solar Roof (a solar shingle system), and the Tesla Solar Inverter. The company also makes a large-scale energy storage system called the Megapack. Additionally, Tesla develops software to support its energy products.
In 2023, the company deployed solar energy systems capable of generating 223 megawatts (MW), a decrease of 36% over 2022. In 2024, it deployed 31.4 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of battery energy storage products, an increase of 113% over 2023. The division generated $10.1 billion in revenue for the company in 2024, a 67% increase over 2023.
History
Tesla's expansion into battery energy storage
As Tesla, Inc. developed batteries for its electric car business, the company also started experimenting with using batteries for energy storage. Starting in 2012, Tesla installed prototype battery packs (later called the Powerpack) at the locations of a few industrial customers.[3] In November 2013, Tesla announced that it would build Giga Nevada, a factory to produce lithium-ion batteries.[4][5]
The Tesla Energy brand was introduced on April 30, 2015, as CEO Elon Musk announced that the company would apply its battery technology to a home energy storage system called the Powerwall. Five hundred pilot units were built at the Tesla Fremont Factory in California and installed during 2015. The Giga Nevada factory started limited production of Powerwalls and Powerpacks in the first quarter of 2016
Products and services
Tesla Energy develops, builds, installs and sells solar energy generation systems, battery energy storage products, as well as other related products and services to residential, commercial and industrial customers.
Solar energy generation
Solar panels
Tesla Energy sells and installs traditional solar panels on existing roofs, which the company calls "retrofit solar systems" (as opposed to its Solar Roof Tiles).[52] Unlike the company's other products, Tesla Energy does not build its own solar panels. As of April 2022, the company uses private label Tesla-branded solar panels built under contract by Qcells.[53] Previously Tesla used panels from Panasonic as part of a larger partnership between the companies until Panasonic exited the solar business in January 2021.[31]
Controversies and lawsuits
SolarCity purchase
Some investors criticized the 2016 purchase of SolarCity, calling it "a misguided effort to rescue two companies that depend on investors and the government for operating cash."[79] In 2019, multiple shareholder groups filed a lawsuit against Musk and Tesla's directors, claiming that the purchase of SolarCity was done solely to benefit his cousin Lyndon Rive (Co-founder of SolarCity) and Elon Musk and came at the expense of Tesla and its shareholders.[80][81] Tesla directors settled the lawsuit in January 2020, leaving Musk the sole remaining defendant.[82][83]
External links
References
- Annual report Form 10-K 2024 Tesla Inc. January 29, 2025, retrieved February 23, 2025^
- Annual report Form 10-K 2023 Tesla Inc. January 29, 2024, retrieved January 29, 2024^
- Daniel Terdiman. How Tesla's Commercial Batteries Have Changed The Future...For Winemakers?