Tesla layoffs hit 20 percent of Solar City installation locations

Tesla Solar RoofLast week, Tesla announced it would lay off 9 percent of its workforce in an effort to keep its doors open as it tries to ramp up production of its critical Model 3 electric car. Now internal emails obtained by Reuters show that 13 or 14 of Solar City's installation centers will be shuttered as part of the layoffs. About 60 centers will stay open...

Tesla’s solar and battery project in Hawaii: we do the math

Tesla Kauai solar-energy generation and storage project  [photo: Tesla]Tesla’s summer announcement of the world’s biggest battery-storage system in South Australia characteristically kept key details confidential. Fortunately, while mystery and mystique still shroud that project, more can be unearthed or inferred for Tesla's solar panel and battery energy-storage deployment in Kauai, Hawaii, which came...

Tesla solar roofs can now be preordered; CA installations start in June

Tesla Solar RoofElon Musk, habitually behind schedule, announced on May 10 that anyone can now preorder a Tesla Solar Roof—a roof made of shingles with built-in solar cells. Musk had previously said preorders would open in April, and promised the product would cost less than a conventional roof if you factor in the energy savings. DON'T MISS: Tesla debuts...

Tesla offers South Australia battery storage within 100 days

Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk at Tesla Store opening in Westfield Mall, London, Oct 2013If only we could all be as optimistic, and energetic, as Tesla CEO Elon Musk. Even as Tesla gears up for mass production of the Model 3 electric car and a hoped-for annual production rate of 500,000 total cars by next year, Musk has found time to place a high-profile bet on the renewable energy part of Tesla's businesses. In this case, it has to...

Tesla’s battery farm on Kauai opens, large-scale solar energy for Hawaii

Solar Panels by Flickr user Chandra MarsonoEven before Elon Musk engineered Tesla's acquisition of SolarCity, the two companies were collaborating. SolarCity was already controlled by Musk, who believes its solar-energy business can be reinforced and complemented by Tesla's energy-storage business. Last year, Tesla announced a joint project with SolarCity to install a large battery farm...

Tesla stores to focus on energy as well as electric cars

Tesla Powerwall 2.0Tesla is perhaps best known for its electric cars, but the company has another prominent business as well. Its Tesla Energy division markets stationary lithium-ion battery packs for energy storage. Energy-storage systems can increase the utility of home solar arrays, meaning Tesla Energy will likely become more important now that Tesla is set to...