Taking its eyes off the road, if only momentarily, Tesla (TSLA +0.91%) provided homeowners with better insight into how much they can save by going solar with the company's new pricing for its systems. In a post on its blog, Tesla claimed Friday, citing using data from the Solar Energy Industry Association's recent report, that its "average system size is now one-third less expensive than the industry average."
However, it's not only the lower price point that Tesla is using to warm prospective customers up to its solar solution. Tesla is also providing a price match guarantee for any systems that includes an inverter, a minimum 10-year warranty, and is the same size or larger than the Tesla solar system the customer has ordered. For customers who have a change of heart after purchasing the system or are unhappy with it, Tesla promises to uninstall the system and issue a full refund within seven days from system turn on.
Image source: Tesla.
How much can customers expect to pay? While pricing will vary depending on where the customer lives and the available incentives, Tesla provides some estimates on its website, where it advertises a range of options from a small 4.08 kilowatt (kW) system for $7,400 after federal incentives to an extra large 16.32 kW system for $22,200 after federal incentives.
Since its acquisition of SolarCity in 2016, Tesla has failed to grow its solar business at a pace comparable to that of its automobiles -- a source of frustration for investors who had high hopes that the deal would prove lucrative. At the time of the acquisition, SolarCity was a dominant player in the residential solar market, but its market share has fallen meaningfully in the intervening years.
