Tesla quietly held an “Installer Day” amid a move to rely more on third-party installers for its energy business.
Over the last year, we have been reporting on Tesla making a major change in strategy in its solar and energy storage business.
Ever since Tesla acquired SolarCity in 2016 and turned it into its own solar division, there have been many ups and downs, but mostly downs.
Despite launching its own products, like new solar panels and the infamous Tesla Solar Roof, the company has never been able to maintain the level of quarterly solar deployment that SolarCity had prior to the acquisition.
We previously noted that Tesla would likely move more to a supplier role in the solar industry with the goal to own the “brain” behind energy installations in order to deploy products like its virtual power plants and its new “Tesla Electric” electricity retailer.
Tesla first started by certifying third-party Powerwall installers. The company later used the same approach for its solar roof product with its solar installers and roofing companies.
More recently, Tesla even started to provide its solar panels and solar inverter to other installers.
For all those products, Tesla has still been operating its own installations, but it has been winding things down and increasing its reliance on third-party installers. Electrical companies for Powerwalls, solar installers for its solar and energy storage products, and roofing companies for solar roofs.
Last month, we reported on Tesla laying off employees related to planning and installing solar products in the US as it moves to rely more on third-party installers.
To keep up with the trend, we now learn that Tesla held its first “Installer Day.”
Over the last few years, Tesla has been holding events to explore particular aspects of its business, like “Battery Day,” “AI Day,” and “Investor Day.”
Now, it is adding “Installer Day” to the mix with the first event held in Sydney, Australia last week.
Derek McKercher, a solar installer in Perth, posted about the event on LinkedIn:
The inaugural Tesla installer day was attended by some of the most inspired, passionate and influential minds. It’s always great to come together. The key takeaway: this technology is going to change the world.
He shared a few pictures of the event:
Tesla presented its latest energy products to installers, including the new Powerwall 3.
A couple of other local Australia solar installers recorded a quick video of their impressions of the first Tesla Installer Day:
We are told that Tesla also quietly held a similar event for installers in the US earlier this summer.
It looks like Tesla wants to build a big community of certified installers to deploy its energy products around the world.