July 12, 2023: Tesla agreed to spend just more than $6 million to resolve a class action lawsuit brought by consumers who faced sudden Solar Roof expense strolls after deciding to install the systems at their homes.

The Tesla Solar Roof was formerly known as Tesla’s “solar glass.” CEO Elon Musk first announced the plan in 2016 as an architecturally appealing roofing product that would generate energy and look as good as the shingles on a home without solar panels. The glassy solar roof tile he held up at a presentation for shareholders while touting Tesla’s then-planned purchase of SolarCity was later revealed to be a prop rather than a working prototype.

Tesla Solar Roof customers had signed contracts with the company and designed to have the designs installed at their houses when they were shocked by sudden price increases in 2021 that required higher payments to move ahead with their installations.

The price hikes were no small change. A lead plaintiff in the class action, Matthew Amans, caught his solar roof price increase from around $72,000 in his original contract to around $146,000 per court filings.

Tesla hiked prices for its solar installations nearly twice that year and made it a needed for clients which orders solar panels or roof tiles to call the Powerwall home energy storage system.

According to the amended course action settlement deal filed with San Francisco’s district court on July 10th as of the end of June of 2023, about 8,636 Tesla customers were affected by the price hikes. The surprise of the changing costs and terms for customers resulted in just over 6,300 canceling their Solar Roof contracts with Tesla Energy.

According to the filing, Tesla accomplished 1,656 Solar Roof contracts at the original price said to customers, with another 57 customers slated for Solar Roof installations at the authentic price as of the end of June. The remaining customers who have yet to cancel or book installations at the actual price amounted to 616 people.