Tesla's solar power generation installations are decreasing, but the battery business is doing well

Image credits: tesla

Tesla's once-leading solar power business is in decline, according to the latest numbers from its 2023 fourth-quarter earnings report.

Importantly, Tesla revealed that its solar power generation totaled 223 megawatts (MW) last year, a 36% increase from 348 MW in 2022. Tesla's contraction comes in the wake of the U.S. economic downturn, while high interest rates have slowed solar power growth in some markets. A record year overall. According to estimates from SEIA, a solar power industry association, the United States will add 33 gigawatts of solar power capacity in 2023.

This year has been a bad year for Tesla solar, the worst year since 2020. But zooming in, the final quarter of 2023 looks even worse. In Q4 2023, Tesla's solar installed capacity was 41 MW, down 59% year over year from 100 MW in Q4 2022.

But Tesla's power generation and storage business is doing relatively well (surprise, surprise). The company announced that energy storage deployments in 2023, including Powerwall home batteries and utility-scale Megapacks, will exceed 14,724 megawatt hours (MWh), an increase of 125% from the previous year.

Tesla has commented that energy deployments are expected to fluctuate somewhat from quarter to quarter, and the company's fourth quarter results reflect this. The automaker installed 3,202 MWh in the fourth quarter of 2023. This was a decrease compared to the previous three quarters, but an increase compared to the same period last year (Q4 2022).