What happened to SolarCity?

SolarCity was once the biggest name in American residential solar — and one of the biggest in San Diego, where it ranked among the county's top installers in the early 2010s. Tesla acquired the company in November 2016 for about $2.6 billion, and by early 2017 the SolarCity brand was gone. The systems it installed didn't go anywhere, though: thousands of San Diego roofs still carry SolarCity-era arrays, now administered by Tesla Energy.

Tesla's residential solar business has been shrinking for years — deployments fell 36% in 2023, the company stopped publishing solar numbers, its installation teams went through repeated layoffs, and in August 2026 it discontinued the Solar Roof tile product. Tesla still administers legacy systems, but support runs through the Tesla app — there's no phone number to call for solar service — and independent review sites carry a steady stream of complaints from legacy SolarCity customers about multi-month waits for repairs.

The first question: lease or own?

SolarCity's signature product was the $0-down, 20-year lease — at its peak, roughly 95% of what it deployed was leased rather than sold. Those leases typically carry a 2.9% annual payment escalator, and the 2010–2016 contracts are now in their second half, expiring between 2030 and 2036.

If you lease: Tesla owns the system and is responsible for maintaining it — file service requests through the Tesla app, in writing, and keep records. If you're selling the house, budget time for Tesla's lease-transfer process (initiated from your Tesla account, with a transfer agreement and processing fee). We can't service equipment Tesla owns — but the roof under it is yours, and that's where we come in.

If you own it — bought out the lease, purchased outright, or financed — nobody is obligated to maintain your system, and a local shop can usually get to it far faster than an app queue.

The Zep problem every SolarCity roof shares

Here's the part most homeowners learn the hard way. SolarCity bought Zep Solar in 2013 and mounted most of its arrays on Zep's rail-less system, which uses special "Zep Groove" channels built into the panel frames themselves. After the Tesla acquisition, Zep hardware became proprietary to Tesla — it stopped being sold to other installers, matching modules can be hard to source, and working on the racking takes Zep-specific tools.

That matters most when your roof needs replacing. Tesla's own published process for panel removal involves a service agreement, fees, a 7–10 business day response window — and up to a 30-day wait after the reroof before reinstallation. Tesla's policy does allow qualified third-party contractors to detach and reset the panels; the practical requirements are the right tools, careful handling of aging Zep-framed modules, and clean documentation so warranty and interconnection records stay intact. That's exactly the kind of seam work we do — roofing (C-39), electrical (C-10), and general building (B) under one license, one crew, one written warranty.

What we do for SolarCity-era systems in San Diego

• A $399 solar system and roof inspection report — credited toward your job — production audit, wiring and connector inspection, and a hard look at every penetration a 10-to-15-year-old install has been making in your roof, with findings in writing.
• Diagnostics and repair on owned systems under an active C-10 license — SolarCity-era arrays commonly run SolarEdge inverters with DC optimizers; failed optimizers and aging inverters are the era's classic faults, and in many cases we can replace failed equipment at no cost to you under the manufacturer's warranty. Our inspection report tells us whether you qualify.
• Reroofs under leased or owned arrays — we handle the roof and the detach-and-reset planning so a Tesla-era array doesn't turn your reroof into a two-contractor standoff. (See: does a reroof end your NEM 2.0 grandfathering?)
• Monitoring and battery upgrades on owned systems — getting monitoring under your own name, and storage sized for NEM 3.0 economics.

Estimates are always free. One company, one license set — B, C-10, and C-39 — CSLB #1130793. Call (858) 541-1097.

Why now

A SolarCity array installed in 2012–2016 is now 10 to 14 years old — prime age for optimizer failures, brittle wiring, and flashing that's due for attention. Most of these systems still have years of manufacturer warranty left on major components, but claims get harder as records age. A one-visit inspection tells you what's working, what's failing, and what the roof underneath looks like — and the $399 report is credited in full toward any work you hire us for.

Different installer? See our guides for Vivint Solar (now Sunrun), SunPower, Titan Solar Power, and what solar actually costs in San Diego now.