Dive Brief:

• Tesla’s SolarCity is giving up its door-to-door approach to selling residential solar panels, according to Greentech Media.

• Instead, the company told GTM it intends to expand its “retail and online channels for energy products.”

• The shift appears to be part of Tesla’s wider efforts to reduce customer acquisition costs by reducing how much it spends on advertising and, instead, selling solar power products in Tesla stores.

Dive Insight:

In its first financial report after its acquisition of SolarCity, Tesla reported a $121 million net loss. At the time, the company said it would “prioritize cash preservation over growth of MW deployed."

The company plans to focus on profitability instead of growth, it said to investors, as well as ramp up its battery production.  Part of that focus includes a reduction in advertising spending, selling SolarCity products in Tesla stores and shifting away from its leasing model, which accounted for more than half of the market share this year. 

“After careful consideration, we believe this decision reflects what most of our prospective customers prefer, and will result in a better experience for them,” Tesla told Greentech Media in a written response.

But it appears the company is on track to meet its soft deadline for the much-anticipated solar roof offering. Tesla never offered a hard deadline. Some rumors said the company delayed its roll out of the product, but another article said the company is slated to introduce two of its four solar roof tile offerings this summer as previously planned.