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SolarCity poised for rapid growth as residential solar installations soar
The recent merger of Tesla and SolarCity introduces a new era in residential solar energy generation. With the demand for solar energy in the U.S. rising each year, benefits to both our environment and the nation’s economy increase. The trend toward residential solar installations does require efficient planning and execution of public policies. It also calls for analysis of the status of residential solar in order to move toward an enhanced solar integration across the U.S.
What does residential solar look like today in the U.S.?
Residential solar today is primarily a coastal phenomenon, although more than half of the states have enough residential solar to power at least a few thousand homes. Yet, in the third quarter of 2016, the U.S. surpassed all previous quarterly solar photovoltaic (PV) installation records: 4,143 megawatts (MW), or a rate of one megawatt (MW) every 32 minutes. That pace is even faster today, as the fourth quarter will surpass this past quarter’s historic total, according to the Solar Energies Industry Association (SEIA).
“The solar market now enjoys an economically-winning hand that pays off both financially and environmentally, and American taxpayers have noticed,” Tom Kimbis, SEIA’s interim president, said of the recent rise in residential solar. “With a 90 percent favorability rating and 209,000 plus jobs, the U.S. solar industry has proven that when you combine smart policies with smart 21st century technology, consumers and businesses both benefit.”
Here are the top five U.S. states with residential solar rooftops in September, 2016:
- California: 3,258 MW
- Arizona: 539 MW
- New York: 444 MW
- New Jersey: 386 MW
- Massachusetts: 361 MW
These levels are considered ample to power a significant number of homes in their regions.
What’s the potential for other states to increase residential solar in the near future?
In order to power more than a few thousand homes and to become a major energy source across America, solar saturation must become deeper across existing states and more widespread among states that currently provide limited residential solar. Rooftops provide a large expanse of untapped area for solar energy generation, according to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). What’s needed to reduce costs and losses often associated with transmission and distribution of electricity? Onsite distributed generation, such as that which is available from SolarCity and others. Yet, to create a paradigm in which onsite distributed generation can become a reality, different and sometimes dissonant potentials must be addressed.
Technical potential considers multiple factors in a given region, such as resource availability and quality, technical system performance, and the physical availability of a suitable area for development. In other words, it measures how much of the total resource can actually be captured. It is often the only area of focus when residential solar is discussed.
However, in order for solar to reduce pollution, help homeowners to lower utility bills and gain more energy independence, technical aspects of the larger solar equation must work in sync with resource, economic and market potential.
- Resource potential is the entire amount of energy in a particular form for the region;
- Economic potential is possible generation quantity that results as a positive return on the
investment of constructing the systems; and, - Market potential estimates the quantity of energy expected to be generated from the deployment of a technology into the market. It considers factors such as policies, competition with other technologies, and rate of adoption.
A study from the NREL indicates that, taking into account these four types of potential, there are broad regional trends in both the suitability and electric-generation possibilities of rooftops. Although only 26% of the total rooftop area on small buildings is suitable for PV deployment, the sheer number of buildings in this class gives small buildings the greatest technical potential.
What factors contribute to successful onsite distributed solar generation?
Small building rooftops could accommodate 731 GW of PV capacity and generate 926 TWh of PV energy annually, according to NREL, which represents approximately 65% of the total technical potential of rooftop PV. Think about how much energy could be generated by rooftop solar panels in each state if they were installed on all suitable roofs. Of course, the amount of suitable roof area, which takes into account factors such as shading, roof tilt, roof position, and roof size, must be included in any potential residential solar project planning.
The folks at SolarCity truly believe that, in every state, home rooftop solar could be a major energy resource. With research data backing their conclusions, they feel that U.S. total home solar capacity could increase 100 times over, and each state could meet 10-45% of its electricity needs from residential solar alone.
Add in roofs of medium and large buildings, and the solar integration number rises to 40 percent of all the electric demand in the continental U.S. By comparison, all rooftop solar today combined provides less than 0.5 percent of the nation’s electricity.
The potential for home rooftop solar to become a major energy source is enormous — in every state. And SolarCity argues that, the sooner that homes across the country become a part of that future, the more years they’ll have to enjoy its benefits.
Sources: Solar Energy Industries Association, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, SolarCity
Tesla Senior Vice President for Automotive Tom Zhu, a key executive behind the company’s success in China and Giga Texas, recently highlighted the “prime directive” of Full Self-Driving (FSD).
Zhu’s comments emphasize Tesla’s uncompromising focus on safety, which has made the company’s vehicles among the safest on the road.
Echoing Musk’s vision for safe autonomous driving
Zhu’s post quoted Musk’s statement from 2021, where the CEO reportedly stated that FSD must avoid accidents even if the most ridiculous events happened in the middle of the road. Zhu stated that beyond everything, Tesla’s systems like Autopilot and FSD are designed to keep passengers safe.
“Elon said it in 2021: “For self-driving, even if the road is painted completely wrong and a UFO lands in the middle of the road, the car still cannot crash and still needs to do the right thing. The prime directive for the autopilot system is: Don’t crash. That really overrides everything. No matter what the lines say or how the road is done, the thing that needs to happen is minimizing the probability of impact while getting you to your destination conveniently and comfortably,” Zhu stated.
“The prime directive, the absolute priority, is to minimize the probability of injury to yourself or to anyone on the road, to pedestrians, or anything like that. It can’t be dependent on the road markings being correct.”
Tesla leadership rallies behind global FSD rollout
Tom Zhu, who previously led Tesla China through its record-breaking growth phase, now oversees automotive operations worldwide. He has reportedly become a problem solver for Elon Musk over the years, with previous reports stating that he was brought in to help Giga Texas optimize its vehicle production ramp.
Zhu’s comments may sound ambitious, but FSD has proven that it values safety above all else over the years. This was highlighted recently in an incident in Australia, when a Model Y was hit by what could very well be a meteor. Despite the impact and part of its windshield melting, the vehicle was able to drive safely and keep its passengers safe.
Elon Musk
Elon Musk’s biggest tech rival just canceled his Tesla Roadster
“I really was excited for the car! And I understand delays. But 7.5 years has felt like a long time to wait,” Altman said.
Elon Musk’s biggest tech rival just canceled his reservation for a Tesla Roadster, the supercar the company has been developing for nearly eight years.
Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, announced on X on Thursday evening that he canceled his Tesla Roadster reservation, or at least is trying to:
A tale in three acts: pic.twitter.com/ClRZBgT24g
— Sam Altman (@sama) October 30, 2025
Altman placed his Tesla Roadster reservation with a $50,000 deposit way back on July 11, 2018. However, he recently decided that he had waited long enough and decided to email the company to officially cancel the order.
“Hi, I’d like to cancel my reservation. Could you please refund me the $50k?” Altman emails to reservations@tesla.com.
He then received an immediate response, but not from Tesla. Instead, it was a bounce-back message from Google, stating that the message could not be delivered to the email because it was not active.
Altman then provided a reason for his cancellation, and it was not related to the intense rivalry he had with Elon Musk:
“I really was excited for the car! And I understand delays. But 7.5 years has felt like a long time to wait.”
I really was excited for the car! And I understand delays. But 7.5 years has felt like a long time to wait.
— Sam Altman (@sama) October 30, 2025
Altman and Musk have a lengthy history with one another that dates back to 2015, when OpenAI was created. The feud has resulted in lawsuits over breaching founding agreements by prioritizing profits.
Musk has been especially critical in recent years because of Altman’s decision to turn OpenAI into a for-profit business that he says is “built on a lie.”
This year, Musk offered over $97 billion to buy OpenAI, and a judge blocked his request to stop the company from being converted into a for-profit in March.
OpenAI then countersued Musk in April, while xAI, Musk’s company, sued OpenAI for allegedly stealing secrets through poached employees in September.
Elon Musk explains why xAI sued OpenAI over alleged trade secret theft
Regarding the Roadster, Tesla has been developing it for several years and has delayed its release for five consecutive years. The company says it will have a demo of what it has changed since it was unveiled in 2017 later this year, but no date has been set quite yet.
News
Neuralink’s first human patient reflects on 21 months with brain implant “Eve”
He credited Neuralink and Elon Musk for giving him “the opportunity to be the first,” as the experience has been life-changing.
Nolan Arbaugh, the first person to receive Neuralink’s brain implant, shared his 21-month update this week, reflecting on how far he’s come since his groundbreaking surgery.
Arbaugh, who became paralyzed after a diving accident, stated that his Neuralink implant, which he fondly calls “Eve,” continues to transform his daily life.
Arbaugh celebrates Neuralink’s progress
In his post on X, Arbaugh revealed that his hands-on involvement with Neuralink has decreased as more participants have joined the program. “The team might call me to test something once in a blue moon,” he wrote, adding that he’s happy to see others experience the technology’s full potential, from operating robotic arms to typing on keyboards with thought alone.
He credited Neuralink and Elon Musk for giving him “the opportunity to be the first,” as the experience has been life-changing. Despite a recent pressure sore that temporarily kept him bedridden, Arbaugh noted that he is still very optimistic, describing his journey as one of resilience, faith, and gratitude. He also teased “big news” coming for his two-year update in early 2026.
Studies and a growing public speaking career
These days, Arbaugh stated that he is focused on his studies in neuroscience, taking full-semester courses in chemistry, biology, and pre-calculus while earning top grades. He credited “Eve” for making school possible again, as his current academic workload would have been “impossible without Neuralink.” Arbaugh stated that he has also begun building a speaking business after delivering a paid talk at Fortune’s Brainstorm Tech conference.
“At the beginning of September I attended the Fortune Brainstorm Tech conference in Park City, Utah, as a paid speaker. That sentence seemed like an impossibility two years ago. But it’s just the beginning. My business is built, my legal is near complete, I’m surrounding myself with a team of amazing folks, and I plan on speaking once or twice a month in the same fashion beginning as soon as January.
“Conferences, interviews, podcasts—you name it, and I want to be there spreading the word about how amazing this technology is, the growth it’s experiencing, the possibilities of the future, and how it has so deeply affected my life,” Arbaugh stated.
Tesla top exec Tom Zhu highlights Elon Musk’s “prime directive” for FSD
Elon Musk’s biggest tech rival just canceled his Tesla Roadster
Neuralink’s first human patient reflects on 21 months with brain implant “Eve”
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