Tesla updates its referral program, again, to restore solar panel installs—a referral can fetch you up to $500

The Tesla Referral Program provides an opportunity for fans to earn perks and/or cash rewards, by sharing a referral link with their friends and families.

Back in September of this year, Tesla ended its referral program for everything except its solar roof.

Now the company has updated the program website to say that solar panel purchases made with a referral link are eligible for cash awards.

According to the website, if a buyer uses your referral link, you get a cash rebate of $300 when they buy a traditional solar panel system or $500 when they buy a solar roof; once the system is installed and brought online.

This move seems like a complete revamp of the program, which is weird because an Electrek article quotes “a source familiar with the matter” as saying that “Tesla plans to eliminate referral links” with the justification that most referral link owners use the links to “spam on social media.”

It’ll be interesting to see how this turns out—but for now, it’s safe to say that Tesla is focusing on driving demand for its solar products.