New

Sr. Solar Field Reliability Engineer

Tesla Motors, Inc.
100,000 - 228,000 USD
paid holidays, flex time, 401(k)
United States, California, Palo Alto
Apr 16, 2026
What to Expect Tesla Energy is accelerating the world's transition to sustainable energy through the largest distributed fleet of residential solar systems on the planet. Our solar portfolio spans hundreds of thousands of systems across multiple generations of inverters, panels, and gateways,both Tesla-designed and third-party hardware. This fleet generates terabytes of telemetry data daily, creating an unparalleled opportunity to understand how solar hardware performs across diverse climates, grid conditions, and usage patterns over years of operation. We are seeking a Senior Solar Reliability Engineer to own the hardware quality and reliability lifecycle for this fleet. You will be the technical authority on solar field performance:parsing massive datasets to uncover subtle failure signatures, diagnosing complex failure modes that span electrical, thermal, and mechanical domains, and driving corrective actions that improve reliability for hundreds of thousands of customers. This is a role with true end-to-end ownership: from the first anomaly in the data to the countermeasure confirmed effective in the field. You will have direct visibility to senior leadership, the autonomy to shape reliability strategy, and the opportunity to build somethingmeaningful atscale. If you thrive on technical depth, cross-functional influence, and seeing your work translate into real-world impact, this role is for you. What You'll Do Own Solar Hardware Reliability:Monitor, analyze, and report on field failure trends across Tesla and third-party inverter/panel fleets. Quantify failure rates, service costs, and fleet impact Lead Failure Analysis Investigations:Drive 8D investigations from identification through root cause to countermeasure implementation. Coordinate with vendors, FA labs, and design teams to close the loop on hardware failures Produce Field Quality Reports:Author monthly/quarterly reliability reports for leadership,summarizing active investigations, failure rate trends, countermeasure efficacy, and cost projections Define Reliability Metrics & Data Pipelines:Establishdata signatures for failure modes, build dashboards to track fleet health, and integrate learnings into automated alerting and diagnosis systems Drive Corrective Actions:Translate root cause findings into actionable countermeasures:design changes, manufacturing process improvements, firmware updates, or field service campaigns. Track implementation timelines and confirm efficacy Coordinate Cross-Functionally:Partner with hardware design, firmware, manufacturing quality, and field service teams to ensure reliability learnings flow upstream into new product development Support Escalations:Provide Tier 3 technical support for complex solar thermal events and safety-critical escalations. Communicate technical findings clearly to both engineering and non-engineering stakeholders. What You'll Bring 5+ years of experience in hardware reliability, field quality, or failure analysis,with at least 3+ years focused on solar inverters, power electronics, or renewable energy systems Demonstratedexpertisein failure analysis methodologies: 8D, FMEA, fault tree analysis, Weibull analysis, and root cause investigation techniques Hands-on experience with power electronics hardware: inverters, DC-DC converters, gate drivers, capacitors, MOSFETs/IGBTs, thermal management systems Strong data analysis skills: Ability to query large fleet datasets (SQL, Python) toidentifyfailure trends, calculate failure rates, and quantify field impact Experience producing executive-level technical reports: Clear, concise communication of complex reliability data to leadership audiences Track recordof driving corrective actions to closure: BOM changes, design modifications, manufacturing process improvements, or firmware mitigations Excellent cross-functional collaboration skills: Ability to influence design, manufacturing, and service teams without direct authority Experience with solar inverter platforms (e.g., SolarEdge, Enphase, Fronius, SMA,Solectria, etc.) Background in solar panel reliability:hotspots, degradation, EL/IR testing, cell-level failure modes Familiarity with UL1741, IEEE 1547, or other grid-tied inverter safety standards Compensation and Benefits Benefits Along with competitive pay, as a full-time Tesla employee, you are eligible for the following benefits at day 1 of hire: Medical plans > plan options with $0 payroll deduction Family-building, fertility, adoption and surrogacy benefits Dental (including orthodontic coverage) and vision plans, both have options with a $0 paycheck contribution Company Paid (Health Savings Accounts) HSA Contribution when enrolled in the High-Deductible medical plan with HSA Healthcare and Dependent Care Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) 401(k) with employer match, Employee Stock Purchase Plans, and other financial benefits Company paid Basic Life, AD&D Short-term and long-term disability insurance (90 day waiting period) Employee Assistance Program Sick and Vacation time (Flex time for salary positions, Accrued hours for Hourly positions), and Paid Holidays Back-up childcare and parenting support resources Voluntary benefits to include: critical illness, hospital indemnity, accident insurance, theft & legal services, and pet insurance Weight Loss and Tobacco Cessation Programs Tesla Babies program Commuter benefits Employee discounts and perks program Expected Compensation $100,000 - $228,000/annual salary + cash and stock awards + benefits Pay offered may vary depending on multiple individualized factors, including market location, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. The total compensation package for this position may also include other elements dependent on the position offered. Details of participation in these benefit plans will be provided if an employee receives an offer of employment.