Interesting - SolarEdge support told me to send Tesla my case # to have the inverter replaced . But from what you are indicating Tesla has to send field rep to take a picture - why do they need a picture - wouldn’t remote diagnosis be more reliable than a picture. That said I already sent Tesla a picture. With respect to the timeline - another earlier poster said their local installer replaced an inverter in 10 days. When I originally called Tesla they scheduled the field service visit (to apparently take a picture) more than one month out. I called to complain and they found a slot 2 1/2 weeks out. How long do you think I will have to wait before my $47k Tesla system produces energy? So far it has been 3 months with 2 1/2 days of production. I believe a local installer would have been more responsive. But if you have a different experience please share.
You are right about poor scheduling. I am trying to get some panels replaced since last one month. The people at Las Vegas scheduling keep on scheduling crew on the worst snow days, when I send them local weather reports. The crew that came yesterday when there was 8" on snow on the roof told me they love working with Tesla for more than 6 years but their main concern is scheduling do not see ground realities and they are made to visit homes in worse weather - rain or snow and they have no concern. Hence making multiple trips is normal. I got a crew with 4 trucks come in yesterday when I kept on sending emails please reschedule as we have snow on the roof. Waste of time and money ...
Did you get quotes from competitors before going with Tesla? In my area, folks were asking for $2.50 to $3.50 per watt. Tesla's quote came in about $6,000 under the average local installer. My system would have to be broken and in need of repairs for about 23 months straight (even factoring lost SRECs) before I would save more money going with a local installer.
That's not always true, my first solar system (2016) I went with a highly rated local installer. 2 of my 3 SolarEdge inverters died over 4 years and had to be replaced. Both times it took them over a month to get a replacement in stock, then I had to wait for a tech to come out. I am going with Tesla this time....
There seem to be a few folks in this thread that have issues with premature failure of SolarEdge inverters. I wonder if anyone with the new Tesla Inverter has experienced failure? I might try to push for a replacement Tesla inverter vs a SolarEdge.
Another frustrating attempt by Tesla yesterday. I had triple confirmed with scheduling prior to the installation date that warehouse had SE inverters/optimizers in stock and my project is designed with SE. Guess what, whole crew came at 7:30am unloading everything, and once they opened the box revealing a flashy Tesla inverter. Same story about national shortage on SE inverters and no ETA when the crew called their warehouse managers. The whole crew travelled from east coast to help support the solar demand in California, and was told they had installed one SE inverter out of 10 projects. Going over with the crew lead about my plan and he agreed definitely fight for the SolarEdge inverters due to the sporadic layout of the panels and shading issues for my case. I would almost certainly produce less electricity with the 3-panel-sequenced MCI configuration on Tesla inverters. Calling my project advisor and he apologized somehow my BOM still listed Tesla inverters and would fix it right away, which I was told should’ve already done after the first installation attempt on 2/1. At this point I’m starting to get quotes from a few local installers and would start considering paying more for LG panel and Enphase inverters. I’m attaching my layout, 12 panels seems like the max I can go so probably the new LG panels with 425-440 watt output can benefit more in my case. Depending on the cost difference.
Hang in there @zonela hopefully you'll get your SE inverter on Monday! If so, I hope I get mine soon thereafter since that seems like Tesla got more SE inverters in finally. With a Tesla inverter, my total output will be significantly reduced, because multiple panels on multiple strings have to face different directions and will have some tree shade daily. AND there are no optimizers to compensate for that. Therefore the $130/month won't be as good of a value.
I had two Solar Edge inverters fail on my new system. First lasted one day, the 2nd never even connected. Tech said sometimes they can get a bad batch and it takes them several weeks to get a warranty replacement from Solar Edge. Just the way things are at this time. Believe that is one of the reasons they decided to make their own.
Are the optimal temp ranges on both similar? The Tesla inverter seemed somewhat low at 113 with AZ heat but I don’t know what the SE one is? I signed a new contract recently and my email states SE inverters. I wouldn’t mind the Tesla one as I like the look and would have assumed they would have used Tesla for all new installs. Shading is not an issue and I have full southern exposure on all panels.