Am I making a mistake

[wjgjr]

Looks were a driving factor for us. Plus we were able to get an additional 3 kW higher rating (9->12 kW). And then Tesla discounted the PW installation since their install was done concurrently with roof (same with panels).

It is not a product for every install. But, if you need a roof and want solar it is a great package.

Agree that looks were an important factor for us and I'm glad the timing worked out (in as much as one can be glad to replace their roof) to do the solar roof instead of panels.

Like you say, it is not for every install, and I do think that is going to be the challenge - unless and until the price drops significantly, it will be hard to justify unless a new roof is needed (or will be needed in the next couple years.) And even then, if the roof already has solar panels, it may still be hard to justify versus re-installing the panels.

That is why I feel like Tesla really needs to strike deals with builders - especially in places like CA that are requiring solar on new construction.

 

[JayClark]

My experience matches much of what has said here. Solar/Energy installation and support is extremely bad. You do have to think of yourself as the general manager, or project manager, and baby-sit and push every step of the way and deal personally with the poor communication and "stalls" of forward progress at multiple points.

Truly, it is was mind boggling how bad their coordination and support was (and tweeting elon didn't help . In addition, we had a post commissioning inverter problem (SolarEdge inverter failed) where we had a 10 week outage which was extremely frustrating. But even with all of that, I strongly believe there is no better integrated options for solar and battery, and to be honest I would go through it all again on my next house - the products and prices are that good, saving me enough money at the end of the day to make it worth while, given we're an all electric car household.

Next time I'll just know I'm dealing with a vendor that unfortunately needs lots of hassling and oversight to get things done, and even then it will take 10 times longer that you think it should at every step.

Also, based on my experience DO NOT ever get upset on the phone with them at any point. Their support is very over worked, and not always very professional or well trained, and they will Flag you in the system as hard to deal with... and often will let your project just sit since they are so busy, and like any human they'll just choose to work on one of the 50 problems that other customers are having... but that are not flagged as "hard to deal with" and "upset" customers in their issue management system. At one point I had a support person read back to me what a rep had written about me in the system because of one call where I expressed how extremely frustrated I was and where I asked to escalate to a manager. Turns out it was the supposed "manager" that wrote I was being difficult. Also turns out the "manager" was just another support rep - not an actual Manager. It was probably about 10th support person I dealt with at that point eventually told me this is probably why I was never receiving call backs, nobody wanted to deal with me at that point, and they had a backlog of other customer issues to deal with. She was also the one that eventually got somebody to schedule a tech to simply just come and replace the inverter - after 10 weeks of no solar.

But again, oddly enough, I'd do it again, but "manage" Tesla, and my emotions better next time.

 

[charlesj]

I think they are all bad.

We were moving forward with Petersendean(P-D). Took 2 to 3 weeks to get a sales rep to return our calls. Then we said we want to see a couple of homes with their roof on (we were doing roof + solar). 2-month delay to get an address. We decided to go forward and sent $1000. They go radio silent for a couple of months. Our queries were responded to "we are working on getting you on the schedule".

...

Did you get your $1k back?

 

[charlesj]

While I didn't have the OPs experience at a couple of times during change of persons overseeing project, one lady couldn't find her own email to me.
But, was handed back to a great person previously and went pretty well.
I did have a bid for batteries only from another source first as I installed my own panels in 2012, and after a while got a price for two Tesla batteries, $28K. The company allowed me to question the electrician how it would be installed as I have the solar 20A break on a 2nd story subpanel and rewiring the house was not an option. They were going to use wire gutters, etc.

Then I contacted Tesla, made to deposit and the rest is history. A $10K saving on the job and a super clean install.

 

[holeydonut]

I think they are all bad.

We were moving forward with Petersendean(P-D). Took 2 to 3 weeks to get a sales rep to return our calls. Then we said we want to see a couple of homes with their roof on (we were doing roof + solar). 2-month delay to get an address. We decided to go forward and sent $1000. They go radio silent for a couple of months. Our queries were responded to "we are working on getting you on the schedule".

Around October Elon shows off the V3 SolarRoof. We decide that is what we want. After we have a preliminary design from Tesla, P-D finally gets back to us and wants to start in 2 days. We tell them we are looking at other options and they get upset. Calls from sales rep, sales manager, etc. Threats and harsh language. We tell them we are going with Tesla. Radio silence since then. Tesla installed SolarRoof and 2 Powerwalls. Even with Covid-19 shutdown install is done in 30 days. Then a week or so ago I get a letter stating P-D has filed Chapter 11. I can submit a claim for our money back, but we are at the back of a long list. I am just going to write off the money.

If I were you, I would still submit a claim. A deposit up to $2,850 for prepaid services is considered a priority unsecured claim:
Code Section 507(a)(7)
11 U.S.C. § 507 - U.S. Code Title 11. Bankruptcy § 507 | FindLaw

This places your claim higher on the list than even some government fees and owed monies to external vendors (like suppliers and advertising fees). Since P-D is just restructuring, they should just be shedding the bottom parts of their debt stack and your $1,000 would have a material chance of being repaid.

I can't imagine P-D behaving like some highly levered hedge fund; so they should have reasonable liquidity after dealing with their secured debt.

Plus, submitting a claim on Primeclerk should just take a few minutes of your time.

Disclaimer IANAL and you gotta do what you feel you gotta do.