Documenting my experience installing 8.16 kw solar panels and two Powerwalls in Arizona. Hopefully, this is helpful to someone.
Summary: Few avoidable mistakes that were quickly corrected. Over-all very positive experience. Great people to work with.
Ordering: Ordered on Nov 30, 2020. My friend who ordered just a couple days before me saw a message online that if the install was delayed beyond Dec 31, 2020 and the 26% federal tax credit dropped to 22%, Tesla would make up the balance 4% by giving a discount. I didn't see that message when I placed my order. Customer support and my project advisor couldn't promise me that discount. Project advisor said she had escalated it to a manager. After a couple of weeks or 10 days, they told me that they will give me the 4% discount. Ultimately it was a moot point because the federal government retained the 26% tax rebate for the next couple of months.
People experience: Unlike a lot of horror stories I read, almost everyone I interacted with in Tesla was very helpful and prompt in replying. My project advisor cheerfully worked with me on everything I requested, and usually replied back to me within 24 hours. Email was the best way to reach her. Phone was unreliable. The local contractors (Icon Power) were also great, although my entire install took a full 7 days to complete everything. Whenever there were small issues to be fixed, the local contractors were quick to reach out to me, quick to come onsite, quick to fix. After reading all the horror stories of bad experiences of others, I felt very lucky.
Project pace: My friend who ordered solar panels only just a couple of days before me in late Nov 2020, had their install and PTO in mid Feb. My install was somewhat delayed. Not sure why. I thought may be because I also included Powerwalls. Tesla was very prompt in keeping the ball rolling on the design and permit process. I don't think Tesla slowed anything for me, except once. I saw them respond to emails, submit paperwork even on Saturdays. City of Phoenix and the APS, the local utility, were also equally prompt in completing their tasks. In fact, the longest I had to wait was to actually get my HOA approval. The actual approval letter that they said was already in the mail never ever reached me. Had to call them to have a copy emailed to me.
Detailed project schedule, all events, including errors and corrections:
Nov 30, 2020 - Placed order.
Dec 1, 2020 - Sent in all my paperwork, got approved for the loan.
Dec 1, 2020 - Received first version of design and accepted / approved it.
Dec 4, 2020 - Realized the design had been done for my neighbor's roof! Requested to have it updated for my roof. To my surprise, they wanted me to take a picture of the front elevation of my house and send it to them so that they can ensure they do the design for the right house! The revised design put all 24 of my panels on the South-facing roof. The estimate of my annual production capacity increased by almost 1000 kWh. The previous design made for my neighbor's roof had some of the panels facing West.
Dec 5, 2020 - Realized that my laundry dryer and cooking oven were not included for Power Wall back up. My cooking range was included though. Asked Tesla about it by email.
Dec 18, 2020 - Tesla sent an email confirming that they will give me 4% discount if the tax credit reduced to 22% in 2021. Tesla also emailed me asking for my house purchase contract since the county records showed someone else as the owner of my house! Turns out, they were looking at the wrong house!
Dec 19, 2020 - Tesla submitted for City of Phoenix and APS (local utility) permits.
Dec 23, 2020 - APS utility approval received. Reminded Tesla about my design question from Dec 5th.
Dec 29, 2020 - Tesla replied back to my design question. They basically told me to choose any two of the following 4 for Power Wall backup: cooking range, oven, AC, laundry dryer. They said two Power Walls were not enough to back up all of them. I chose the cooking range and the AC, as included in the original design. Still don't understand why I have to choose! I explicitly asked Tesla if the Power Walls would still support EV charging and they said they would.
Dec 29, 2020 - Tesla never explicitly asked for a copy of the HOA permission letter. However, my project advisor asked me to get it, just in case. Submit requested on the HOA website for the permit letter. Sent a copy of the Tesla design.
Jan 11, 2021 - Called City of Phoenix and learnt that my permit had already been emailed to Tesla. Wrote to Tesla to check about it.
Jan 13, 2021 - Tesla project advisor mentioned that they were waiting for some internal status update and loan department approval before proceeding to the next step. This is the only time when Tesla caused a delay. I am not sure when they received the City's permit and how long they sat on it. But I don't think it was too long because I was checking with the City almost every day.
Jan 15, 2021 - My install is scheduled for March 5, 2021.
Feb 3, 2021 - Noticed in the design that EV charging back up was not mentioned anywhere. Also, the inverter brand was not mentioned. Wrote to my project advisor to ask about it. Project Advisor replied back to say I am getting Delta inverter and that my EV charging will be backed up if I already have it. What? I don't have a Tesla car yet nor do I have any EV charger installed. I requested the project advisor to give the new Tesla inverter and also to ensure that the EV charger will be backed up. I decided to install the Tesla Wall charger, although I don't have a Tesla car yet, just so it would be backed up by the Power Wall!
Feb 11, 2021 - Tesla updated the design to include the Tesla inverter and also to back up EV charger.
Feb 11, 2021 - I read in these forums that there is no sales tax for solar equipment in Arizona. I checked my loan contract and noticed a line item for tax. Contacted my project advisor and received a new loan contract the same day with the tax line item taken off. #1371.70 saved!
Feb 18, 2021 - Finally got the HOA approval letter by email after repeated follow-up. They claim that they sent the printed copy on Jan 21st! I never got it.
Feb 22, 2021 - Got an email from Tesla requesting me to confirm my mailing address on the account so that they could send me the referrer check of $400 for my friend's solar install, which was turned on on Feb 11th.
Feb 26, 2021 - Tesla called to check if my install could be moved to March 1, 2021.
Mar 1, 2021 - Install day! Install was handled by local contractors Icon Power. 24 solar panels and Power Walls went up quite quickly. However, they said more work was left. They would complete the next day.
Mar 2, 2021 - Day 2. Almost everything was completed. But they had installed one large switch in my garage. The Tesla QA person who visited my site said it needed to be moved outside so that the utility people could have access to it. One disappointment - I noticed today that the roof-top conduit connecting the panels to the inverter is very long and visible on one side of the roof. They could have easily installed it in the attic. Kicking myself for not asking them about it in advance. Too late to change now.
Mar 3, 2021 - Day 3. Almost all install tasks are completed. There is a piece of dry wall that was cut out to connect wires to the new sub-panel in my garage needs to be repaired. Found that part of the dry wall behind my Tesla Wall charger was broken. The Tesla QA guy was kind enough to unscrew and reinstall my Tesla Wall charger in a better location.
Mar 4, 2021 - Day 4. Dry wall repair completed. Icon Power schedule the Fire Dept inspection for Monday, Mar 8th and the City of Phoenix inspection for Tuesday, Mar 9th. I was surprised how quickly they were scheduled for.
Mar 5, 2021 - Day 5. Some other last bit of pending work was done this day. I forget what it was... All in all, it took a full 5 days for them to complete all install tasks.
Mar 8, 2021 - Fire inspector didn't show up as scheduled! Surprised.
Mar 9, 2021 - Fire inspector showed up first thing in the morning so that she could finish her inspection before the City inspector came later. Fire inspection failed! There was to be a safety device installed in the garage that would detect smoke or fire, and set off the smoke alarms inside the house. That was missing. Icon Power came in the same day and installed the fire / smoke detector quickly, connecting it to my indoor smoke alarms.
Mar 10, 2021 - Fire inspection passes.
Mar 11, 2021 - City inspection passes.
Mar 15, 2021 - Tesla submitted revised design documents (changed Delta inverter to Tesla inverter) to APS utility for approval.
Mar 18, 2021 - APS approved revised design documents. Tesla requested for final utility inspection and meter set.
Mar 19, 2021 - Utility inspection didn't pass. Some of the labels on the outdoor equipment, switch boxes do not literally, exactly match the design document submitted to APS! Whaaat? Icon power person comes the same day, gets on the call with the APS person, and while they are both on the call, they agree on what additional labels are required and they put them up.
Mar 22, 2021 - Tesla submitted once again for final utility inspection and approval.
Mar 23, 2021 - Utility inspection didn't pass again! The wires in two of the switches - one for the storage meter and another for the solar meter - had the wiring switched. APS person called Icon Power person, and requested to have it fixed immediately so that he can return back later in the day and finish the inspection and meter set. Wow! Talk about customer service. Icon Power person came within the hour, he called the APS person who also reached there... they both agreed on what needed to be fixed and fixed it. Utility inspection passed, meters were set and my system was turned on. Uh-ho... Icon Power person found that one of the two "strings" was not showing power production. He said he would come the next day. It's been a cloudy day and I see very less power generated for half the day, but it already offset all of my electricity needs today.
Mar 24, 2021 - Icon Power guys came first thing in the morning, and spent 1.5 hours on the roof. Turns out the connections between the panels were not right. They fixed it, and turned the system, and everything worked okay now. I also got a notification from the utility that PTO has been provided. First full day of generation. Tesla app shows 372% energy offset as of 715 PM and 5 kWh exported to the grid today! Woohoo!