Bay Area powerwall installs delayed again?

[astrorob]

my long-delayed powerwall installation (april) was delayed due to the shelter-in-place. at some point in the last month or so i checked my tesla account to find that they had scheduled july 7/8th for the main panel upgrade and install. they never communicated this to me but it was at least in my account.

since the date was upon me, i checked my account again last night only to find that those dates are gone and i'm being asked to call in to schedule again.

did this happen to anyone else? when i called the scheduling dept yesterday the queue was 1h deep (!)

it makes sense that there could be a backlog, but since i had already been bumped from april to july, i figured that was it.

 

[jboy210]

my long-delayed powerwall installation (april) was delayed due to the shelter-in-place. at some point in the last month or so i checked my tesla account to find that they had scheduled july 7/8th for the main panel upgrade and install. they never communicated this to me but it was at least in my account.

since the date was upon me, i checked my account again last night only to find that those dates are gone and i'm being asked to call in to schedule again.

did this happen to anyone else? when i called the scheduling dept yesterday the queue was 1h deep (!)

it makes sense that there could be a backlog, but since i had already been bumped from april to july, i figured that was it.

It could be due to the upgrade from the Powerwall Gateway 1 to smaller and cooler looking Gateway 2.

Another possibility is that everyone and their brother wants Powerwalls installed before the late summer/fall PSPS season. Last year's PSPS (4 days without power) is what triggered us to get 2 Powerwalls installed with our solar roof.

A tip for getting to the scheduling department is call early. It think they start at 7 AM.

 

[astrorob]

OK great, i'll call tomorrow morning early.

if they have any sense of seniority on installs, i should be near the top of the queue. i made this order last november and due to a series of setbacks i'm still waiting.

hopefully the GW2 has something to do with it, it would be nice to get the latest equipment in return for all the delays.

 

[jboy210]

OK great, i'll call tomorrow morning early.

if they have any sense of seniority on installs, i should be near the top of the queue. i made this order last november and due to a series of setbacks i'm still waiting.

hopefully the GW2 has something to do with it, it would be nice to get the latest equipment in return for all the delays.

I believe GW2 is what they are installing these days. So hopefully you will get lucky.

I know if GW2 would have been available I might have pushed to have it installed inside the garage with the PWs. GW1 is a standard electrical box so we relegated it the outside wall with the rest of the boxes.

 

[SMAlset]

We've been waiting for our install since ordering in the Jan/Feb timeframe. We were suppose to have our solar installed the last week of March with PWs in the fall when they had teams available and could schedule. Also turned out we needed a main panel upgrade and since Tesla was booked out for months were were told for that work we opted to hire our own electrician to do the work. He got the permit, and the day he was to start in March, our county shut down and our city building department along with it, not permitting the work. End of March while waiting we decided to upgrade our system from 2PWs to 3. Our city was still WFH but at that point was processing permits but we were told weeks behind with all the contractors' request and things were moving very slowly. In mid-May we got the main panel work finalized when the inspectors were able to go out to the field for these type of "non-essential" home projects. Coming back to our additional PW, our city made our TE team file a separate permit for the additional PW so more time and cost to TE involved. This was early June and that got approved mid-June.

When TE lowered prices on our solar panels in June we called them on 6/25 to get a status on our project and hoping for some update on a scheduled date. We also inquired about the GW2 which we had told TE back in Jan/Feb if it was available come install time that we wanted the newer equipment (was going inside our garage next to the PWs). They said they were updating the accounts and there was a note on our account that GW2 was to be installed. We spoke with them again like a week later when we received our Engineering plans filed with the city and noticed it still referred to GW1. We questioned if the city would have a problem with a GW2 being installed if GW1 was on the plans. We were told an update had been filed with the city on the 26th and they were awaiting the permit now from the city before they could schedule installation.

All I can say is it has been a long process and covid and our city (who supposedly has been very proactive in getting solar installs approved and finalized) has been our stumbling block on a number of occasions. If it takes our city 2 weeks or more to get the approved permit to TE then we should be coming up on scheduiling soon. It is what it is I guess. Covid has taught patience. From TE's end we've been told we are essentially ready to go except now for the permit in their hands and a date. I'm just hoping our county doesn't close this type of work again due to covid statistics. Good luck OP on yours.

 

[astrorob]

thanks @SMAlset - so maybe this is related to the main panel upgrade then. anyway i am on the line with the scheduling department now. they say that PGE flaked on confirming the disconnect/reconnect date of tuesday jul 7 and never confirmed with them that they would be on site. so they are going to try to talk to PGE to set up a new date. oh well.

 

[jboy210]

We've been waiting for our install since ordering in the Jan/Feb timeframe. We were suppose to have our solar installed the last week of March with PWs in the fall when they had teams available and could schedule. Also turned out we needed a main panel upgrade and since Tesla was booked out for months were were told for that work we opted to hire our own electrician to do the work. He got the permit, and the day he was to start in March, our county shut down and our city building department along with it, not permitting the work. End of March while waiting we decided to upgrade our system from 2PWs to 3. Our city was still WFH but at that point was processing permits but we were told weeks behind with all the contractors' request and things were moving very slowly. In mid-May we got the main panel work finalized when the inspectors were able to go out to the field for these type of "non-essential" home projects. Coming back to our additional PW, our city made our TE team file a separate permit for the additional PW so more time and cost to TE involved. This was early June and that got approved mid-June.

When TE lowered prices on our solar panels in June we called them on 6/25 to get a status on our project and hoping for some update on a scheduled date. We also inquired about the GW2 which we had told TE back in Jan/Feb if it was available come install time that we wanted the newer equipment (was going inside our garage next to the PWs). They said they were updating the accounts and there was a note on our account that GW2 was to be installed. We spoke with them again like a week later when we received our Engineering plans filed with the city and noticed it still referred to GW1. We questioned if the city would have a problem with a GW2 being installed if GW1 was on the plans. We were told an update had been filed with the city on the 26th and they were awaiting the permit now from the city before they could schedule installation.

All I can say is it has been a long process and covid and our city (who supposedly has been very proactive in getting solar installs approved and finalized) has been our stumbling block on a number of occasions. If it takes our city 2 weeks or more to get the approved permit to TE then we should be coming up on scheduiling soon. It is what it is I guess. Covid has taught patience. From TE's end we've been told we are essentially ready to go except now for the permit in their hands and a date. I'm just hoping our county doesn't close this type of work again due to covid statistics. Good luck OP on yours.

I heard from a neighbor that does contracting that in Alameda and several other counties they are facing a severe shortage of people to check plans and other details for permits. Apparently they were putting people on temporary layoff or reduced hours. But a lot of these people were qualified for their pensions and just retired instead since they ended up making the same or more money than working part-time.

And your permits sounds like they sailed through. We completed construction in April 2 and still do not have the permits figured out between the city and Tesla. So we cannot get final inspection and move toward PTO.

 

[SMAlset]

I suppose there’s also the possibility that workers (TE’s, City’s permit dept. or inspectors, or PG&E‘s employees) could have either tested positive for covid or been near someone who did and got put on a 14-day quarantine schedule. That could put a damper on moving jobs ahead quickly.

 

[astrorob]

the covid thing is certainly possible. though when i was having trouble with my inverter starting up in the mornings and i determined it was an overvoltage problem, PGE was out within 15 minutes. of course, if they have to prioritize stuff it's going to be "emergency" services and not run of the mill stuff.

anyway tesla promised that someone would call me back today to discuss the situation with PGE, and that didn't happen. so i guess bright and early tomorrow i'll be calling scheduling again to follow up.

 

[astrorob]

they contacted me via email monday giving a mid/late july date for MPE, however, apparently the powerwall installation itself remains unscheduled. they did not reply to my reply accepting the new date.

 

[kpinthebay]

Ordered my system mid-June (4.25 kw system + 1 PW) and already have an install date of Sept 4.

 

[astrorob]

ok - island electric (alameda) came out yesterday and did the main panel upgrade. they did a great job but unfortunately due to the specifics they had to run a huge conduit outside between the old main panel and the new one. not unusual but a bit of a downgrade since my old panel was recessed into the wall and stuccoed around when the house was being built.

also unfortunately for me tesla was gun-shy about scheduling and so wouldn't schedule the PW install until after the MPU was complete. so now i'm on their schedule for november... which means we'll probably suffer another year of PSPS shutdowns.

anyway it is forward progress at least.

 

[jboy210]

ok - island electric (alameda) came out yesterday and did the main panel upgrade. they did a great job but unfortunately due to the specifics they had to run a huge conduit outside between the old main panel and the new one. not unusual but a bit of a downgrade since my old panel was recessed into the wall and stuccoed around when the house was being built.

also unfortunately for me tesla was gun-shy about scheduling and so wouldn't schedule the PW install until after the MPU was complete. so now i'm on their schedule for november... which means we'll probably suffer another year of PSPS shutdowns.

anyway it is forward progress at least.

Sorry to hear about the install long date. Tesla seems to be very overloaded with work since they dropped the prices.

Also, surprised to hear Alameda Island is subject to fire season PSPS.

 

[SMAlset]

I know for us our city wouldn’t give the go ahead for our solar/PW work until our main panel upgrade had been finalized. The main panel upgrade definitely set our installation back some. So far we still have a mid-August solar/PW install date and just praying at this point that the big Calif. surge in covid cases/hospitalizations doesn’t shut down this type of work again. People who won’t wear masks and who don’t follow social distancing protocols are the big problem here as I see it and have set us back with infections big time plus are thereby costing our economy from moving forward. After Memorial Day and 4th of July long weekend I’m expecting California’s circumstances to get much worse. I hope things improve (people’s attitude and infection level wise) in the coming weeks before flu season sets in and puts more people at risk and all of you scheduled for the fall can get your projects completed. Also hope PG&E moves quickly to get people their PTOs.

 

[astrorob]

Also, surprised to hear Alameda Island is subject to fire season PSPS.

well, i don't live on alameda but i suppose island is an electrician that's nearby enough that they would be sent here to do an upgrade.

I know for us our city wouldn’t give the go ahead for our solar/PW work until our main panel upgrade had been finalized. The main panel upgrade definitely set our installation back some.

like they wouldn't issue a permit? for this project tesla pulled a permit for both the MPU and the PW installation, and that was done months ago. a city inspector actually showed up during the MPU upgrade and signed off on the meter portion of it, but i guess left before the whole thing could be inspected, and the electrician said he and the inspector would come by in the coming days. so the permit must be good.

i feel like people east of the tunnel are a little less on-board with the masks and stuff but on this side people seem to have gotten with the program. i haven't really taken the threat of another shutdown too seriously since we're not really in AZ or FL territory at this point but i realize that it could happen at any time. if this gets pushed into 2021 it's really going to hurt 'cause the ITC steps down again...

 

[SMAlset]

....like they wouldn't issue a permit? for this project tesla pulled a permit for both the MPU and the PW installation, and that was done months ago. a city inspector actually showed up during the MPU upgrade and signed off on the meter portion of it, but i guess left before the whole thing could be inspected, and the electrician said he and the inspector would come by in the coming days. so the permit must be good.....

Tesla had applied for the permit but then we got the call from them that the City said the main panel had to be upgraded so Tesla had to come back to us with the good news. The city issued the permit but there was a note included about the load center. Tesla was told it needed to met two requirements (end feed and 225A bus). I'm assuming that meant any inspection wouldn't pass without it and the permit couldn't be finalized until then, and we wouldn't be able to get our PTO. A permit was taken out for the main panel upgrade, the work done, rough inspection followed by a final inspection after all the stucco work was completed. That permit was finalized so now on to the solar and PW work.

 

[astrorob]

i see - in my case the MPU was elective, so they applied for a combined permit the 2nd time around. the city was apparently OK with the original plans so i guess they were doubly OK with the MPU plan lol.