There seem to be a lot of weird behaviors with the app. I still get inaccurate data for the day 3 days ago, and my 2020 numbers are less than lifetime (even though lifetime = 2020) because for some reason March doesn't get included in 2020.
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Considering solar panels, looking for sizing/financing advice
- Thread starter willow_hiller
- Start date
Hmm, any advice for how to best get information out of Tesla post-PTO? Trying to follow many of the steps from @wjgjr 's Maryland Post-Install Activities thread, and running into a brick wall with contacting my advisor, where the general customer service line just tells me to contact the advisor.
Especially since my system was half financed, I'm missing a required "Proof that the project is paid for in full (a copy of the final invoice showing a zero balance)." I assume since Tesla has been paid in full by Mosaic they would be able to provide me with this. Also missing that NABCEP name and address; I don't know if this is the same for every install or varies from state to state.
Likewise I still have a hole in my basement wall that Tesla said they would need to schedule a carpenter to fix, but I was never given an opportunity to schedule that repair. I'm tempted to message my advisor saying that I'm withholding writing my positive public reviews until my project is fully complete, but I don't want to be a mean customer. I'm hoping they're more responsive after the end of quarter rush...
Especially since my system was half financed, I'm missing a required "Proof that the project is paid for in full (a copy of the final invoice showing a zero balance)." I assume since Tesla has been paid in full by Mosaic they would be able to provide me with this. Also missing that NABCEP name and address; I don't know if this is the same for every install or varies from state to state.
Likewise I still have a hole in my basement wall that Tesla said they would need to schedule a carpenter to fix, but I was never given an opportunity to schedule that repair. I'm tempted to message my advisor saying that I'm withholding writing my positive public reviews until my project is fully complete, but I don't want to be a mean customer. I'm hoping they're more responsive after the end of quarter rush...
For the invoice, I would suggest trying to call the billing department if you can't get your advisor to respond (the number others have posted that previously worked for paying by CC.) I would think they should be able to provide that to you since they presumably generate the invoice.
If you get that and all that is missing is the NABCEP name, I can PM you that, but, like you said, I have no clue how much they use the same name for a given region or if it is specific to the project/team. (And it may have changed in the last several months.)
I don't see is as a problem to message your advisor to include withholding the review - it can be phrased nicely - "I'm looking forward to writing a positive review about my Tesla Solar experience, but before doing so, I would like to fully complete the project. There are a few punch-list items remaining...." Then mention the hole repair as well as the pieces of documentation you need.
If you get that and all that is missing is the NABCEP name, I can PM you that, but, like you said, I have no clue how much they use the same name for a given region or if it is specific to the project/team. (And it may have changed in the last several months.)
I don't see is as a problem to message your advisor to include withholding the review - it can be phrased nicely - "I'm looking forward to writing a positive review about my Tesla Solar experience, but before doing so, I would like to fully complete the project. There are a few punch-list items remaining...." Then mention the hole repair as well as the pieces of documentation you need.
Got a response from the advisor, scheduling team is meant to reach out to me this week about the carpenter, and the final invoice will be sent to me within 90 days (good thing MD gives us up to 12 months to submit).
Also, it seems like the Energy Support team was wrong in saying the advisor was still responsible for these queries:
"For any further maintenance or inquires on your solar system, I would recommend that you contact our Energy Customer Support team as they assist in matters related to your project following system activation. I only have visibility on your project’s details from post-order up through activation. They can be reached at 877-731-7652"
Still no word about the NABCEP address, so I might try calling the 877 number once I get my other documents.
So for anyone else relying on an advisor for communications, get your queries in before PTO!
Also, it seems like the Energy Support team was wrong in saying the advisor was still responsible for these queries:
"For any further maintenance or inquires on your solar system, I would recommend that you contact our Energy Customer Support team as they assist in matters related to your project following system activation. I only have visibility on your project’s details from post-order up through activation. They can be reached at 877-731-7652"
Still no word about the NABCEP address, so I might try calling the 877 number once I get my other documents.
So for anyone else relying on an advisor for communications, get your queries in before PTO!
90 days is a long time - maybe it is because of the financing, because otherwise it is something that they should be able to do in a couple days at most. I got mine much faster than that (of course it was 90 or so days from my inspection/last payment to PTO, so it didn't matter that it came quickly.) Hopefully the NABCEP thing can be answered - that just seemed to flummox my advisor for a while before he got the info (probably some internal research was involved.) At one point, I had been told there were specialists who would help with the rebate processes, but then that never materialized.
It is good you have some time on filing for the MD credit. At least it seems like it has plenty of funding. I am currently approved and in the middle of the 6-8 weeks (or 8-10, depending on which set of instructions) they say it takes for the check to be cut from the state.
What device is displaying that information? My understanding is that the current SolarEdge inverters no longer have a screen to display data."There has been the following activity on your Solar PV project. Your project is in the In Service status."
Is this PTO?? Am I finally ready to pull the big switch outside??
Edit: It's alive! Nice bright sunny day to turn on.
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Edit edit: Hmm, one unresponsive optimizer?
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Edit edit edit: False alarm. It just took a minute. We're up to full steam
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Yeah it's my SolarEdge inverter. Model number SE11400H - US000SNC2.
As far as I can tell with a Google search, I'm the only person to ever post about this particular model online. Looked up the serial number on SolarEdge's website and it's described as "IA Inverter, 11.4KVA, US, SolarCity ZB, DCD/RGM2."
SolarEdge says the warranty is valid until May 2031 (I don't know if it's possible to ascertain a build date based on that).
I’m supposed to get the SE11400 inverter also. According to Tesla, they expect the County permit to issue around October 9, with an install sometime thereafter.
I am under the impression that the current inverters no longer have the display. As for when your inverter was manufactured, it has a 12 year warranty, so a 2031 warranty expiration minus 12 years implies it was built in May, 2019.
You can extend the 12 year warranty to 25 years during, I believe, the first 2 years of ownership. You pay a fee to SolarEdge (not Tesla) for the warranty extension. The cost depends on the inverter model. I believe it costs approximately $400 for the SE11400 inverter. Check with SolarEdge if you are interested.
willow and wj, I am also in Maryland and am installed, awaiting inspection (next week) and PTO. Two questions: 1) what was time from inspection to PTO? and 2) did Pepco allow you to do the peak day? With powerwalls, I feel like that's easy money. I believe we cannot do time of use (right?) so just curious. Also, would love to see data on what I can expect from my 11.3 solar roof system, so definitely will go over your numbers.
1. The county inspector came by on August 31, and PTO was September 21.
2. I think we're still eligible for the peak day (I should have hit around 7 kWh under whatever my baseline was). But I just went to check and got greeted with "MyAccount on Pepco.com will not be available due to system upgrades. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. Thank you for your patience." So I'll have to check tomorrow! Never personally looked into TOU because the on-peak rates were always way too high for it to be worth it for our home.
My numbers were always really close to PVWatts, if you haven't checked out their calculator yet I would recommend it: PVWatts Calculator Only thing that really needs to be accounted for is system size and the cardinal direction.
My process was much longer than @willow_hiller between inspection and PTO, but that seems to be at least partly due to a need by Tesla to submit revised plans that they did not do as quickly as they could. (It may also be related to being possibly the first solar roof PEPCO authorized.) So for me it was about 3 months.
I agree we should be eligible for the peak savings days but also see PEPCO accounts are unavailable. As to it being easy money, it sort of is - but it was only for one hour of one day this year and it probably will only bring in like a $5 credit for us (with a ~8.2 kW system) - great for doing nothing, but won't be a huge change in the economics. Notably, PWs aren't even necessary for this credit since the credit is relative to your high-use days from the past month, so the big thing is it being sunny so you are generating solar. (As an aside, I attempted to set it as a peak time in the Tesla app so that it would ideally export all solar to the grid and power the home off PWs, but it did not work - not sure if that is just because I had never used advanced modes before and Tesla needed to "learn", but it did not work as intended. However, since we weren't running the A/C, we only lost about 0.6 kWh of potential savings.)
TOU rates with PEPCO are either closed to new customers, a closed pilot, or seem to be unavailable with the NEM rider. So yes, I believe they are unavailable to us.
I would second the suggestion to try out PVWatts to get production estimates. For me, August was really close to PVWatts. September was a bit low, which I am attributing to being unusually cloudy (though I cannot verify that.) PVWatts will likely give you numbers higher than what Tesla estimated.
Thanks. Tried pvwatts and THINK I come in just abit higher than Tesla (1k or two). Got all excited because at first I was like 3k higher, but then I realized I had to change the azimuth (everything else was pretty close). Hard to tell with my system because it is split on two roof faces, but it looks like I'll be 1-2 k higher on an 11.3 system. I think.
Yes, sorry, went back and read the thread and saw you already answered part of that. Hoping mine gets closer to willow's timeline. I can say my permit revision was much faster. Took only a week, and the inspection is already lined up for next week. I know Pepco is reviewing, as well, according to their tracker. DO you guys remember when you got the SREC paperwork? I feel like I saw something about that already and hope I paid close enough attention to fill it out correctly.
With two roof faces, just run each through PVWatts separately and add the results together. It does not seem like there is any other way to specify multiple roof planes in a single entry.
You cannot file the SREC paperwork until PTO (you will need the signed interconnection agreement from PEPCO, which they should email to you when you get PTO,) though you can make sure you are prepared with the other documentation you will need. I'm not sure if you are planning on using SRECTrade or somebody else, but the SRECTrade application is pretty straightforward, and they handle all the interaction with the state.
The biggest application you will want to get in right away is the battery storage credit, since it sounds like you have PWs. While it appears there is plenty of money in the program, applications must be submitted by 1/15 and any issues fixed (I believe) by the end of January. Still plenty of time, but, unlike the solar grant, the battery credit seems to be based on the calendar year and has hard deadlines.
Well, so much for PEPCO claiming that "within a few days, we'll follow up to let you know how much you saved." For the moment, they claim there have been no peak savings days for 2020 (they do show the 2019 days.) Looking at usage data, it should be either 4 or 5 kWh saved (depending on how they round.) Also found it amusing that our home is now "great" for energy efficiency - of course, they are including our solar in the calculation, which makes unsurprising we use less net electricity than similar "efficient" homes.
Oddly enough, in addition to the Peak Savings day missing, Pepco is now missing my "Similar Home Comparison" as if I've never received a bill before. But it does seem like they've added a handy "Bill to date" tab which I haven't seen before. Nice to see a live impact of my generation.
I hadn't noticed that being added, but I definitely like seeing "You’ve used about -16.6 kWh so far this billing period." I wasn't expecting any negative bills until the spring, but with it being so cool here the 2nd half of September (and my billing period starts around the 15th) we have not run our A/C at all this billing cycle.
And actually, I think their calculation might be bugged as they then claim that the cost is +$2 so far. In fact, it should be -$2.
Are they adding fixed monthly costs in that? Here, at least, we pay about $10 per month no matter what, just for the privilege of being connected to the grid.
Sorry - I should have been more clear. Our base monthly fee is $8.50. The new bill to date screen says I have used -16.6 kWh so far this billing cycle and that the cost of that is +$2, for a total of $11 (there is obviously some rounding going on.) But, since we don't have TOU rates (and today, 10/1, is when winter rates begin, so the data as of this morning is all using the same summer rate), a negative amount should mean a negative cost of electricity (and at about $0.14/kWh, -$2 is about right.) I know PEPCO doesn't pay out credits (though I don't recall at the moment if the $8.50 can be offset) but in any case, my number should be either reflecting the base charge or the base charge minus the $2.
So far, they have handled the billing correctly, so I'm thinking if anything this really is just a bug in a new feature (on what is one of the worst websites I use,) but something odd.
I was under the impression that excess credits are paid out at the commodity rate at the end of each fiscal year in April:
"If your generation exceeds your usage for a given month, you will receive a credit for each excess kilowatt hour, to be applied in later months when you generate less electricity than you consume. Utilities may not charge net metered customers new or additional fees or rates that they don’t charge non-generating customers of the same rate class. At the end of each 12-month billing cycle in April, utilities will compensate net-metered generators for their excess credits during that period at the average annual commodity electricity rate for their utility or their electricity supplier. So, while the regulations permit a customer to produce up to 200 percent of their annual usage from solar, for any generation more than 100 percent the customer is compensated in April at a lower rate for that excess."
Net metering in Maryland - Solar United Neighbors
