Going for it - new Solar Roof install scheduled

[TheRedPill]

Hello All,

Just wanted to chime in here to say that I've pulled the trigger - going for a complete system: Solar Roof plus qty 2 Powerwall 2's. Installation is happening this week!

 

[TheRedPill]

We decided to go for a 10kW system, with whole house backup with the two PowerWalls. Let's hope the install goes smoothly.
We realized that covering everything before the demolition, both inside, and outside, was an important step to help prevent any damge or debris from getting all over the place. We are scheduled to have the PowerWalls installed next week.

 

[d21mike]

I am going thru the process. How did you pick 10kw system. Did you go with Tesla? On the web site it has 8kw and 12kw but no 10kw. I am going thru the process now and Tesla is not that responsive. How was your experience? How long has been the process? What is the output of your panels (300,310,320,350 etc)? Thanks.

 

[woferry]

The system sizes in 4k increments are Tesla's current setup for traditional panels, not a Solar Roof.

 

[Odiemac]

Very cool!

Just curious, do they guarantee a yearly minimum production for Solar Roofs like they do for normal panels? What did they quote you for your design with 10k DC solar roof?

 

[d21mike]

The system sizes in 4k increments are Tesla's current setup for traditional panels, not a Solar Roof.

Oh. Sorry missed “roof”.

 

[TheRedPill]

I am going thru the process. How did you pick 10kw system. Did you go with Tesla? On the web site it has 8kw and 12kw but no 10kw. I am going thru the process now and Tesla is not that responsive. How was your experience? How long has been the process? What is the output of your panels (300,310,320,350 etc)? Thanks.

This is for a Tesla Solar Roof, so it can be scaled based on a much finer resolution, I believe. We came about this 10kW system because it was rated to be our "max solar" amount, based on our estimated usage.

 

[TheRedPill]

The process took a while for us...
Made the $1k deposit back in May 2017.
First Contact was Oct 2018.
Got serious in Feb 2019
Got really serious in May 2019. Paid $2.5k commit deposit.
Went back and forth on financing options.
Tear roof apart in August 2019.

 

[TheRedPill]

Very cool!

Just curious, do they guarantee a yearly minimum production for Solar Roofs like they do for normal panels? What did they quote you for your design with 10k DC solar roof?

--> Yes
They guarantee the solar production of the tiles for 30 years. 95% first five years, declining no more than 0.5% per year for the remaining 25 years totaling 82.5% of Rated Peak Power at end of 30 years.

Glass Tiles are warranted forever ('The glass in your Solar Roof will not chip or crack for the lifetime of your residence (your “Home”), or infinity, whichever comes first.'

PowerWalls are guaranteed for 10 years.

 

[Odiemac]

--> Yes
They guarantee the solar production of the tiles for 30 years. 95% first five years, declining no more than 0.5% per year for the remaining 25 years totaling 82.5% of Rated Peak Power at end of 30 years.

Glass Tiles are warranted forever ('The glass in your Solar Roof will not chip or crack for the lifetime of your residence (your “Home”), or infinity, whichever comes first.'

PowerWalls are guaranteed for 10 years.

Good info, but I meant do they guarantee a certain kWh produced per year, and then credit you if you don’t reach that? For example, 16,000 kWh per year? It was stamped pretty prominently on my design plans.

 

[TheRedPill]

Good info, but I meant do they guarantee a certain kWh produced per year, and then credit you if you don’t reach that? For example, 16,000 kWh per year? It was stamped pretty prominently on my design plans.

Ahh gotcha - it is not implicitly stated in that way. Understandably so, however, seeing as weather would be a significant factor. Weather seems to be getting more and more unpredictable these days. But based on the guaranteed output efficiency mentioned earlier, there is an output guarantee if the sun shines

 

[Cirrus MS100D]

Congrats! You're in Santa Clara?

 

[woferry]

Good info, but I meant do they guarantee a certain kWh produced per year, and then credit you if you don’t reach that? For example, 16,000 kWh per year? It was stamped pretty prominently on my design plans.

Assuming the wording is the same as my contract, they don't offer a credit, they guarantee to repair or replace if the production is not met. Post #78 in my thread. Tesla has come out once so far on a production flag (at their initiative, I never called them, just got a text out of the blue that I had a service appointment, post #95) and replaced 2 of the 5 RSDs, though I haven't seen any change in production since they did that, so I suspect they'll be calling again.

Went back and forth on financing options.

So are they offering financing for the Solar Roof now? They had called me a while back asking if they could show a financial institution my roof as they were making the pitch for financing support, I told them I was fine with it and never heard anything more.

 

[TheRedPill]

Congrats! You're in Santa Clara?

West San Jose - South "SF Bay Area"

 

[TheRedPill]

Assuming the wording is the same as my contract, they don't offer a credit, they guarantee to repair or replace if the production is not met. Post #78 in my thread. Tesla has come out once so far on a production flag (at their initiative, I never called them, just got a text out of the blue that I had a service appointment, post #95) and replaced 2 of the 5 RSDs, though I haven't seen any change in production since they did that, so I suspect they'll be calling again.



So are they offering financing for the Solar Roof now? They had called me a while back asking if they could show a financial institution my roof as they were making the pitch for financing support, I told them I was fine with it and never heard anything more.

From my perspective, they're still very much in the early phases of determining a financing partner. The folks I got hooked up with did not work out well at all.

 

[Odiemac]

So when you sign a contract for a Solar roof, they don’t list yearly production right at the top of the contract? I wonder if tools like PVwatts don’t give accurate forecasts for things like solar roof yet?

 

[woferry]

Mine had a year 1 production estimate, yes. Seems like that would be required to make a performance guarantee in the contract, have to have a number to work with.

 

[TheRedPill]

Production estimate is listed in mine as well.

 

[TheRedPill]

Update on the install: very impressed so far. Professional, responsive. The PV tiles are going up.

 

[fresnoboy]

Can you take photos of the cabling? I'm really curious how all that connects and how they cable it to the inverters. What kind of inverter are you are installing?

mike