I ordered back in November 2020. My house was new build so it took a while for them to review my building plans; plus they kept possibly "forgetting about me?" I received an install date on 12/28/2021 for install of April 4th, 2022. That install date was cancelled because something "changed" and they didn't have my National Grid permit in order. My install was May 8th, 2022. Local inspection completed June 29th; this was late because they didn't have the paperwork correct for my solar system with the town. The original permit had the older panels and I was getting the upgraded panels, so they needed to change all that math, or whatever so I could pass the town inspection. After local inspection passed, they requested final payment, which I gave them in full and they changed me to "Payment Accepted" on July 8th (they won't send the final paperwork in to RI energy until final payment; used to be National Grid. I followed up on 7/16/2022 asking the status of the PTO and they sent me an email back saying they have 7-90 days to "close out the project". "The timeline is in your contract". "The project is now within the utility relations team bucket for submiss". "They action the projects in the order they are received". Once they submit I'll get an SMS message with an update. For me, this has been a terrible experience. If Tesla Solar wasn't so less expensive (got 2 other quotes in Rhode Island and each one of them was $18k to $22k more expensive for 2 Powerwalls and 7.2kw solar). This said, install crew is awesome...customer service is terrible. At least I am in "self powered" mode and can utilize the solar and battery, however, not being able to export to the grid and bank some credits is a bummer. I have about 60+ days remaining to meet Tesla's deadline of 90 days....we'll see
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How long between inspection and PTO? [various areas]
- Thread starter niner93
- Start date
Do you think you are going to have enough surplus to export with such a small system? Not sure how you want to operate but my 2 powerwalls will barely take us to Midnight with the AC running here in Texas. My surplus is used in the day to charge my Powerwalls. So for me it seems getting a Nights free plan is going to be better off than a Solar Buyback plan so that the additional power I need at night doesn't cost me. I have 12KW solar with the 2 powerwalls and had the calculations done by texaspowerguide.com and it was quite surprising. In my case the credits generated would be only about 50% of what I would need on average if I used the Backup Reserve mode.
My Powerwalls are usually charged by 12:30 - 14:30, so from about 14:30 onward, I'm losing out on sending out to grid. Typically at night I use 40% of the pw; I have the reserve set to 30%. I set to "off grid" mode so that the house isn't powered by the grid while the pw charges; thus preventing "grid services" from kicking in. Once I can export, I'll participate in the grid services events. Primarily, I'd like to use the credits for the winter months when the days are so much shorter.
FurryOne
Member
I'm a bit further North than you (Central NY), and with an 8K system I'm usually charged before noon. And that 6-90 days?... try 215 days to PTO. My initial install was 6/25/21, but NatGrid wouldn't allow Tesla's backup switch, so the install finished on 8/20/21, and I finally got PTO on 3/23/22, but still had to call Tesla Energy to get them to turn-on exporting.
This is in Phoenix metro area of Arizona.
My first panels + PW installation with Tesla was in early 2021 and completed with no issues or unnecessary delays. Well, the only issue was that some of the labels were missing from the panels / boxes, which caused the final utility inspection to fail. They fixed it the very next day, and a few days later the utility inspection passed and I received PTO.
I am in the final stages of my second project, and it is taking them an inordinate amount of time after payment to submit for final utility approval. The project advisor tells me that their utility team is extremely backed up, and it is taking them 6-8 weeks to submit the completed paperwork for the final utility approval. It is extremely unacceptable and ridiculous for such a large purchase to be paid in full, and then stall for weeks or months. Tesla should either not accept full payment or compensate in some way for every week of delay. At the least, they should let the system at least run in self-consumption only mode so that we can realize the main benefits of the install. But they won't even allow that.
How are some of you guys able to utilize your solar generation before PTO? I thought that's not allowed.
My first panels + PW installation with Tesla was in early 2021 and completed with no issues or unnecessary delays. Well, the only issue was that some of the labels were missing from the panels / boxes, which caused the final utility inspection to fail. They fixed it the very next day, and a few days later the utility inspection passed and I received PTO.
I am in the final stages of my second project, and it is taking them an inordinate amount of time after payment to submit for final utility approval. The project advisor tells me that their utility team is extremely backed up, and it is taking them 6-8 weeks to submit the completed paperwork for the final utility approval. It is extremely unacceptable and ridiculous for such a large purchase to be paid in full, and then stall for weeks or months. Tesla should either not accept full payment or compensate in some way for every week of delay. At the least, they should let the system at least run in self-consumption only mode so that we can realize the main benefits of the install. But they won't even allow that.
How are some of you guys able to utilize your solar generation before PTO? I thought that's not allowed.
If this is on a new home, I believe the latest Tesla systems are capable of allowing systems to shutdown solar generation once the powerwall approachs full and thus not send power out prior to PTO.
Mine is a couple years old and did not do that. For approximately 5 months after paying in full and waiting for PTO I could not legally use it. My delays were a combination of issues on the backup of people to process the paperwork at Tesla, PGE delays in processing the paperwork, and the local inspectors not working because of Covid
My system is in Self Consumption mode with the Powerall+. Once the battery is full and the house demand is less than the solar is generating, the panels partially shut down to only produce what the house is consuming. As the load increases, the panels re-activate to meet the load, and charge the battery if necessary
Whoa! So, with my new Powerwall Plus installation, I should have been able to turn on my system and use it even without utility approval? This is news to me! The guys who installed the system told me that I have to wait until utility approval, and so did my project advisor. Wrote to my project advisor asking about it, and will also contact support on Monday morning.
Also, I seem to have run into another classic Tesla issue - the project advisor claims that the Tesla utility team has submitted the final application to my utility on July 29th, and they are just waiting for the utility approval. But when I contact my utility, they say that they have not received the final documents from Tesla. The online utility interconnection application also does not show that the final documents have been uploaded.
Also, I saw in the utility interconnection application that my old 8.16 kw Tesla solar system is shown to have a 7.7 kw AC generation capacity. However, my newer 9.6 kw Tesla solar system is shown in the utility interconnection application has having only 7.6 kw AC generation capacity. How can a 9.6 kw system have lesser AC capacity than an 8.16 system?
On a related note, tomorrow will be one month since I made payment on my system, and Tesla still does not recognize that I have already made full payment. This morning, I received an email telling me that I have been referred to their collections department! All this, despite contacting the project advisor and the billing department multiple times to ensure that my full payment is recorded and reflected in the system.
All these issues indicate that Tesla's solar business is not quite streamlined and optimized as their car factory business. The factory seems to be fanatical about ensuring root causes are fixed ASAP so that the issues do not reoccur. The solar side of the business appears to function like a totally different company. What a shame!
Also, I seem to have run into another classic Tesla issue - the project advisor claims that the Tesla utility team has submitted the final application to my utility on July 29th, and they are just waiting for the utility approval. But when I contact my utility, they say that they have not received the final documents from Tesla. The online utility interconnection application also does not show that the final documents have been uploaded.
Also, I saw in the utility interconnection application that my old 8.16 kw Tesla solar system is shown to have a 7.7 kw AC generation capacity. However, my newer 9.6 kw Tesla solar system is shown in the utility interconnection application has having only 7.6 kw AC generation capacity. How can a 9.6 kw system have lesser AC capacity than an 8.16 system?
On a related note, tomorrow will be one month since I made payment on my system, and Tesla still does not recognize that I have already made full payment. This morning, I received an email telling me that I have been referred to their collections department! All this, despite contacting the project advisor and the billing department multiple times to ensure that my full payment is recorded and reflected in the system.
All these issues indicate that Tesla's solar business is not quite streamlined and optimized as their car factory business. The factory seems to be fanatical about ensuring root causes are fixed ASAP so that the issues do not reoccur. The solar side of the business appears to function like a totally different company. What a shame!
Maybe it's different based on your region and utility, but I'm allowed to consume but not export until utility approval; or maybe your system is a little bit different than man? I'm glad I can at least use my system and I'm only limited in not exporting to grid, so no "banking of kw credits" which you kind of need in the winter months. My project was a disaster from start to finish. Since my initial order was placed so long ago, the panels changed, so I got the newer panels which generate more and use less panels, but they never updated the permit with town or utility. I had to wait for them to re-submit all the updates which took another month. Currently it's been over a month since final payment, which they have received and indicated in my account. I'm in status of "waiting on utility approval" and Tesla rep said that's done on first in, first out basis in another department. They haven't sent the final paperwork to the utility which I've been told by Tesla rep takes between 7-90 days (according to my "contract"); it's currently 38 days. My utility company said they are still waiting for Tesla to submit the paperwork and on the utility end it takes them like 2 days to approve PTO. All the delay is with Tesla, which is really wrong that it takes so long to submit the final paperwork electronically. Is one person doing all this work for the entire U.S ?
I contacted Tesla support today and they confirmed that with the new Powerwall Plus, my system should have been turned on in self-consumption mode from the day they installed it. Utility approval is needed only for selling excess production to the utility. I remember talking to the main Tesla engineer after my system was installed and even showed him how the system showed zero production and offline in the app. He told me that I need to get the utility approval and PTO, to turn on the system and see production. But today I found out from Tesla support that is not the case, and my system should have been powering my home since the day of the install. My system had actually been turned off at the gateway after they installed and tested it. I lost one full month of production, and ironically, I had my biggest ever electricity bill in that very same month! Hmph.
I am surprised that this has not been more commonly publicized, and has not seen mention in the news that the Powerwall Plus system makes it possible to use solar production before receiving utility PTO!
I am surprised that this has not been more commonly publicized, and has not seen mention in the news that the Powerwall Plus system makes it possible to use solar production before receiving utility PTO!
Well, what do you know... after spending a couple of hours with Tesla trying to get my system working in self-consumption only mode, it turns out that Arizona is one of the states where this can't be done. We HAVE to wait for utility approval before we can start using the production from our system. Sucks! Hope this will change soon.
jgleigh
Member
Can also depend on how your system is wired. Mine has a generation meter so w/o the meter there was no connection between the inverters and the rest of the system.
Area - Delaware. System has been operational and producing since 7/20/22 in self consumption mode pending PTO.
One thing I noticed is during the period of 7/20/22 - 8/11/22 the system was producing at max (could hear/feel the inverters working hard) with all excess being pushed to the grid (utility meter was going backward) then after inspection passed the inverters got capped to house usage no more, no less. It was interesting to see the cap occur after the inspection passed. Not sure if the utility meter number was input incorrectly for the PTO paperwork cause I was asked to upload my utility bill on 8/11/22 to confirm the utility meter number or could have been some other anomaly...
Ordered - 2/5/22 Solar roof with 2 x Powerwall+
System design complete - 2/10/22
Site Inspection - 2/24/22
Purchase agreement finalized - 2/28/22
Interconnect submitted by Tesla - 5/12/22 Utility sent email stating paperwork was submitted by Tesla and is under "Technical Review status" the process would take exactly 20 business days after submission
Approval from utility to install - 6/16/22 (Tesla wanted to schedule install 7/5/22 but had family vacation planned 7/1/22 - 7/10/22)
Install start to complete - 7/11/22 - 7/22/22, realized wanted 2 more Powerwalls after install completed, contacted project advisor to add 2 additional powerwalls to original order for a total of 4 x Powerwalls.
Installation of two additional Powerwalls 2 - 8/5/22
Passed inspection - 8/11/22
PTO paperwork submitted by Tesla - 8/11/22
Final Payment sent - 8/16/22
Waiting on utility to approve PTO, expected on or about 9/9/22...received email from my utility that PTO paperwork was submitted by Tesla and under "Technical Review Status" this process takes exactly 20 business days after passing inspection.
One thing I noticed is during the period of 7/20/22 - 8/11/22 the system was producing at max (could hear/feel the inverters working hard) with all excess being pushed to the grid (utility meter was going backward) then after inspection passed the inverters got capped to house usage no more, no less. It was interesting to see the cap occur after the inspection passed. Not sure if the utility meter number was input incorrectly for the PTO paperwork cause I was asked to upload my utility bill on 8/11/22 to confirm the utility meter number or could have been some other anomaly...
Ordered - 2/5/22 Solar roof with 2 x Powerwall+
System design complete - 2/10/22
Site Inspection - 2/24/22
Purchase agreement finalized - 2/28/22
Interconnect submitted by Tesla - 5/12/22 Utility sent email stating paperwork was submitted by Tesla and is under "Technical Review status" the process would take exactly 20 business days after submission
Approval from utility to install - 6/16/22 (Tesla wanted to schedule install 7/5/22 but had family vacation planned 7/1/22 - 7/10/22)
Install start to complete - 7/11/22 - 7/22/22, realized wanted 2 more Powerwalls after install completed, contacted project advisor to add 2 additional powerwalls to original order for a total of 4 x Powerwalls.
Installation of two additional Powerwalls 2 - 8/5/22
Passed inspection - 8/11/22
PTO paperwork submitted by Tesla - 8/11/22
Final Payment sent - 8/16/22
Waiting on utility to approve PTO, expected on or about 9/9/22...received email from my utility that PTO paperwork was submitted by Tesla and under "Technical Review Status" this process takes exactly 20 business days after passing inspection.
My installation schedule may be considered a success story based on what I seen for most installs on this thread.
However my system is not preforming to the level that I purchased. 12kw max production vs 17kw system purchase.
I requested a technician to come to review the installation.
- 17KW solar panel + 1 Powerwall
- Northern California (Contra Costa)
- ordered on 6/10/2022
- initial installation was done on 7/25/2022
- electricians finished final work on 7/26/2022
- city inspection was done on 8/4/2022
- PTO 8/19/2022
However my system is not preforming to the level that I purchased. 12kw max production vs 17kw system purchase.
I requested a technician to come to review the installation.
- 17KW solar panel + 1 Powerwall
- Northern California (Contra Costa)
- ordered on 6/10/2022
- initial installation was done on 7/25/2022
- electricians finished final work on 7/26/2022
- city inspection was done on 8/4/2022
- PTO 8/19/2022
Charles415
Member
Definitely a good timeline. My inspection was done and passed by the city of Walnut Creek the same day as you, but when I checked with Tesla this past Friday, 8/26, they had not even submitted interconnect agreement to PG&E, with no commitment to when they might send it. The same black hole so many others have posted about--and not with the utility, with Tesla.
Correct; the delay is with Tesla. I'm coming up on 60 days. A couple of weeks ago, I sent a message and was given the same old statement. 7-90 days. They submit in the order you were sent to the "interconnect" department. The only thing they could do for me is send my inspection documents over to the "interconnect" department at Tesla. Once I reach 90 days, which I fully expect to reach, I'll ask them "now what, since you exceeded the contract timeline, that you keep quoting when I ask for a status update".Definitely a good timeline. My inspection was done and passed by the city of Walnut Creek the same day as you, but when I checked with Tesla this past Friday, 8/26, they had not even submitted interconnect agreement to PG&E, with no commitment to when they might send it. The same black hole so many others have posted about--and not with the utility, with Tesla.
Charles415
Member
Disappointing to hear you are 2/3 of the way through that period and still no progress. I think a big part of the frustration for all of us is not understanding why the electronic submission of documentation that is already complete would take so long (estimated by utility companies to be a 10 minute task)? Just can't understand why this is such a big bottleneck in the process for Tesla, and why they can't either staff up to address it, or better yet, automate it. I also don't understand why a few lucky people seem to fly right through the process without the 60-90 day wait. I'm not convinced that repeated contact with Telsa chat bots will do anything other than raise my blood pressure.
I finally got PTO a few days ago. Tesla utility team took about half a month after the system was installed to complete the paperwork with the utility. After that, it took the utility a couple of weeks to complete their process (I am in a state with high solar installs). So, over all, almost exactly one month between system install and PTO.
I pestered my project advisor 3-4 times during those 15 days after the install, and he assured me that he checked with the utility team each time I pestered him. During that time, there was also a false alert where Tesla project status said they had filed the papers, but the utility company said they got nothing. I suspect that is also a break-down in the Tesla process - someone completed most of the steps and marked the process complete, but the very last step of the documents actually making it to the utility was not done yet.
Also, I think the utility team has the responsibility to check all the documents one last time and ensure that they are accurate. It adds time to update the documents, especially if some things changed during the installation compared to the original design. That is the reason this process takes time. But yes, there is definitely an opportunity for improving the turn around time here.
I pestered my project advisor 3-4 times during those 15 days after the install, and he assured me that he checked with the utility team each time I pestered him. During that time, there was also a false alert where Tesla project status said they had filed the papers, but the utility company said they got nothing. I suspect that is also a break-down in the Tesla process - someone completed most of the steps and marked the process complete, but the very last step of the documents actually making it to the utility was not done yet.
Also, I think the utility team has the responsibility to check all the documents one last time and ensure that they are accurate. It adds time to update the documents, especially if some things changed during the installation compared to the original design. That is the reason this process takes time. But yes, there is definitely an opportunity for improving the turn around time here.
I would send an email to your project coordinator and copy the interconnect team email alias <[email protected]>to follow up on the interconnect agreement.Definitely a good timeline. My inspection was done and passed by the city of Walnut Creek the same day as you, but when I checked with Tesla this past Friday, 8/26, they had not even submitted interconnect agreement to PG&E, with no commitment to when they might send it. The same black hole so many others have posted about--and not with the utility, with Tesla.
I had solar panels and a powerwall installed by Tesla on July 7th. As I understand it I will not be fully operational until I get "PTO" from NYSEG, the utility company. When I ask Tesla they say they have requested from NYSEG, and that it could take up to 3 months. When I call NYSEG to ask them eta they say they do not have any record of a request. Needless to say I feel like I am getting a runaround. Anyone have any advice on this?
