How long between inspection and PTO? [various areas]

[RKCRLR]

I'm having the same problem in CA. I had a 3rd Powerwall installed on June 1. PG&E has no record of a request for PTO. Tesla said the initial request had problems so they need to make corrections and resubmit. However there has been no movement from Tesla. PG&E wants me to turn off the 3rd Powerwall until I get PTO. I told PG&E that I'll relay the information to Tesla. I told Tesla that I'm leaving it on until I get PTO. If Tesla wants it turned off they can come out and turn it off since they are the ones that turned it on. Or they submit the paperwork for PTO.

 

[Redhill_qik]

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?

The delay is almost always on the Tesla side not generating and submitting the paperwork to the utility. Once the utility gets the paperwork it is usually processed pretty quickly.

 

[stevebouff]

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?

Correct, the 3 months is on the Tesla side. This is what so many of us are complaining about. For my utility, they approve in a couple of days once they receive the documents from Tesla, but for one reason or another; probably lack of staff working on the PTO side of things. It's a shame because they want to be paid immediately and then you just sit and wait, and wait and wait. At least you may be in "self powered" mode, so you can benefit from your system. What you miss out on is the netmetering aspect by not being able to export to grid

 

[RKCRLR]

I suspect in my case the problem is Tesla screwed up the application. I had solar and 2 Powerwalls with paired storage prior to the installation of the 3rd Powerwall. The application for the 3rd Powerwall read like none of the existing solar and Powerwalls was there. I suspect the 3rd Powerwall is bumping my system into a different NEM category that they didn't catch. If they come back to me requesting me to sign different paperwork I may tell them to pound sand depending on what the impact would be to me.

 

[George75]

I had my system installed about two weeks ago, here in Florida.The city inspected and passed the system the day after install. Power company received the
interconnection request less than a week later. I've signed the agreement and I'm waiting on PTO.

My home is newer and well insulated. I'm running just about everything on the Powewall at night minus multiple heavy loads e.g. water heater and AC.

7.2kw panels, 1 Powerwall+. I'm typically recharged by 11 or 12 everyday. Best I've gotten so far while home is about 37kw generated in a day with some cloudy periods. Can't wait for PTO so I can sell the excess electric.

 

[Robert727]

Thank you for confirming this is a common problem, now...do I have any recourse?

 

[tbrownies]

I am in CA and I waited for THREE MONTHS and just got PTO. After ~5 different phone calls to both utility and Tesla. Each rep I talked to at the utility company was not surprised at how messy of a process it was with Tesla. Seems they have made a name for themselves.

 

[c1916]

Thank you for confirming this is a common problem, now...do I have any recourse?

I started to get better response when I filed formally with the Commerce Commission (Illinois for me). Tesla has to be licensed annually and when the commerce commission calls them with my complaint...they got back to me immediately.

I also filed with the Attorney General, and that was a waste of time. Nothing ever happened.

GLTY.

 

[Jedi2155]

Finally got PTO last week after having the system installed at the end of April. So that was about 4.5 months.

 

[George75]

I had 7.2kw panels and one Powerwall+ installed in late August here in Central Florida. City inspection was the next day. PTO request was submitted one week later to SECO. SECO responded same day to have to sign the interconnection agreement which I did. Final PTO happened about 3 weeks later. The utility company wasn't happy with some of the pictures Tesla submitted. In Tesla's defense the power company gave zero specifics as to what they wanted pictures of. The delay was minor, big picture but the only bump on the road. The utility company was good to work with, submissions were electronic. I know some places it's still paper based. Tesla were great and very responsive to questions. About an hour after I received PTO I got an email from Tesla informing me my loan payment was set for exactly 30 days out.

 

[Vines]

I suspect in my case the problem is Tesla screwed up the application. I had solar and 2 Powerwalls with paired storage prior to the installation of the 3rd Powerwall. The application for the 3rd Powerwall read like none of the existing solar and Powerwalls was there. I suspect the 3rd Powerwall is bumping my system into a different NEM category that they didn't catch. If they come back to me requesting me to sign different paperwork I may tell them to pound sand depending on what the impact would be to me.

The only caution I would give you is that NEM violations and punishment if they happen, the bad stuff happens to the homeowner. The bad stuff is pretty rare I will admit.

 

[RKCRLR]

The only caution I would give you is that NEM violations and punishment if they happen, the bad stuff happens to the homeowner. The bad stuff is pretty rare I will admit.

By pound sand I meant telling Tesla to remove the 3rd Powerwall and give me my money back if there are going to be bad NEM financial and operational consequences for me. I never agreed to being bumped into a different NEM category when I approved the paperwork.

I never wanted a 3rd Powerwall since I'm a net producer and there isn't much financial advantage to get it. The reason I got the 3rd Powerwall is Tesla threatened to void my warranty on my 2 existing Powerwalls unless I got a 3rd Powerwall or let Tesla modify my HVAC controls which I could tell from their correspondence that they didn't understand how the system system worked.

Tesla has resubmitted the PTO paperwork again and PG&E rejected it again. Something about missing a line diagram.

 

[Vines]

By pound sand I meant telling Tesla to remove the 3rd Powerwall and give me my money back if there are going to be bad NEM financial and operational consequences for me. I never agreed to being bumped into a different NEM category when I approved the paperwork.

I never wanted a 3rd Powerwall since I'm a net producer and there isn't much financial advantage to get it. The reason I got the 3rd Powerwall is Tesla threatened to void my warranty on my 2 existing Powerwalls unless I got a 3rd Powerwall or let Tesla modify my HVAC controls which I could tell from their correspondence that they didn't understand how the system system worked.

Tesla has resubmitted the PTO paperwork again and PG&E rejected it again. Something about missing a line diagram.

It's all coming back to me now, I remember your saga and how could you forget!

More than 2 PW in PGE territory may trigger a different interconnection agreement, PGE would call it NEM MT I think.

 

[h2ofun]

It's all coming back to me now, I remember your saga and how could you forget!

More than 2 PW in PGE territory may trigger a different interconnection agreement, PGE would call it NEM MT I think.

I have 3 on a GW, think I am still NEM PS

 

[Vines]

I have 3 on a GW, think I am still NEM PS

I agree that PGE doesnt apply the rules uniformly. My warning was because when something goes sideways with PGE, then the higher-ups look at things and then it goes by the book almost always. I'm not a PGE interconnection expert by any means.

 

[h2ofun]

I agree that PGE doesnt apply the rules uniformly. My warning was because when something goes sideways with PGE, then the higher-ups look at things and then it goes by the book almost always. I'm not a PGE interconnection expert by any means.

Now if I get more PW's, will see what they do to me

 

[RKCRLR]

I agree that PGE doesnt apply the rules uniformly. My warning was because when something goes sideways with PGE, then the higher-ups look at things and then it goes by the book almost always. I'm not a PGE interconnection expert by any means.

My understanding is that there are 2 categories of paired storage for PG&E, small PS (10 KW or less which is 2 Powerwalls) or large PS (anything larger than 10 KW) with a caveat that the storage be no larger than 150% of the generation capacity. Here is a link to a page I found although I don't know if it is still current:

https://www.pge.com/pge_global/common/pdfs/solar-and-vehicles/net-energy-metering/net-energy-metering-overview/nem-multiple-tariff/NEM-Paired-Storage-Frequently-Asked-Questions.pdf

One interesting thing is 3 Powerwalls technically exceeds 150% of my 9.57 KW generating capacity.

PG&E send me a copy of the latest interconnection request (which I had never seen before and I definitely didn't approve it), I don't know if Tesla generated it or it is a PG&E generated form. They called it "Complex Self Generation NEM Paired Storage" in the email.

My main concern is loosing the ability to grid charge which I currently have. The form says "Charging mode No Grid Charging". It also says "Exporting to the grid? No" which I'm less concerned about although I'm assuming it means I can't participate in a Virtual Power Plant program. My other concern is that when NEM3 passes that large PS will have a more detrimental effect on me than small PS.

 

[SeBas42]

My inspection is scheduled for tomorrow but they had already sent me links to sign PTO application. So hoping it will be a quick turnaround. I’m in Florida and provider is Duke Energy. Good luck to you.

 

[thtct]

I had a 9.6kW system with 1 Powerwall+ installed 2 weeks ago (it has been on self power since and I have not used any grid energy since the house is mostly empty). They installed a second meter with the shutoff to the grid right by the utility meter, but were not able to install the production meter by the shutoff and rapid shutoff. They left a placeholder box for where it will go, but said some parts were back ordered and it would be added when available. I had the town inspection and it passed last week and paid by ACH. Eversource (CT) came to install the net meter today. The Eversource employee said he had not seen a setup like, it was not the missing production meter he had an issue with it was the one with the grid shut off…. Anyone else had a similar issue? Do others also have 3 separate meters?

 

[aswami]

I had a 9.6kW system with 1 Powerwall+ installed 2 weeks ago (it has been on self power since and I have not used any grid energy since the house is mostly empty). They installed a second meter with the shutoff to the grid right by the utility meter, but were not able to install the production meter by the shutoff and rapid shutoff. They left a placeholder box for where it will go, but said some parts were back ordered and it would be added when available. I had the town inspection and it passed last week and paid by ACH. Eversource (CT) came to install the net meter today. The Eversource employee said he had not seen a setup like, it was not the missing production meter he had an issue with it was the one with the grid shut off…. Anyone else had a similar issue? Do others also have 3 separate meters?

I had a 3 meter config last year on my old home. One of them was the regular utility meter on which I am billed, another measured solar generation only, the third measured the power going in and out of the power wall. This configuration was required by my utility in the old Powerwall 2 implementation design wherein all solar power did not flow through the Powerwall before powering the house or going to the utility grid.

This year, the implementation at my new home has only a two meter config - one of them the regular utility meter that is used for my billing, and the other meter measures the solar generation cum battery charging. With the new design of Tesla where all solar generation flows through the Powerwall+, Tesla told me that only one second meter is sufficient, and a third meter is not needed. I am surprised that you have a Powerwall+ and they need a third meter.