Install Schedule for tomorrow in SoCal - suggestions, guidance, wish me luck?

[BrettS]

Just out of curiosity, would adding my own ethernet wire cause the app to not update, and show no production?

I don’t think we have a definitive answer on this yet, but if this is a solar only system, then I believe that yes, adding your own ethernet cable will stop the tesla app from getting solar production updates from the inverter. With a solar only install the only way the Tesla app can update is through the little black zigbee gateway and I believe that the ethernet connection, when connected, will take priority and not allow updates through the zigbee gateway.

Looking at the lights on your inverter, has the green LED gone solid or is it still blinking? Solid green indicates that the inverter is producing power. Blinking green indicates that it is not producing power.

 

[SoCal Dave]

Meh, not the update I wanted to give... Still no production, Tesla tech support had me power cycle with no luck. Need to call back

Just out of curiosity, would adding my own ethernet wire cause the app to not update, and show no production?

Aa mentioned I can see consumption in the Tesla app, but no solar production

So I believe we have the following. You know all the components for consumption of data are working because you see the data. However, we don't know the status of your generation.

Have we confirmed that your inverter is generating data outside of the Tesla App? The easiest way is to move the inverter power to the P position (all the way to the left) for at least 2 seconds, but not more than 6 seconds. It will then show the output on the LEDs.

If you only get a green LED and it is the middle of the day, your system isn't generating and you need Tesla to look at it.

The other option is to use the MySolarEdge app and get more specific readings directly from your inverter.

 

[BrettS]

Have we confirmed that your inverter is generating data outside of the Tesla App? The easiest way is to move the inverter power to the P position (all the way to the left) for at least 2 seconds, but not more than 6 seconds. It will then show the output on the LEDs

Actually, before we do that we should just look at the green light without doing anything. A blinking green light indicates no production and a solid green light indicates production. If the light is solid, then it’s worth doing your test to try to get an idea of how much production there is. But if the light is just blinking then there’s no need to do the further test as we already know there is no production.

If you only get a green LED and it is the middle of the day, your system isn't generating and you need Tesla to look at it.

A solid green light during the production amount test doesn’t necessarily indicate no production. It just indicates 0-33% of capacity. I agree that it would be unusual for it to be that low during the middle of the day, but it definitely doesn’t mean that the system isn’t generating.

 

[SoCal Dave]

It just indicates 0-33% of capacity. I agree that it would be unusual for it to be that low during the middle of the day, but it definitely doesn’t mean that the system isn’t generating.

If I'm only getting 33% production during the middle of the day and the sky isn't black, Tesla is getting called


I inferred from his response that he was now seeing a solid green LED. But you are correct he didn't actually state that.

 

[jaysen]

Not home at the moment to test what Dave recommends, but called Tesla anyways. They'll be out tomorrow to check things out

 

[jaysen]

Well, bad news on top of more bad news... The two technicians came out and stated there was some wiring issues with the j box and some of the panels. Apparently these two techs were able to rewire it somewhat to at least produce something in the interim...

Ughh

estimated time frame is 1 or 2 weeks. Anybody have any experience with this? What's my recourse? Obviously loan has been paid out and I'm not producing.

 

[SMAlset]

You can try to see if someone can escalate your service visit.

BTW our inverter got commisioned today by the maintenance electrician and seeing it on the app. Powerwalls charging now from solar while he's here working on things.

 

[SoCal Dave]

Well, bad news on top of more bad news... The two technicians came out and stated there was some wiring issues with the j box and some of the panels. Apparently these two techs were able to rewire it somewhat to at least produce something in the interim...

Ughh

estimated time frame is 1 or 2 weeks. Anybody have any experience with this? What's my recourse? Obviously loan has been paid out and I'm not producing.

Probably not worth trying to fight over, IMO.

Why couldn't the two technicians fully fix it?

 

[jaysen]

Probably not worth trying to fight over, IMO.

Why couldn't the two technicians fully fix it?

Dave,

I wasn't home, but briefly heard the conversation the tech had with my wife via our doorbell camera. Apparently they "tried" to rewire as much as possible but when they realized it was all wrong, they stopped and claimed they needed the original installation crew to come out.

As I mentioned early, they said they got "some" properly wired so my system will produce a little for the time being... See my screenshot

 

[BrettS]

I was certainly hoping for better news than that, but at least it sounds like they know what the problem is and can resolve it. I can imagine that it’s gotta be incredibly frustrating to be this close and then have problems come up.

 

[jaysen]

So whatever re-wiring the two electricians did, I was able to produce 2.8kwh from about 1pm to Sundown

 

[BrettS]

Definitely not much, but I guess it’s better than 0kWh. Hopefully they can get someone out there soon to fix it for good.

 

[jaysen]

Here is my one full-day production for the section that was "fixed" - kinda difficult to figure out how many panels are producing, since I have 3 arrays?

Total of:1 1.6kWh

Anyone wanna take a shot?

 

[BrettS]

Looks like it peaked at a little under 2kW. Assuming you have 340W panels, 6 of them would be just over 2kW. It’s normal for the peak production number to be a bit under the maximum DC output, so I would say 6 to 7 panels are working.

 

[jaysen]

So, FINALLY had a full weeks production after they came out and fixed my panels... I've requested solaredge monitoring, but this will have to do for now.

Viewing my screenshots, would one say this is on par with absolutely no shading and mostly ideal sun coverage on a south facing roof?

Also, is there an ideal percentage we would like to be at for self-powered? Obviously the higher the better but not realistic with no power walls

Should be mentioned in really sunny days I was hitting 39 kWh production, but has since dropped slightly since it's been overcast good part of the morning/early afternoon

 

[BrettS]

Also, is there an ideal percentage we would like to be at for self-powered? Obviously the higher the better but not realistic with no power walls

The self powered number simply indicates how much of your solar power your house used directly. This is mostly going to depend on how much power your house uses during the day. If you can do things like charge your EV or run high power electric appliances, like a water heater, or range or dryer during the day when your system is generating power then that number will go up.

However, if you have net metering then it really doesn’t matter too much, and if you have TOU rates you would be better off trying to time shift your power usage to maximize your savings rather than trying to get a high self powered number.

 

[jaysen]

Brett,

Thanks for the reply. Yes I am on NEM 2.0 with SCE- TOUD-4-9PM

Unless, I looked at the chart wrong... the most expensive time to use power is between 4-9p which solar production has already begun to taper off. Everything else is .33cents/ kWh

So in a perfect world, like you mentioned use, use my appliances and high-consuming devices before 4:00 p.m. and when solar production is the highest?

 

[LadyLion]

Brett,

Thanks for the reply. Yes I am on NEM 2.0 with SCE- TOUD-4-9PM

Unless, I looked at the chart wrong... the most expensive time to use power is between 4-9p which solar production has already begun to taper off. Everything else is .33cents/ kWh

So in a perfect world, like you mentioned use, use my appliances and high-consuming devices before 4:00 p.m. and when solar production is the highest?

What are the 4-9 pm charge rates per kWh? Are there only two rates?

 

[BrettS]

Brett,

Thanks for the reply. Yes I am on NEM 2.0 with SCE- TOUD-4-9PM

Unless, I looked at the chart wrong... the most expensive time to use power is between 4-9p which solar production has already begun to taper off. Everything else is .33cents/ kWh

So in a perfect world, like you mentioned use, use my appliances and high-consuming devices before 4:00 p.m. and when solar production is the highest?

I’m not super familiar with how the TOU rates and net metering work in CA, so someone else may be able to answer this question better than I. But it’s my understanding that you get more credit for power sent to the grid during peak hours, so even though solar is tapering off, the less power you can use at that time, so the more you send back to the grid then would be best.

Then for off peak, I believe that there are NBC’s, so it probably makes sense to use as much of your solar power as you can while it is being produced so that you can avoid as many NBC’s as possible.

But again, someone in CA who is more familiar with how the rate plans work out there would probably be better to answer this.

 

[jaysen]

Here are the rates for the TOU plan I am on.