Looks like my Tesla Solar ride is over

[sunwarriors]

Nice idea but it would have cost me double. Tesla installed my first system for less than the price it would have cost me to buy my own DIY system.

I didn't really find Tesla THAT much cheaper than other installers. Tesla used to be $2 or less earlier, but I think that number is closer to other places now so if all you get mostly with Tesla solar is price savings and those aren't there anymore, would anyone still go with them and what do you really get?

Folks here can just price compare and quote on tesla.com themselves (I think we will all agree you can't "negotiate with tesla on price"), but I just went to tesla.com and quoted a 9.6 kW panel system and it was $24096 for just solar. That's $2.51 which is around what I paid or even more actually considering I had other add-ons not in the Tesla quote.


My point is what someone "used" to pay tesla solar is irrelevant if no one can get that anymore from Tesla (like MY for < $50k?). I assume other installers have raised prices too, but is it that much more than $2.51 is my question.


With Tesla, another downside no one mentions is you're forced to not pick your tech. If you want Enphase microinverters for the 25 year warranty, you can't do that. If you want LFP batteries, you can't do that. It's this way or the highway.

I also got my SGIP check as well which Tesla can't really do anymore. With that and how much work my installer had to do, my cost wasn't much more than Tesla back then (it was slightly more though, but not more compared to now).

Bottom line is someone should do their homework, but the blanket statement that Tesla solar saves someone 50% or more now doesn't seem true anymore from what I've seen with the added risk of OP delays and cancellations.

There are good/fine installs as well, but you see plenty of upset folks here (which sorta steered me clear of Tesla when I started my research).

 

[glide]

Nice idea but it would have cost me double. Tesla installed my first system for less than the price it would have cost me to buy my own DIY system.

Sometimes you get what you pay for. And “double” seems a bit out of line for a 3rd party install.

If you have a very standard install, it may be best to go with Tesla for the cost savings.

But with any project with Tesla, if something goes wrong (hardware, software, or other) then the savings quickly become not worth the frustration.

 

[sorka]

I didn't really find Tesla THAT much cheaper than other installers. Tesla used to be $2 or less earlier, but I think that number is closer to other places now so if all you get mostly with Tesla solar is price savings and those aren't there anymore, would anyone still go with them and what do you really get?

I call BS. Tesla IS that much cheaper than other installers. Yes, my systems, both of them, were at the $1.99/watt installed. The quote is now $2.32/watt installed and I checked a bunch of locations here in California and it was the same everywhere. Yes it went up, but so did everyone else. You will not find any legit quotes less than double what Tesla is.

If you want better customer service and faster turn around times for inverter failures, pay double. Your ROI will be shorter even if you have an inverter out 2 months out of every year going with Tesla.

Is it for everyone? No. If you don't care about ROI and are going solar out of ethical reasons, then pay more and maybe get great customer service. My neighbor payed triple and got AWEFUL customer service from his local installer and then they went out of business and now he's left paying someone else to replace a failed inverter, SE so he's hoping SE will cover the labor portion of the replacement under warranty but they haven't yet, but I'll be the company that did the replacement didn't even apply for it.

 

[sorka]

Sometimes you get what you pay for. And “double” seems a bit out of line for a 3rd party install.

If you have a very standard install, it may be best to go with Tesla for the cost savings.

But with any project with Tesla, if something goes wrong (hardware, software, or other) then the savings quickly become not worth the frustration.

Chances are if it's that non standard, the frustration is that Tesla will cancel you and you'll have to start over.

I got 3 quotes from local installers before I resigned to DIY. Then Tesla had that big drop in price back in 2020. The 3 quotes ranged from more than double to more than triple.

Does that mean it's impossible to find an installer that's only 50% more than Tesla? It might be possible but I'd be very concerned about what I'm getting from a third party installer for so little.

My second system was ordered at the older $1.99 price but installed earlier this year so I get the new 30% credit making my second system $1.39 / watt installed. I bet for those of us in that window of time, we've gotten the lowest price of all time.

 

[jjrandorin]

Tesla energy works for some, doesnt work for others. The pricing is such that its generally cheaper to go with Tesla, and one has to be prepared to have all their ducks in a row (or not care about the ducks, or the row), but they are neither great, nor horrible.

I get a bit tired of people acting like every third party installer is like @Vines company (they arent), and / or that every Tesla install is a complete !$@!@ show (it isnt), but neither is the reverse.


Just like every other construction project, paying more doesnt necessarily lead to better service, however going with "the lowest" means you need to have a lot of ideas around what you want, what that is going to entail, etc, or not care about the details. This is true of any construction project.

If I was OP, I would MUCH rather Tesla (or any other company) say "Im sorry we cant do that, we suck at that, so are not going to start and screw it up" (which is basically what it appears they are saying), than the reverse which normally happens, which is " Oh yeah we can do that, let me have your deposit, and we will tear everything up tomorrow then be gone for a month". Im not the OP, though, obviously. If I was, I would have tried to go with Tesla, because of cost, and when I found out they would not do it, I would have thanked them for not wrecking my home and then moved on to get another quote from a company that wanted to do it, and been prepared to pay more for it.

Tesla wants easy jobs, and they are finally turning down jobs they dont do well, which should be commended imo, rather than just @#$@! ing it up.

 

[charlesj]

...

All new construction is supposed to have a fire suppression system ...

I know this is about solar, but this caught my eyes. Does this system require a large water meter like 1" or larger? That would add a considerable to the water bill.

 

[taphil]

My house has fire sprinkler system built in as required, came with 1" line from the street. Base service charge is is $39/mo. Service charge for 3/4" is $23/mo.

The water supply line for the sprinklers runs off the city's 150PSI water pressure before it's T'ed off and reduced to the rest of the house.

 

[sunwarriors]

I call BS. Tesla IS that much cheaper than other installers. Yes, my systems, both of them, were at the $1.99/watt installed. The quote is now $2.32/watt installed and I checked a bunch of locations here in California and it was the same everywhere. Yes it went up, but so did everyone else. You will not find any legit quotes less than double what Tesla is.

If you want better customer service and faster turn around times for inverter failures, pay double. Your ROI will be shorter even if you have an inverter out 2 months out of every year going with Tesla.

Is it for everyone? No. If you don't care about ROI and are going solar out of ethical reasons, then pay more and maybe get great customer service. My neighbor payed triple and got AWEFUL customer service from his local installer and then they went out of business and now he's left paying someone else to replace a failed inverter, SE so he's hoping SE will cover the labor portion of the replacement under warranty but they haven't yet, but I'll be the company that did the replacement didn't even apply for it.

Well, I can only comment on my own case, Tesla was like $2.15 or so when I was doing research, my install was like $2.50. $2.50 isn't DOUBLE as you claim for an install. I should be only getting quotes of $4.30 in your 0/1 case that it's this or that.

Maybe in your area, EVERY SINGLE INSTALLER is charging you double, but that's sorta BS too I think. I've checked got like 10-15 quotes so maybe that's more than most people, got local, energy sage, tesla, big names, small names, etc...but my complaint with your comment is the blanket that anything other than Tesla is double which is blatantly false.

There were double chargers for sure, but that's not all of them neither. I see some triple as well in the $6+ range, but not like anyone has to go for those.

 

[MP3Mike]

Tesla is about to cancel my project because they’re not comfortable drilling a tether into my flat roof to complete the site survey because they’re worried about damaging the fire suppression system.

What if Tesla gave you the specs and you hired a different contractor to install a permanent tether point, or points, for them to use on your roof?

 

[brkaus]

I'd happily pay a reasonable % more for a high quality installer that I know would be around. Most of the salespeople I’ve talked to have had a slimy feel to them. Displaced vacuum cleaner salespeople or something.

I haven’t yet internalized what would be reasonable though.

 

[sorka]

Well, I can only comment on my own case, Tesla was like $2.15 or so when I was doing research, my install was like $2.50. $2.50 isn't DOUBLE as you claim for an install. I should be only getting quotes of $4.30 in your 0/1 case that it's this or that.

Care to post the quote or invoice for your $2.50 / watt system?

 

[getakey]

why do you need a tether on a flat roof?

 

[sunwarriors]

Care to post the quote or invoice for your $2.50 / watt system?

View attachment 867903

Here are two of the quotes I got...I went with another installer, but my price was only slightly higher than these two. These two local installers are based in San Diego and are still in business and have decent reviews from what I can see on yelp, energysage.

As I mentioned in the past, I probably got 10+ quotes. My search strategy was hit up all the big names locally I've ever seen, use energysage as well. I also asked anyone I saw that was did SGIP in that SGIP database for quotes.

Maybe not in your area, but there are options not called Tesla. Tesla was around $2.15 or so when I checked in 2021.

You can say energysage is a scam and no one pays that, but as someone who got SGIP, got around what was quoted (I did do a L2 charger and had to do some panel work, upgrades, pull wire, etc....) and even with non-energy sage quotes, I was seeing ~$2.80 as well.

 

[patrick40363]

$4 watt for solar where I live.

 

[sorka]

Here are two of the quotes I got...I went with another installer, but my price was only slightly higher than these two. These two local installers are based in San Diego and are still in business and have decent reviews from what I can see on yelp, energysage.

As I mentioned in the past, I probably got 10+ quotes. My search strategy was hit up all the big names locally I've ever seen, use energysage as well. I also asked anyone I saw that was did SGIP in that SGIP database for quotes.

Maybe not in your area, but there are options not called Tesla. Tesla was around $2.15 or so when I checked in 2021.

You can say energysage is a scam and no one pays that, but as someone who got SGIP, got around what was quoted (I did do a L2 charger and had to do some panel work, upgrades, pull wire, etc....) and even with non-energy sage quotes, I was seeing ~$2.80 as well.

That includes the tax credit. Still a great price even with that factored in. What company provided you that quote? My second system order from Tesla was placed in early 2022 and it was still $1.99 / watt.

 

[arnolddeleon]

why do you need a tether on a flat roof?

Almost certainly earthquake. I was months in the permitting with city of Sunnyvale (Project Solar as the contractor) when they finally said we can't do ballasted install without anchoring. Well there was the alternative to have more room around the edges but that would have rendered the project not worth it.

So I'm resigned to putting holes in my brand new Fibertite flat roof.

BTW I'm running the experiment for you all by trying Project Solar. Their prices are competitive with Tesla. I would have probably done Tesla again (I have four of their systems) but my previous attempts at flat roof where non-starters. I know what I'm getting with Tesla and I'm pretty comfortable with solar tech. They apparently are doing flat roofs now as evidenced by this thread and the comment from one of their techs who recently did a "free service call" to install revenue grade Neurios so they presumably capture the renewable energy credits that I signed away to them.

 

[eisenb11]

What if Tesla gave you the specs and you hired a different contractor to install a permanent tether point, or points, for them to use on your roof?

The problem with Tesla is that they don’t communicate. I offered multiple other options for them to install the tether and they just won’t listen. You aren’t allowed to talk to anyone making the decisions and are stuck working through random advisors who relay or don’t relay what they want. In the end they refused to listen to any of my suggestion on where to anchor or how to find an appropriate joist.

why do you need a tether on a flat roof?

I guess they mandate one on any roof although it’s kind of silly. I’ve been on my roof, it’s easy to walk around up there and I’m afraid of heights.

 

[eisenb11]

So my adventure is definitely over. They ignored my suggestions and cancelled my order while I was offering up a way to locate a joist for them to drill into. I’m considering this done at this point and am not going to fight them on it. It’s just not worth it - the level of service is beyond abysmal. I get that it’s a good deal, but at some point it’s just not worth the stress and hassle. I’m not going to pay someone to keep kicking me in the nards. That and I’ve read too many horror stories of people being left up the creek for extended periods of time when things break. They treat you poorly before they have your money and worse afterwards and I find those posts scarier than the install nightmares.

I’m likely done with the entire brand. Ordering my M3P was a frustrating experience as well as getting it serviced. No communication and months late. Who the heck delivers to someone a brand new car that’s dented and immediately has to have the trunk fixed and completely repainted? Then screws that repair up multiple times leaving you with Uber for days each time.

No surprise, every step of ordering solar had been a terrible experience. I should have heeded what I read, but I figured that people were overdoing it. Terrible communication. Constantly rescheduling appointments. Then this BS with the tether. I’m done with Tesla until they learn to up their customer service game.

My biggest peave is that they wasted 2 months of my time over facts that were available to them on day 1. If you’re not going to drill flat roofs with sprinklers then don’t accept the job in the first place (all of this was revealed in the self-assessment to start the process). Or even cancel after the first site survey. To cancel on the 2nd site survey is ridiculous. Tesla simply doesn’t care about their customers. Felt that way getting a car from them. Felt that way trying to get solar from them.

As for solar, I’m now back to square one. You apparently get what you pay for - so I’m going to pay more and find someone else.

As for cars, I have a year left on the lease - there is so much exciting stuff going on in the EV world that I’ll most likely try another brand next time around.

Wish I had a cool story with happy news or could say that we worked out a solution, but there isn’t much you can do when only one side is interested in communicating. Wish everyone the best, I’ll need to continue my adventure elsewhere, unfortunately.

 

[sunwarriors]

That includes the tax credit. Still a great price even with that factored in. What company provided you that quote? My second system order from Tesla was placed in early 2022 and it was still $1.99 / watt.

No, this quote does NOT include the tax credit. Maybe it's area specific, but Tesla in my zip is $2.51 now (just quoted yesterday). You can create an energysage account and prices are very competitive there. The benefit is you can still go local if you choose to since it's the same companies that's around you as well.

You may not believe, but maybe similar to your case of everyone charging double, prices aren't that out of whack for anyone not Tesla neither (my point).

 

[sunwarriors]

So my adventure is definitely over. They ignored my suggestions and cancelled my order while I was offering up a way to locate a joist for them to drill into. I’m considering this done at this point and am not going to fight them on it. It’s just not worth it - the level of service is beyond abysmal. I get that it’s a good deal, but at some point it’s just not worth the stress and hassle. I’m not going to pay someone to keep kicking me in the nards. That and I’ve read too many horror stories of people being left up the creek for extended periods of time when things break. They treat you poorly before they have your money and worse afterwards and I find those posts scarier than the install nightmares.

I’m likely done with the entire brand. Ordering my M3P was a frustrating experience as well as getting it serviced. No communication and months late. Who the heck delivers to someone a brand new car that’s dented and immediately has to have the trunk fixed and completely repainted? Then screws that repair up multiple times leaving you with Uber for days each time.

No surprise, every step of ordering solar had been a terrible experience. I should have heeded what I read, but I figured that people were overdoing it. Terrible communication. Constantly rescheduling appointments. Then this BS with the tether. I’m done with Tesla until they learn to up their customer service game.

My biggest peave is that they wasted 2 months of my time over facts that were available to them on day 1. If you’re not going to drill flat roofs with sprinklers then don’t accept the job in the first place (all of this was revealed in the self-assessment to start the process). Or even cancel after the first site survey. To cancel on the 2nd site survey is ridiculous. Tesla simply doesn’t care about their customers. Felt that way getting a car from them. Felt that way trying to get solar from them.

As for solar, I’m now back to square one. You apparently get what you pay for - so I’m going to pay more and find someone else.

As for cars, I have a year left on the lease - there is so much exciting stuff going on in the EV world that I’ll most likely try another brand next time around.

Wish I had a cool story with happy news or could say that we worked out a solution, but there isn’t much you can do when only one side is interested in communicating. Wish everyone the best, I’ll need to continue my adventure elsewhere, unfortunately.

Sorry to hear...one reason I avoided Tesla in addition to my earlier reasons above is NEM3.0. I didn't want to risk delays and even though it's stated that you can be grandfathered in if you file some paperwork or something, I'd rather it just be completely done without paperwork mistakes that you read about. My PTO was in about 1 week. I think the new NEM proposal for discussion is tomorrow?

Tesla has done many fine/great installs so maybe some of the negative posts are overblown, but there are enough here that it's affecting some folks that had me pause also, but if you have a house/system design that's cookie cutter in their system, I don't think many/any installers can really beat their pricing.

If you're doing batteries and qualify for SGIP, getting SGIP can make going non-Tesla easier to swallow.