I just wanted to share my experience with everyone here and others lurking thinking of going with Tesla for solar panels. (That's what I did and eventually got convinced to take the leap). Tesla's price was $0.6-$1.5 cheaper then all my other quotes and I figured even if it took them 6 months and i had issues i'd still be saving thousands going with Telsa. I'm happy to say the entire process was super smooth and FAST.
Only complaint: I had my roof replaced prior and it would have been nice if they worked with the roofer on the install so that the roofer would warranty the entire roof but they said no and i still figured why not both companies will give me a 10yr workmanship warranty anyway.
Overall i'm super happy that I went with Tesla and got a much bigger system for cheaper then all my other quotes. The subcontractor was actually an installer for several other companies as well in the past and said he left them all because Tesla is crushing the competition and all the others badmouth Tesla because they have no way to win.
A little worried about shading on those 3 south side panels so I'll need to keep an eye on the trees and see if i can get them trimmed a bit more in the spring.
Timeline:
Aug 23 - Ordered 12kW package online for panels only (no powerwall)
Aug 24 - Project Advisor Assigned
Aug 25 - initial design sent over
Aug 26 - Reduced order to 10.24kW & asked for panel placement changes
Aug 30 - New design sent and approved
Sept 2 - Project ready for install and date scheduled was Dec 8. I called and was able to move it up to Nov 24th and told them to call me if a sooner appointment became available.
Oct 1st - Got a call from scheduling saying they can come on Oct 5th
Oct 5th - Crew doesn't show up at scheduled time and i called twice trying to see if they got lost which they had because our house is tricky to find. However, turned out one person in that crew had reported a fever so they had only sent over materials and would come back the next day with a different crew. Disappointing but what can you do in these times and glad they took precautions.
Oct 6th - 2 man crew shows up to install everything and worked a long full day. Turns out Tesla had given them an indoor breaker box and we needed outdoor so that part had to get put on hold until the next day.
Oct 7th - same 2 guys came and worked all day again to finish the job. They didn't test anything and said that would be done after inspection which i thought was strange. Oh this was a subcontractor btw not a Tesla crew but overall they were good guys.
Oct 27 - City inspection (virtual) with someone who worked at Tesla. They were supposed to call before with a time but the guy showed up at 8AM. He did see some work not 100% completed and rushed around to tidy things up while putting 100 caution stickers on everything. In the sub's defense they thought they would do the inspection with the city and had said they'd get it all sorted that day but Tesla swapped the inspection for one of their guys.
Oct 29 - Got the text saying i passed inspection and an hour later received the invoice. I called and negotiated to pay with a credit card instead of online with my bank account. I wasn't able to get a paypal link sent but i didn't complain since this would still get me a ton of points.
Nov 4 - Tesla submitted for PTO
Nov 6 - Recieved PTO approval from PGE. Need to wait until Monday to call Tesla and get the app all working but the panels are on and generating power
Only complaint: I had my roof replaced prior and it would have been nice if they worked with the roofer on the install so that the roofer would warranty the entire roof but they said no and i still figured why not both companies will give me a 10yr workmanship warranty anyway.
Overall i'm super happy that I went with Tesla and got a much bigger system for cheaper then all my other quotes. The subcontractor was actually an installer for several other companies as well in the past and said he left them all because Tesla is crushing the competition and all the others badmouth Tesla because they have no way to win.
Timeline:
Aug 23 - Ordered 12kW package online for panels only (no powerwall)
Aug 24 - Project Advisor Assigned
Aug 25 - initial design sent over
Aug 26 - Reduced order to 10.24kW & asked for panel placement changes
Aug 30 - New design sent and approved
Sept 2 - Project ready for install and date scheduled was Dec 8. I called and was able to move it up to Nov 24th and told them to call me if a sooner appointment became available.
Oct 1st - Got a call from scheduling saying they can come on Oct 5th
Oct 5th - Crew doesn't show up at scheduled time and i called twice trying to see if they got lost which they had because our house is tricky to find. However, turned out one person in that crew had reported a fever so they had only sent over materials and would come back the next day with a different crew. Disappointing but what can you do in these times and glad they took precautions.
Oct 6th - 2 man crew shows up to install everything and worked a long full day. Turns out Tesla had given them an indoor breaker box and we needed outdoor so that part had to get put on hold until the next day.
Oct 7th - same 2 guys came and worked all day again to finish the job. They didn't test anything and said that would be done after inspection which i thought was strange. Oh this was a subcontractor btw not a Tesla crew but overall they were good guys.
Oct 27 - City inspection (virtual) with someone who worked at Tesla. They were supposed to call before with a time but the guy showed up at 8AM. He did see some work not 100% completed and rushed around to tidy things up while putting 100 caution stickers on everything. In the sub's defense they thought they would do the inspection with the city and had said they'd get it all sorted that day but Tesla swapped the inspection for one of their guys.
Oct 29 - Got the text saying i passed inspection and an hour later received the invoice. I called and negotiated to pay with a credit card instead of online with my bank account. I wasn't able to get a paypal link sent but i didn't complain since this would still get me a ton of points.
Nov 4 - Tesla submitted for PTO
Nov 6 - Recieved PTO approval from PGE. Need to wait until Monday to call Tesla and get the app all working but the panels are on and generating power
