New Order - Possible to Change?

[hslee]

New to solar & Tesla. I just put in a new order. I have not put signed or paid for the order. Only the deposit and I received the initial design. I had a few questions since I need to put in new shingles on my roof to get ready for the panels. Has anyone had any success in contacting Tesla via email, or is the best route via the phone?

I ordered the 8.16kW package with two batteries. But I wonder if possible to go larger and again would like to talk with someone at Tesla about it.

Super excited, but not being able to talk to someone is slowing me down a bit.

 

[hslee]

One other item on the order form they didn't include the local municipal rebates for some reason - just the federal & state incentives. Should I be worried that they will not do the paperwork? I live in Massachusetts.

 

[jaed]

Yes you can talk to them and change your design. I did a number of times. Try this number: +1 (877) 571-7652‬

Not sure about the rebate as I think all of that is an estimate on their end. They will collect the full amount and I think you need to get rebates from the state yourself via taxes... I could be wrong tho.

 

[wjgjr]

One other item on the order form they didn't include the local municipal rebates for some reason - just the federal & state incentives. Should I be worried that they will not do the paperwork? I live in Massachusetts.

I would suggest getting the details of what is required for the municipal rebates and who normally would submit them. My experience (in MD) is that the customer is responsible for submitting the paperwork, and for us Tesla only listed one of the two state rebates in the net price on our contract. However, I confirmed with them that they would supply the necessary documentation on their end (which was largely a paid-in-full invoice, spec sheets, and product certifications.)

In general, I think Tesla will tell you that no rebates/credits are guaranteed and they just list the ones they know about, so it's not necessarily a shock they may not list all the municipal rebates that might exist.

 

[hslee]

Thanks for the help. I decided to call and they were very helpful. Someone from Tesla is coming out for a site visit now before I need to sign any paperwork.

 

[Iain]

Is the $100 refundable? Not that I expect to cancel but if my HOA blocks it for who know what. Another question, once the process starts do you have any control on the timeline?

 

[SMAlset]

Yes you can talk to them and change your design. I did a number of times. Try this number: +1 (877) 571-7652‬

Not sure about the rebate as I think all of that is an estimate on their end. They will collect the full amount and I think you need to get rebates from the state yourself via taxes... I could be wrong tho.

OP, and any new-to-Tesla Energy potential customer, yes the phone number @jaed supplied above is the number to call right now since everyone from Energy started WFH. We were assigned an advisor when we ordered (this has changed a few times over the past few months) but Energy has told us that really anyone who answers can help you and we've found that to be true. The person answering can pull up your order and see what is going on such as permitting etc. and if they need to direct your request to another department such as design for panel layout they get in contact with them so you don't have to deal with many different people and explain everything over again.

We changed our solar layout before signing. We didn't want any panels on the front of our house and the design team was able to rework the layout among all of our roof vents to fit the three panels in question to the side and back sections. Not quite as nice of a panel layout at initial design but it worked for us to get everything onto two roof sections. Just so you are aware, there are distance limitations as the panels get near the hips or ridge. We also during this covid down time decided to add another PW to our order. So yes, totally doable to make changes. They re-did our contract and since our permit was already approved by the city for our initial two, they had to file another permit for the extra one. We were told cities they had worked with before let them simply amend the original permit in cases like this but our city didn't; but they handled all of that from their end and we got that permit approved, now waiting on scheduling.

In our area Tesla is working with PG&E, our electricity distributor, and there are some incentives through them in addition to the Federal ones. Our city doesn't have any financial incentives so if yours does that's great. In our case Tesla applied for an application for a PG&E incentive for us, but until the work gets finalized I don't think we have any guarantees if that will come through due to PG&E funding for the program and how many people are ahead of us on a waitlist. The Federal IRS incentive will require you to qualify for it (your tax preparer can help you determine that). Really not unlike EV incentives with Municipal, State and Federal programs.

 

[BrettS]

Is the $100 refundable? Not that I expect to cancel but if my HOA blocks it for who know what. Another question, once the process starts do you have any control on the timeline?

The $100 is sort of refundable. It is listed as non refundable and I seem to recall that when I placed my order there was some fine print that said “This is non refundable, but if you feel strongly about it we will refund it” or something along those lines. Interestingly, I originally placed an order, then cancelled the order and placed a new order (it was kind of a strange situation with a long story behind it). I assumed that I would lose the $100 deposit from the first order and I was pretty surprised when I saw a $100 refund on my credit card statement. I certainly wasn’t expecting that and I didn’t ask them to refund it or anything, but it was nice to see. So, the short version is, I would proceed assuming that it’s non refundable, but if you really do have to cancel then you might still be able to get it back.

As far as control over the timeline, you have some control. Once you place the order you will need to do a home assessment and take some pictures of your house. If you don’t do that right away they won’t be able to proceed, so you can introduce some delay in there. Once they have the home assessment within a day or two they will get you a preliminary layout that you will need to sign. Again, you can delay things by not signing right away. Once you sign the preliminary layout they will do a final design and ask you to confirm your financing and apply for the loan if you are getting one. Depending on your jurisdiction you may also have some documents to sign for your permit. You can also delay a bit here. Once they have all your signatures they will get your permit and once they have that they will call you to schedule the install. You don’t need to take the first appointment and you can ask for one a little ways out (although I don’t know how far out they will be willing to go). Once the system is installed they will have it inspected and get your PTO and you can turn it on.

So, the short version is, there are a number of places you can delay things if you want to stretch it out. If you are wanting things to move more quickly, then you’ll want to do the opposite and sign the documents as soon as you receive them so they can keep working on your order.

 

[SMAlset]

Is the $100 refundable? Not that I expect to cancel but if my HOA blocks it for who know what. Another question, once the process starts do you have any control on the timeline?

We've had other Texans ask about HOAs on this forum section and from what I recall Texas can not prevent a solar installation just like they can't prevent satellite dishes. There may be some hoops you have to jump through as to the exterior appearance (painted conduit, removal of equipment down the road). Since you are thinking about this now, call up your HOA and ask. There is likely an Architectural Application Form that will need to be filled out and they can fill you in on specific requirements. If it were the case it couldn't go in, I think Tesla would talk to your HOA on your behalf and if it came down to it refund the $100. We've found them to be pretty fair in our dealings.

You are responsible for applying for any approval from your HOA however and I think they need to see it before any work would start. Once we had our contract signed we were able to send our HOA application in along with our roof layout and equipment that Tesla would be installing. We did need to submit our Approval letter to TE after we received it.

We unfortunately got delayed by covid shutdown the day our electrician was going to do our main panel upgrade the City had required. Restrictions opened up some and he was able to do the work two months later and then able to notify Tesla we were ready for them. However our county was not permitting work groups at that point, so we've had that delay, but now they are able to do installs. Our permitting is all approved now and I think we are just in line for scheduling. Our county just announced yesterday 122 new cases of covid (reportedly coming mainly from construction workers) and Santa Clara County is concerned, and we're hearing talk they hope they don't have to shut things back down again. Of course that elicited a groan from me as it likely could mean no installers out to the house again; hope this won't be the case. Tesla has had to be very flexible in all of this. We were also told at one point before covid happened that if we decided to get our solar fan vent removed from the roof and that section re-roofed (not something they would do), and if the work would conflict with a scheduled install to just let them know and scheduling could be moved.

 

[tinhtu]

New to solar & Tesla. I just put in a new order. I have not put signed or paid for the order. Only the deposit and I received the initial design. I had a few questions since I need to put in new shingles on my roof to get ready for the panels. Has anyone had any success in contacting Tesla via email, or is the best route via the phone?

I ordered the 8.16kW package with two batteries. But I wonder if possible to go larger and again would like to talk with someone at Tesla about it.

Super excited, but not being able to talk to someone is slowing me down a bit.

When did you place the order?

 

[hslee]

Well, it has been several weeks since I asked for new design for a larger system. I called for the third time and they did admit that the request was not forwarded to the designer Marco. They asked for 5 business days which is the typical response time. Doesn't give me a lot of confidence but I'll give it a week more. I hope others are having more luck!

 

[bayareaever]

What’s the pge incentive currently? I haven’t heard about it.

OP, and any new-to-Tesla Energy potential customer, yes the phone number @jaed supplied above is the number to call right now since everyone from Energy started WFH. We were assigned an advisor when we ordered (this has changed a few times over the past few months) but Energy has told us that really anyone who answers can help you and we've found that to be true. The person answering can pull up your order and see what is going on such as permitting etc. and if they need to direct your request to another department such as design for panel layout they get in contact with them so you don't have to deal with many different people and explain everything over again.

We changed our solar layout before signing. We didn't want any panels on the front of our house and the design team was able to rework the layout among all of our roof vents to fit the three panels in question to the side and back sections. Not quite as nice of a panel layout at initial design but it worked for us to get everything onto two roof sections. Just so you are aware, there are distance limitations as the panels get near the hips or ridge. We also during this covid down time decided to add another PW to our order. So yes, totally doable to make changes. They re-did our contract and since our permit was already approved by the city for our initial two, they had to file another permit for the extra one. We were told cities they had worked with before let them simply amend the original permit in cases like this but our city didn't; but they handled all of that from their end and we got that permit approved, now waiting on scheduling.

In our area Tesla is working with PG&E, our electricity distributor, and there are some incentives through them in addition to the Federal ones. Our city doesn't have any financial incentives so if yours does that's great. In our case Tesla applied for an application for a PG&E incentive for us, but until the work gets finalized I don't think we have any guarantees if that will come through due to PG&E funding for the program and how many people are ahead of us on a waitlist. The Federal IRS incentive will require you to qualify for it (your tax preparer can help you determine that). Really not unlike EV incentives with Municipal, State and Federal programs.

 

[SMAlset]

What’s the pge incentive currently? I haven’t heard about it.

PG&E has a Self-Generation Incentive Program (SGIP) it's been running for a few years now. Funds that were appropriated for residential customers I believe have been maxed out presently. More funds may be set up for another tier but nothing is a guaranty. If you fall into a special circumstance category like income status, location, medical/essential needs, and likelihood to be shutoff in a Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) event, there might still be program funds available. Tesla gets so many applications alloted for it's customers from the pool and others go to qualified installers for their customers. I haven't followed it but here's PG&E's webpage for it:

Discover the Self-Generation Incentive Program for Residential Customers

Others here can better explain it.