New Solar install, quote vs contract?

[HankLloydRight]

Last time I got solar installed in 2015 with Solarcity, I had a chance to review the contract and proposal before signing the contract and scheduling an install.

In CT now, many companies are very aggressively selling solar. We had a company rep walk up this week (Monument Solar), and they're coming back next week to work up a quote/proposal.

But when I go to tesla.com to sign up for solar, they want a $100 non-refundable deposit (which is fine), but it's not for getting a quote or proposal, it seems to be actually signing a real contract with only three days to cancel.

So how does one go about getting a proposal/quote from Tesla to compare to other companies, rather than signing a contract from the start? The tesla site recommends a 16kW system -- I'm not sure our roof is big enough to support that size. So how does it work? At what point can I get a Tesla quote, but back out if we want to go with a local company?

I mean most likely I'll go with Tesla Energy, but I'm a little uncomfortable signing a contract before we even know the size and real cost of a new install.

thanks.

 

[BrettS]

Tesla definitely does it a little different than other companies, but I was told by the energy advisor that you can cancel the contract up any time up until the trucks pull up on install day with no penalty (other than the $100 deposit). The 3 day cancellation clause needs to be in there because of the law, but you can still cancel at any time.

Additionally you won’t sign the actual contract that contains the three day clause until after you have approved the layout and let tesla know how you will be financing.

 

[HankLloydRight]

Great, thanks. It would be nice if that were made clear on the website.

 

[bhzmark]

the $100 is definitely not signing the purchase agreement. that comes later and is different document after you may have gone with multiple iterations on the design.

 

[TheTalkingMule]

They're just throwing UX out there and seeing how it goes. Very Elon and very logical, but sometimes annoying for customers. I'm dead certain they'll be making changes before spring.

There's no need to make the $100 nonrefundable. It's designed to weed out "browsers" and isolate serious customers, but it's turning away people like yourself who would I don't know....like to understand a few details before handing someone nonrefundable money. The fixed(somewhat) array sizes Tesla sells are a fine concept, but without telling you how panels are oriented on your home or the estimated production, they haven't really offered a product IMO. Why would I pay for that?

The deposit needs to be $300 and fully-refundable. It'll serve the same purpose without putting up a barrier.

 

[HankLloydRight]

I’m actually ok with the $100 non refundable deposit in order to get the ball rolling. It just seems like you're signing a binding contract for installation.

 

[bgrynn1873]

I’m actually ok with the $100 non refundable deposit in order to get the ball rolling. It just seems like you're signing a binding contract for installation.

They will claim it is a contract your obligated to complete if something goes wrong. I am trying to cancel after they decided to abandon my project and add 100k to the project costs.

You truly don't know what the cost is until the install truck is there ripping up roof and electrical panel.