New Tesla 15.12kW Solar / 4 Powerwall order in Orlando

[BrettS]

I placed an “order” with Tesla for a 15.12kW solar system with 4 powerwalls and paid my $100 on 4/23. I have been kind of dragging my feet with them as far as approving and signing documents because I wanted to get a few additional quotes before I totally committed to Tesla. Today I finally decided that I’m ready to commit and I officially signed all the documents and got the process started.

In the end I decided that the solar portion was very competitive with the other quotes I got and Tesla was offering the powerwalls for close to half the price that I could get them anywhere else, overall the cost of the whole system was thousands of dollars less than any other quote.

This is the timeline they gave me. I’m not sure how accurate this will be...

1-2 weeks for permitting
1-2 weeks to for the install
6-7 weeks for inspection and PTO

If anyone is interested I’ll keep this thread updated with the process.

 

[BrettS]

Here is the panel layout that I was given.

The garage is on the upper right side in the drawing (The words “front of house” are in the driveway) and I will likely have them install the powerwalls on the outside of the garage on the wall that is primarily north facing. My meter is also on that wall, so the rest of the equipment will go there as well. Potentially they could be installed inside the garage, but I really don’t want to give up that much space in the garage.

I’m a little north of Orlando in Deltona and my power company is Duke Energy.

 

[mongo]

Here is the panel layout that I was given. View attachment 539307
The garage is on the upper right side in the drawing (The words “front of house” are in the driveway) and I will likely have them install the powerwalls on the outside of the garage on the wall that is primarily north facing. My meter is also on that wall, so the rest of the equipment will go there as well. Potentially they could be installed inside the garage, but I really don’t want to give up that much space in the garage.

I’m a little north of Orlando in Deltona and my power company is Duke Energy.

What size electrical service do you have?

 

[BrettS]

What size electrical service do you have?

200 Amps

 

[mongo]

200 Amps

That'll make it easier. I was curious given the 4 Powerwalls. I have 400 split into two 200 panels, so would need 2 PW per panel (four total) or so...

 

[BrettS]

That'll make it easier. I was curious given the 4 Powerwalls. I have 400 split into two 200 panels, so would need 2 PW per panel (four total) or so...

Yeah, it shouldn’t be complicated with 200 amp service. I’m planning on backing up the entire house. I went back and forth on whether to go with three or four powerwalls and I think I could probably get away with three, but with the tax credit and the discount for getting solar and powerwalls at once I’m not paying much more than $4000 per powerwall. At that price I figured it made sense to go ahead with four.

 

[Misterbee]

I am in a similar situation, about to pull the trigger on a similar system. I will be keen to follow your progress.

 

[BrettS]

Well, I discovered that Tesla has offered members of my local Tesla enthusiasts club a limited time discount on solar installs if we can get a minimum of 10 orders. Unfortunately I wound up having to cancel my original order and reorder in order to qualify for the potential discount, so that might set my progress back a little, but if I can save some money then it will definitely be worth it.

 

[PDACPA]

How do I determine my electrical service size? I replaced my exterior panels about 6 -7 years ago. The breaker panel in the garage is original to the build back in 1979.

 

[mongo]

How do I determine my electrical service size? I replaced my exterior panels about 6 -7 years ago. The breaker panel in the garage is original to the build back in 1979.

The meter should say what it is.
And/or the main breaker in the first panel.

 

[PDACPA]

The meter should say what it is.
And/or the main breaker in the first panel.

I will take a look when I get home. I used the Tesla website when I did the photo upload and it did not save any photos to my phone.

 

[CrazyRabbit]

i've ordered the x-large system as well. i'm waiting for tesla to straighten out the layout and i want more then 4 powerwalls.
My service is 320A. I have two main panels which each have two beaker, marked 200A each, for L1/L2 which made me think my panels are 400 Amps, but they are 200A per the ge catalog. I don't know what code is in TX, but if i add up the total breakers i'm way over 200A per leg, but i don't think that maters.
I want them to add a non backup panel and connect both my house panels to the TEG (gateway) and add two generation panels as subs to each main panel if possible. I don't know what they have planned.
if they install two TEG's then your generation and powerwalls have to divided up among the TEGs, as a result your ability to start motors will be half of the total, and one panel could go to zero before the other.


Load Center Power Mark Gold: General Electric, TM2020CCUG http://apps.geindustrial.com/publibrary/checkout/DET1023?TNR=Application and Technical|DET1023|PDF&filename=DET1023C PowerMark Gold Load Centers, Q-Line Circuit Breakers and Accessories Guide.pdf
Meter: FOCUS AXRe-SD (form 2se CL320 240v 3w 60hz ta=50Kh) E331/E351 FOCUS AXe/AXRe/RXRe - Landis+Gyr

 

[mongo]

i've ordered the x-large system as well. i'm waiting for tesla to straighten out the layout and i want more then 4 powerwalls.
My service is 320A. I have two main panels which each have two beaker, marked 200A each, for L1/L2 which made me think my panels are 400 Amps, but they are 200A per the ge catalog. I don't know what code is in TX, but if i add up the total breakers i'm way over 200A per leg, but i don't think that maters.
I want them to add a non backup panel and connect both my house panels to the TEG (gateway) and add two generation panels as subs to each main panel if possible. I don't know what they have planned.
if they install two TEG's then your generation and powerwalls have to divided up among the TEGs, as a result your ability to start motors will be half of the total, and one panel could go to zero before the other.


Load Center Power Mark Gold: General Electric, TM2020CCUG http://apps.geindustrial.com/publibrary/checkout/DET1023?TNR=Application and Technical|DET1023|PDF&filename=DET1023C PowerMark Gold Load Centers, Q-Line Circuit Breakers and Accessories Guide.pdf
Meter: FOCUS AXRe-SD (form 2se CL320 240v 3w 60hz ta=50Kh) E331/E351 FOCUS AXe/AXRe/RXRe - Landis+Gyr

Panels are rated by the 240V current so 200A. Current flows through L1 and L2. Or 400A of 120V...
Untill Tesla makes a 400A gateway, splitting or having a panel of non-backed up loads are the only options, with the down sides you mentioned.

If they used double throw contactors in the gateway (or a third set), they could link two panel feeds together...

 

[DeanP]

I went through all the motions but due to poor credit, I couldn't get funding. I was getting exactly what the OP stated with the 4 powerwalls. Would do this in a heartbeat as it is a total wash to what I'm paying Duke now. Hopefully next year.

 

[CrazyRabbit]

had my home assessment today, i'm good for 20 or more powerwalls! we talked about my concerns and requested a quote for panels made in USA and hiding the wiring in the wall and placement of the TEG.

i'm going to put four powerwalls on the side wall in the garage and the rest on pedestals on the floor along the pack wall of the garage, don't want them mounted on the wall common to the house as i'm worried about possible noise transmission

 

[mongo]

had my home assessment today, i'm good for 20 or more powerwalls! we talked about my concerns and requested a quote for panels made in USA and hiding the wiring in the wall and placement of the TEG.

i'm going to put four powerwalls on the side wall in the garage and the rest on pedestals on the floor along the pack wall of the garage, don't want them mounted on the wall common to the house as i'm worried about possible noise transmission

Going for Powerpack instead then?

 

[dfwatt]

I placed an “order” with Tesla for a 15.12kW solar system with 4 powerwalls and paid my $100 on 4/23. I have been kind of dragging my feet with them as far as approving and signing documents because I wanted to get a few additional quotes before I totally committed to Tesla. Today I finally decided that I’m ready to commit and I officially signed all the documents and got the process started.

In the end I decided that the solar portion was very competitive with the other quotes I got and Tesla was offering the powerwalls for close to half the price that I could get them anywhere else, overall the cost of the whole system was thousands of dollars less than any other quote.

This is the timeline they gave me. I’m not sure how accurate this will be...

1-2 weeks for permitting
1-2 weeks to for the install
6-7 weeks for inspection and PTO

If anyone is interested I’ll keep this thread updated with the process.

We just had our second Tesla solar system installed this one being an 8 kilowatt system and our first system being a 12 kilowatt. Both systems have two power walls.. The first one has been a screaming homerun and exceeds its rated power. We are now an energy producer in Southwest Florida with roughly 200 to 300 kilowatt hours a month pumped into the grid from the first system. This of course would not be happening if we were driving very much but that's the upside of the covid-19 shut down.

To get to your issues, those numbers are optimistic in terms of the state and Regulatory approval cycles - in other words possible but probably best case scenario. There were endless delays with both FPL and the county, some of which came from the county and FPL and some of which came from Tesla's failure to submit the proper paperwork with the proper digital stamp if you can believe that. The installation is the easiest part and is almost always done in one day. You would think that would be the limiting factor but it's all the regulatory approval and what seems like a revolving door of inspections that really snag the process.

On a positive note, both Tesla solar systems that were installed very competently and our Builder who also does solar install could not get close to the Tesla price either, and he watched them put the first system in and said that they were a real "A team" outfit - as good as he's seen.

The Tesla app and the Gateway are really ingenious. Although Tesla is somewhat disorganized and it seems like there's an endless hand off from one Tesla energy rep to the next, I'd still recommend them without hesitation although I would try to get somebody who can guarantee they're going to see your project from start to finish.

 

[wjgjr]

Although Tesla is somewhat disorganized and it seems like there's an endless hand off from one Tesla energy rep to the next, I'd still recommend them without hesitation although I would try to get somebody who can guarantee they're going to see your project from start to finish.

I can't agree with this enough. We are still in the PTO process, and everybody so far has been very professional and competent. However, it seems like each group is very much a silo and they pass the project from one silo to the next without somebody overseeing things. In our case, at least one of our delays - an extra four weeks of utility review - seems directly related to nobody managing the overall project. When some design changes were made during the install, changes were submitted to the county, but nobody sent them to the utility because it wasn't that step in the process. Only after the county inspection did they realize they had to get a new utility review. i don't expect any issues with the approval, but there is no reason that 4-week process could not have been done concurrent to the county process.

When Tesla called asking for feedback, a dedicated project manager was my first recommendation. Their only offer was that they setup a dedicated phone number for questions, but I find that a poor substitute.

 

[patbaker82]

I placed an “order” with Tesla for a 15.12kW solar system with 4 powerwalls and paid my $100 on 4/23. I have been kind of dragging my feet with them as far as approving and signing documents because I wanted to get a few additional quotes before I totally committed to Tesla. Today I finally decided that I’m ready to commit and I officially signed all the documents and got the process started.

In the end I decided that the solar portion was very competitive with the other quotes I got and Tesla was offering the powerwalls for close to half the price that I could get them anywhere else, overall the cost of the whole system was thousands of dollars less than any other quote.

This is the timeline they gave me. I’m not sure how accurate this will be...

1-2 weeks for permitting
1-2 weeks to for the install
6-7 weeks for inspection and PTO

If anyone is interested I’ll keep this thread updated with the process.

I'm going through this same process now for the same sized system. I'm finding navigating SGIP is a bit confusing. Given, I assume, >= 4 powerwalls is considered large scale does Tesla still have subscriptions for the incentive? I'm in California and have SCE.

 

[BrettS]

I'm going through this same process now for the same sized system. I'm finding navigating SGIP is a bit confusing. Given, I assume, >= 4 powerwalls is considered large scale does Tesla still have subscriptions for the incentive? I'm in California and have SCE.

I’m in Florida, so SGIP doesn’t apply to me. Good luck with your install though