willow_hiller
Well-Known Member
Not to answer for @BrettS , but I was surprised to learn my county in Maryland has absolutely no firecode requirement. Judging by the posts on this forum you'd think it's universal.
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New Tesla 15.12kW Solar / 4 Powerwall order in Orlando
- Thread starter BrettS
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Not to answer for @BrettS , but I was surprised to learn my county in Maryland has absolutely no firecode requirement. Judging by the posts on this forum you'd think it's universal.
I believe that the fire code setback is only a California thing. The code is differently different in different jurisdictions.
I just got quotes and $450 is in line with the umbrella policy I got BUT homeowner's and auto policies' liability coverages must be raised to $300k and $500k respectively to get any umbrella policy. They all require it. I already have $300k for homeowner's, but the auto increase is going to cost another $635 for the 3 vehicle policy. An extra $1100 a year is significant! This is BS and the tiers are completely out of whack. I am bailing on my order which was about to go to permitting when Tesla caught the insurance requirement issue and notified me today.
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What homeowner's insurer do you have? Most do not go above $300k in liability coverage.
In my case my agent was able to do a “premises only” umbrella policy through progressive that just covers the house and not my cars. As I recall that was only like $170 a year. If you want to send me a private message I can get you my agent’s name and number.
Thanks for the info! I talked to your Progressive agent. They only offer this type of policy for those who they hold the homeowner's policy for. So, I am having her do a full quote but I have a feeling they won't compete with my current HO policy through Edison. Will let you all know.
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Just got my first power bill since I had the solar installed. I’m still operating in ‘extended off grid testing mode’ so I probably could have done a little better if I was connected to the grid and able to send back any power that wasn’t used. I tried to send as much excess power to my car as I could, but it didn’t always work out, so there was some power lost after the powerwalls got fully charged. Additionally I’m losing 10% (or more) of the power that goes through the powerwalls due to their inefficiencies. Once I get PTO I plan to run in backup only mode since I have net metering.
In any case, my power bill for the last 30 days was $70.10 for 419kWh. In comparison my power bill for this same time last year was $531.30.
However, my savings aren’t quite as big as it looks because I did a *lot* of driving (and thus, car charging) last July. It shows that last year I used 3348kWh during that time period. This year, according to the tesla app, I only used a total of 2153kWh. To try to get more of an apples to apples comparison I looked through my power bills and I found one month where I used 2161kWh and that bill was $331.05.
So the short version is that I saved about $261 this month. My loan payments (which haven’t started yet) are about $292. I knew I was going to be paying a little more than I was saving because of the fact that I got four powerwalls, but given that I should be able to save a little more once I finally get my PTO, plus I’m getting several thousand back as a rebate because of the price drop a month or two ago that’s not factored into the loan I’m feeling pretty happy about how things came out.
In any case, my power bill for the last 30 days was $70.10 for 419kWh. In comparison my power bill for this same time last year was $531.30.
However, my savings aren’t quite as big as it looks because I did a *lot* of driving (and thus, car charging) last July. It shows that last year I used 3348kWh during that time period. This year, according to the tesla app, I only used a total of 2153kWh. To try to get more of an apples to apples comparison I looked through my power bills and I found one month where I used 2161kWh and that bill was $331.05.
So the short version is that I saved about $261 this month. My loan payments (which haven’t started yet) are about $292. I knew I was going to be paying a little more than I was saving because of the fact that I got four powerwalls, but given that I should be able to save a little more once I finally get my PTO, plus I’m getting several thousand back as a rebate because of the price drop a month or two ago that’s not factored into the loan I’m feeling pretty happy about how things came out.
Well, I just noticed that I’m in storm watch mode. My county is officially under a tropical storm warning right now because of Isaias. I’m trying to figure out how to handle it. I want to stay off grid for as long as possible to maximize the amount of solar power I can generate, but I also want to make sure that my powerwalls are fully charged before the storm in case we do lose power for an extended time. (I was without power for three days after hurricane Matthew). I’ll probably stay off grid until the storm starts getting close, then I’ll shut down the solar and go back on grid during the storm, making sure the powerwalls have time to fully charge before the worst of the storm hits. It tends to be pretty cloudy and overcast right before the storm, so I probably won’t really lose a significant amount of solar production anyway.
Frankly though, I’m not too worried about this storm. I’m not right on the coast and it’s only predicted to be a cat 1 at this point anyway. But I do want to be ready in case my power goes out.
Frankly though, I’m not too worried about this storm. I’m not right on the coast and it’s only predicted to be a cat 1 at this point anyway. But I do want to be ready in case my power goes out.
‘extended off grid testing mode’ - always wondered what to call it.
I was thinking of call it "Quick, go charge the car operation mode". Anyway. sounds like it working well for you.I see approximately $400/mo savings when operating in ‘extended off grid testing mode’. Can't wait for PTO.
The day before a hurricane and it was beautiful weather here. It was almost completely cloudless. This was my best production day yet and the first time I broke 80kWh. There were a couple of clouds in the morning and one break in the afternoon when the powerwalls got fully charged and shut off the inverters before I noticed so I could send excess power to the car.
I think the brief peak in the center is an example of cloud edge effect. There was a brief dip before it when a cloud went by, then the brief spike from the cloud edge effect.
I think the brief peak in the center is an example of cloud edge effect. There was a brief dip before it when a cloud went by, then the brief spike from the cloud edge effect.
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They are required to be there by code, so they are expected to be there permanently. They would at least need to remain through the inspection and PTO, but after that I’m not sure if anyone would notice if they happened to fall off. Different localities may require different stickers or different numbers of stickers, so it’s possible that other installs may look different.
And there are a lot of stickers. The documents Tesla submitted to our county and utility include two pages, displaying 24 different red stickers that would be placed in various locations (and, to be clear, some stickers are used multiple times, though I think a few were not needed.) 20 of them reference specific NEC code sections.
That's not correct. FL has them too, the rule is: if you have modules on intersecting sides of a roof face then you must have a setback of 36" (18" from the hip/valley on both sides, 36" from the ridge and 36" roof edge). If only one side has modules then you don't have to have a setback since fire fighters can walk on the adjacent roof face.
Source: I installed my own solar system
As part of the final inspection process, Tesla puts on stickers telling 1st responders (mainly fire) where to shutoff power, and for electrical contractors telling them not to adjust circuits in certain boxes.
In the previous images you saw the system may not have passed final inspection. All of these red stickers on the boxes where added during the final inspection process and are required. The red stickers on the pipes are required and were added when the system was installed.
FWIW, if you notice the Tesla Gateway box does not have a red sticker. I was told this was something Elon lobbied for because he thought the stickers were ugly.
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They are for 1st responders and contractors. So if you want them to put out a fire at your house or not break your solar when adding a circuit you should leave them on.
Our gateway has two red stickers - a caution that it is a dual power source and a warning that touching the terminals is an electric shock hazard. So apparently at least some jurisdictions weren't swayed by that (or our installers put on more stickers than necessary - I have not attempted to match the 24 sticker types to their assigned locations in our documents.)
I live in the same county were the Fremont factory is located, so perhaps Elon has more sway here.
And, what document list the stickers?
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I asked for a copy of the plans that they sent in to the county and utility. Tesla sent me back the "full plans" as they described them. It included a cover page, site plan, three line diagram, "site plan placard", then the two pages I mentioned labeled "label set", and several cutsheet pages. I do not know if the labels/cutsheet stuff is standard or required for our jurisdiction. The label set has an image of each of the 24 red stickers, along with a list of locations for the stickers and the applicable NEC section, if applicable.I live in the same county were the Fremont factory is located, so perhaps Elon has more sway here.
And, what document list the stickers?
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