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New Tesla 15.12kW Solar / 4 Powerwall order in Orlando

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My production has been: (Starting with Wednesday the 25th) 73.3, 72.3, 73.3, 69.3, 71.7, 60.6, 71.1, 34.1. (That 34.1 was yesterday and I had almost no production yesterday afternoon due to a very heavy rainstorm)

I really wish I knew when I was going to get my PTO. I’m still waiting for the city’s inspection and kind of caught in the middle. Tesla says they have left messages for the city and they are waiting for the city to reply and I talked to the city at one point and they said that they haven’t heard from Tesla and Tesla needs to request the inspection. Hopefully they will get together soon.
 
The "cloud edge effect" can generate power significantly over spec. On partially cloudy days, I've seen over 7 kW on my nominally 6.3 kW system. My inverter is oversized because I thought I might want to use DC-coupled batteries with it, so it can handle whatever the panels put out.

Remember that the solar panel rating is just a theoretical rating at a certain amount of sunlight. If there's more due to the focusing effect of the clouds, the panels can deliver more power too.
 
My production has been: (Starting with Wednesday the 25th) 73.3, 72.3, 73.3, 69.3, 71.7, 60.6, 71.1, 34.1. (That 34.1 was yesterday and I had almost no production yesterday afternoon due to a very heavy rainstorm)

I really wish I knew when I was going to get my PTO. I’m still waiting for the city’s inspection and kind of caught in the middle. Tesla says they have left messages for the city and they are waiting for the city to reply and I talked to the city at one point and they said that they haven’t heard from Tesla and Tesla needs to request the inspection. Hopefully they will get together soon.

In CA, normally the city inspections are fast, but actual PTO takes a month to 6 weeks after install. No idea if Florida is the same, but I suspect that you should be expecting full PTO (not just the city inspection but the utility PTO) to take at least 6 weeks from your install date.
 
My 15.12 kw w/ 4 powerwalls was supposed to be installed on 1 July. They showed up early, unloaded two trucks and we discussed placements etc during the unloading. Thought that day would be great.... Within the hour the show stopper occurred: Tiles on the roof were granulating (is that a word??) i.e. when walked on, the grains were coming off the tiles (think of walking on a bed of miniature BBs on a 30 degree slope!).

Long story short, they could not proceed due to safety concerns. Unfortunately they had already started tearing out shrubs were most of the equipment was going (PWs, Inverters etc).

So now no Solar/power walls... and a $40k est to replace the roof (about a 5,400 sq ft roof). Since it appears I need a new roof, decided to go with solar glass (22.5 kw system). My little project went from $57k to $134k... my original intent was: got a new Model Y, I should charge it with solar juice!!!!

Seemed like a good idea at the time...
 
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My 15.12 kw w/ 4 powerwalls was supposed to be installed on 1 July. They showed up early, unloaded two trucks and we discussed placements etc during the unloading. Thought that day would be great.... Within the hour the show stopper occurred: Tiles on the roof were granulating (is that a word??) i.e. when walked on, the grains were coming off the tiles (think of walking on a bed of miniature BBs on a 30 degree slope!).

Long story short, they could not proceed due to safety concerns. Unfortunately they had already started tearing out shrubs were most of the equipment was going (PWs, Inverters etc).

So now no Solar/power walls... and a $40k est to replace the roof (about a 5,400 sq ft roof). Since it appears I need a new roof, decided to go with solar glass (22.5 kw system). My little project went from $57k to $134k... my original intent was: got a new Model Y, I should charge it with solar juice!!!!

Seemed like a good idea at the time...

ugh! Concrete tiles? Tesla said that there were some brands that held up better than others and didn’t anticipate an issue with ours (but not installed yet). Curious what lifetime usage did your roof installers gave you on yours. Our concrete tile roof still has about 15 years to go I think—same warranty I believe our solar panels will have. Our tiles are multicolored orange/brownish so hope by the time we are ready their other colors/styles are in production. Solar tiles would have been our preferred way to go. I guess in 15 years and retired who knows if we’ll still be in same house and won’t be ready to downsize though.

Well despite the unexpected cost of roof replacement at least the solar tiles are being produced now and timing other than hit to budget works out for you. Hope you will start another thread on your install if you haven’t already.
 
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....I really wish I knew when I was going to get my PTO. I’m still waiting for the city’s inspection and kind of caught in the middle. Tesla says they have left messages for the city and they are waiting for the city to reply and I talked to the city at one point and they said that they haven’t heard from Tesla and Tesla needs to request the inspection. Hopefully they will get together soon.

I assume Tesla Energy installer also has to be out at property to meet with the City inspector? Not sure what covid protocols are with everyone. I know our electrician was onsite for our main panel final and was distancing. According to some reports for solar inspections here in SF Bay area some cities were doing Inspections by cell phone video with the installer while others had to be there in person and others on hold and not doing inspections at all. With Florida’s covid results exploding since Memorial Day have city inspections taken a hit? Or maybe Tesla is just backed up or short staffed. I get wanting that final utility inspection though for the PTO. Hope your powered up soon.
 
ugh! Concrete tiles? Tesla said that there were some brands that held up better than others and didn’t anticipate an issue with ours (but not installed yet).

No, I think these are regular tiles, but they are about 18 years+ old. Bought the house in April, but the AC was new, not the roof (I had thought the roof was new and the AC was old) :(.
Thought I was ok because the pre-home purchase inspection said the roof was fine.

I'll try and start new thread with more of my shenanigans...
 
No, I think these are regular tiles, but they are about 18 years+ old. Bought the house in April, but the AC was new, not the roof (I had thought the roof was new and the AC was old) :(.
Thought I was ok because the pre-home purchase inspection said the roof was fine.

I'll try and start new thread with more of my shenanigans...

We hired a home inspector when we bought our new developer home and all we can say was not impressed. He missed a number of things we realized afterwards including a few incorrectly wired outlets. Look forward to your thread.
 
Congrats! I just spotted my permits being applied for in my County's online portal. I'm praying for a PTO by 12/31/2020!
I remember spamming the refresh button that on the hope it might make things progress somehow. Unfortunately, MoCo doesn't seem to indicate progress (like reviews starting) in the system - just one day, a bunch of reviews complete.

Of course, that is better than PEPCO, where we get emails with status updates on our project that link us to a website that claims we have no project.
 
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Isn't the tax credit based on the date of the install complete payment?

I'm not entirely sure, but some sources I've read said it's based on PTO:

Frequently Asked Questions about the Federal Solar Tax Credit in 2020.

"If your solar panel installation is fully interconnected and you receive permission to operate (PTO) before January 1st, 2021, you are entitled to a tax credit of up to 26% of your cost to install solar. If your system gets PTO in 2021, you’ll earn a 22% tax credit instead."
 
I'm not entirely sure, but some sources I've read said it's based on PTO:

Frequently Asked Questions about the Federal Solar Tax Credit in 2020.

"If your solar panel installation is fully interconnected and you receive permission to operate (PTO) before January 1st, 2021, you are entitled to a tax credit of up to 26% of your cost to install solar. If your system gets PTO in 2021, you’ll earn a 22% tax credit instead."


Most people interpret it to be the system is installed on your premises, and passes the local "fit for use" inspection. You cant use order date, or the date you pay for it (in a residential install) from all that I read up on the subject, but you can use the date the equipment was physically installed.

I looked into this a lot because I was trying to make it in last year, and was shooting for a last week of december type install. Had that happened, I would have been able to take the tax credit on last years taxes (2019, which I just had done a few days ago lol) vs 2020s.

EDIT: To complete the tax story I just laid out, I ordered in late september I believe, and my install happened Jan 6th of this year, just narrowly missing the full 30% tax credit. My tax credit will be reduced to 26%, and have to be filed on 2020's taxes, however tesla eventually refunded me the 4% difference as they agreed to, since missing the date was due to their error.
 
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If I have paid for something that is on my roof, I will be taking advantage of the tax credit. Waiting for PTO should have no impact on the ability to take advantage of the credit.

Similarly, it would be odd to wait for DMV registration on an EV that I have purchased and taken delivery of to take advantage of the EV tax credit.