Panel brands - what Tesla tells me

[8lincoln30]

I just got my solar proposal from Tesla and while I’m happy overall with the price and design, I’m a bit surprised at their choice of panels and their insistence that it’s the only choice.

I told my Tesla advisor that I was willing to pay a little bit more or wait longer for panels from Buffalo, and I don’t care at all about aesthetics - my install is invisible from the street - so I care more about production and to a lesser extent, made-in-USA panels. The response was:

“We don’t use any other panels besides the Q.Cell Hanwha 315W panels (all-black).

We use these panels because it gives the best aesthetics, best performance, and long term durability. For Tesla, aesthetics is of paramount importance. We don’t compromise there. And that is why every Tesla system has all-black panels. This is a requirement of our CEO.”

Any thoughts on this? The Q.Cell panels are all-black and reasonably efficient (315W) but I wonder why they’re the only choice.

 

[miimura]

Any thoughts on this? The Q.Cell panels are all-black and reasonably efficient (315W) but I wonder why they’re the only choice.

That is just what is in their supply chain pipeline. They are trying to streamline things. Giving customers a choice about these things prevents them from fully optimizing the supply chain. Why they are optimizing on panels from another vendor instead of panels from their own factory is a mystery. Maybe someone is willing to pay more for the Panasonic panels made in Buffalo than what they can buy the Hanwha panels for.

 

[TheTalkingMule]

Everything seems very rigid within this new online ordering system. Not a bad place to start so all parts of the process are done efficiently and uniformly. Creating a standard product that one can either buy or not buy is a huge part of eliminating the sales process.

Hopefully we'll have a la carte hardware and size options by next year.

 

[boaterva]

Weird. Where do the GF2 panels go, then? Mine were installed late last year and they are Panasonic, I assume from Buffalo. All black, etc.

 

[kengchang]

Report that most solar cells are exported

 

[speedzer]

It seems I was fortunate. I received my proposal on Monday with the Q.Cell Hanwha 315W panels. I told my solar rep that I wanted the black Panasonic panel coming out from the GF2. He said to give him some time for due diligence on the change order. He's been phenomenal every step of the way so I was confident he was going to try and make me happy.

A day later, he said the design team was updating my proposal to switch over to the Panasonic panels along with the Solaredge Inverter.

Here is the spec sheet for the Panasonic he sent me.

So long story short, you can request a panel change.

 

[8lincoln30]

It seems I was fortunate. I received my proposal on Monday with the Q.Cell Hanwha 315W panels. I told my solar rep that I wanted the black Panasonic panel coming out from the GF2. He said to give him some time for due diligence on the change order. He's been phenomenal every step of the way so I was confident he was going to try and make me happy.

A day later, he said the design team was updating my proposal to switch over to the Panasonic panels along with the Solaredge Inverter.

Here is the spec sheet for the Panasonic he sent me.

So long story short, you can request a panel change.

How big is your system? Mine’s only 4kW so maybe it’s not worth disrupting the supply chain at all for me. Still, I am a bit peeved I can’t get the GF2 black panels. Trying to decide whether to push back some more. Are there significant advantages to the Panasonics over the Q.Cells?

 

[dandrewk]

Everything seems very rigid within this new online ordering system. Not a bad place to start so all parts of the process are done efficiently and uniformly. Creating a standard product that one can either buy or not buy is a huge part of eliminating the sales process.

Hopefully we'll have a la carte hardware and size options by next year.

I was also told that having boilerplate setups speeds the permitting process and PTO approval from utilities.

 

[speedzer]

How big is your system? Mine’s only 4kW so maybe it’s not worth disrupting the supply chain at all for me. Still, I am a bit peeved I can’t get the GF2 black panels. Trying to decide whether to push back some more. Are there significant advantages to the Panasonics over the Q.Cells?

I got the 8kw system.

Outside of some minor differences in appearances, I believe the main difference is the warranty period. The Panasonic comes with 15 years vs. the Hanwha 12 years.

One of the reasons I wanted the Panasonic was the brand recognition. If I sell the house, I can market it as having a true Tesla system.