Post New-Construction Tesla Panels - Suggestions for GC?

[ScottFLA]

As I mentioned in another thread, I am building a new home which, right now, is about framed out and the trusses should be going up soon. However, I have pulled the plug on the solar roof because I am just not comfortable with the uncertainties and poor communication from Tesla (and lack of commitment as to how long the underlayment will be on before they can get to it). I am just going to have my GC put on the non-solar shingled roof and then once the CO is issued, and I can move in, I'll order Tesla panels and PWs and have them put on post construction. I guess having a few months of power bills from the grid will give me a good baseline for future savings.

Question: Any suggestions for things that I can have my GC do during construction that will make the future installation of solar panels and/or multiple PWs easier? One person in another thread mention having him do a conduit to the roof. I checked with GC and he said not a problem and he can cap it off before final inspection. Does anyone have any other suggestions? Thanks in advance.

 

[rvanevery]

Out of curiosity, any reason why you wouldn't want to source the parts yourself and work with the GC (if possible) to have them installed?
No need to bring in Tesla if you have the resources to get things installed. You could go with microinverters as well.


Tesla will run the conduit for you but if you wanted it ran a specific way then you should be able to convince the Tesla install team to use what you had pre-installed.

Make space and setup any necessary conduit for the location you want inverter(s) and powerwall(s).

 

[Ampster]

Think about an essential loads sub panel sized for the number of powerwalls you plan on purchasing.

 

[ScottFLA]

Out of curiosity, any reason why you wouldn't want to source the parts yourself and work with the GC (if possible) to have them installed?

This is the first time working with a GC on a new construction custom home. I like my GC, but I've also learned the closer you can stay to the contract without change orders, the better. Fortunately, even though this is the first home I'm building, I was able to spot a lot of the ridiculous allowance amounts and negotiate those line items before signing the contracts. The thing GC's do is underestimate allowances so that the bid is low. I told them upfront I'd rather have a higher contract than be signing change orders left and right, so I had realistic allowances and things like impact glass added to contract before signing. So, there is some benefit to keeping the project and the solar separate. When you're into construction, you have no leverage. If that makes sense as an answer to your question.

 

[TC_HTX]

If you do run conduit, be sure that the material complies with local code. My house (bought after it was already built) had conduit run but it was plastic. Local code requires metal conduit for solar so they couldn't use it.

 

[pdx_m3s]

As I mentioned in another thread, I am building a new home which, right now, is about framed out and the trusses should be going up soon. However, I have pulled the plug on the solar roof because I am just not comfortable with the uncertainties and poor communication from Tesla (and lack of commitment as to how long the underlayment will be on before they can get to it). I am just going to have my GC put on the non-solar shingled roof and then once the CO is issued, and I can move in, I'll order Tesla panels and PWs and have them put on post construction. I guess having a few months of power bills from the grid will give me a good baseline for future savings.

Question: Any suggestions for things that I can have my GC do during construction that will make the future installation of solar panels and/or multiple PWs easier? One person in another thread mention having him do a conduit to the roof. I checked with GC and he said not a problem and he can cap it off before final inspection. Does anyone have any other suggestions? Thanks in advance.

We were in the same situation as you. Tesla is not really organized for new construction, nor do they really understand how it works.

Here’s what we did:
- 400 amp service (w/ 2x 200 amp panels. If going this route, have your electrician put a piece of conduit between the two panels so Tesla can run the PowerBlaster wires through it... as they need to capture loads from both panels)

- in-wall conduit (from a junction box near the main panels all the way up to the attic, under the roof plane with the panels. Make sure to use metal/EMT)

- 100% electric appliances and heating/cooling (definitely consider this if you haven’t already)

- Ethernet cable from low voltage/cable box to inverter area (near main panel)

- Most importantly: Make sure there are NO roof penetrations (or limit them to the ridge) on the PV-producing roof planes.

 

[jboy210]

Have they install Cat 6 cable and outlets to the garage or anywhere else you think any powerwalls or inverters may reside. Also, put power outlets nearby so you can install an Ethernet switch.

Also on networking have them install Cat6 Ethernet in the home's ceiling so you can run POE Access Points instead of messing with mesh or repeater wireless networks.

 

[bob_p]

Based on our experience in adding 44 panels/4 PW to an existing 2 story home (with concrete spanish tile roof), a few suggestions...

Running the appropriate conduit from attic to the electrical equipment area through the walls will avoid running conduit over the roof and down the outer wall.

When our house was built, our builder already ran ethernet cabling from the electrical equipment area to the networking closet (where the cable modem and network switch are located), so it was easy for our installer to just add the plug and connect the Tesla Energy Gateway.

Other than installing the panels on the roof, the second largest project was in recabling and reconfiguring our power boxes and lines to add the TEG between the house breaker panels and grid power. We have 3 150A house panels - one of those panels is dedicated to our two Tesla wall connectors. When adding the TEG, they had to move some of the boxes/cabling on the outside of the house to make room for the TEG box - and had to run new cabling from the TEG to the house breaker panels. And with all of the extra cabling, they had to add a second runway to handle the new cabling.

In the picture above, you can see the new runway and the 3 new boxes added during the installation. On the inside wall, all they had to add was the PowerWalls and an extra 14-50 outlet (connected to one of the TEG-powered panels).

Because the boxes on the outside have cabling going through the wall to the inside panels, that placed constraints on laying out the outside equipment without having to do some tear down and repair of the inside or outside walls.

Might be worthwhile to meet with the electrician and see if any changes can be made to the initial electrical panels & cabling to make it easier to add the solar/PowerWall system later.

Even better might be to solicit a bid from a 3rd party installer for a proposal of adding a system after construction is completed - and what they would recommend be done with the initial electrical system.

Another smaller item could be to relocate anything that will protrude from the roof to maximize space available for the solar panels - holes made for plumbing, fans, HVAC, ..., which would be an obstacle for installing solar panels.

It's unfortunate that solar roofs are difficult to coordinate for new construction - because that's when they would provide the greatest value - by avoiding installing a non-solar roof...

 

[ScottFLA]

Thanks for taking the time with the great suggestions and photos. Very helpful!