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Post Your Tesla Solar Layout
- Thread starter pdx_m3s
- Start date
Bummer. But it goes to show they are flexible if they have the right data. The building codes for solar panels are all over the place in this country. Hopefully we can consolidate around a national standard in time.
What does this mean? in Calif for me, I have to have 3 feet around all 4 sides. So technically, I have 2 36inch wide paths up the roof line, on the ends.
Agreed, it's a huge bummer since I'm giving up 20-30% of electricity generation because of that. It's even more disappointing considering some of my neighbours got panels prior to that building code's implementation so they're grandfathered in to being able to have panels all the way to the edge of the roof line.
I think it's pretty much the same situation here in NJ.
I was looking in to this a little in my area and noticed there is mention of a 3ft setback on some edges as well. But it sounds like there are considerations... It is usually for fire fighting or other roof access, but our code seems to have a condition for something like 'if access would be required.' So I assume that means the fire authority could look at the house and determine they would not use roof access in your particular case, then the setback would not be required. I looked at arial views of a couple local installs in my town and they have panels setup close to all for edges, which was a little surprising. I was assuming they would require at least one edge 3ft setback. I haven't talked to our permit office or anyone else yet to find out the actual requirements, but Tesla may be playing it safe and going on their idea of code, rather than investigating what you could get approved in your area. At least one other person on the forum went to his local fire authority and worked through getting his own approval for better roof coverage.
I've been digging into the fire code situation a bit with respect to an installation in Texas, and it is worth checking a bit deeper than the simple '3ft setback' requirement as it seems it is a general requirement in most places as it is based on the assumption that the fire department might need roof access to vent the property in the event of a fire, but...
... it seems that the fire departments do not necessarily consider vertical venting to be the optimum method to use in a lot of places and types of building, so if the local fire department have confirmed that they would not require access for vertical venting then you may be able to avoid that element of the code as it is 'not required'.
... it seems that the fire departments do not necessarily consider vertical venting to be the optimum method to use in a lot of places and types of building, so if the local fire department have confirmed that they would not require access for vertical venting then you may be able to avoid that element of the code as it is 'not required'.
You both inspired me to call up the local Building Department and the inspector I spoke with was unwavering in getting the setback requirements removed. Kind of unfortunate, but I'm just going to proceed with the lower capacity system given it's better to have 90% coverage than 0%. Thanks again for the help, y'all!
I thought about calling too, but just did not see them making an exception, so why waste the time and emotion. IMO, panels look better with the 3 foot
strip around them anyways.
jhn_
Member
Individual building departments or even inspectors themselves are all over the place in how vigorously they follow the given code as well. Some like the OP found out are not as flexible as others.
It seems to be all about emotion for you, but I would investigate if it meant a 30% difference in production capacity. Not everyone has unlimited roof space to get the production they may want.
Nope, but you have the right to your opinion.
This has a huge impact on me. My best south and west facing get hit big time. And nope, I know of no one with unlimited roof space.
As I get older, I try to do a better job picking my battles, and what I get all worked up about.
I also didn't push them too hard on it because my local electrical company also caps the capacity of your solar installation to the total amount of electricity used in the past 12 months (which is a whole other can of worms) so even if i could've gotten 30% more solar panels placed on the roof, realistically I would've only been able to take a third of them, given the system that Tesla designed covers ~90% of my home's electricity usage.
Wingwinghello
Member
Need some feedback. Tesla is saying they can’t get more than 8kw system on my roof. Should I look else where to get solar or is this the max I should expect? I was thinking I could get more density.
Enginerd
Member
@Wingwinghello , complex roof shape doesn't leave many flat spots. Would you consider putting panels over the back patio? If so, would Tesla allow it? I've seen folks do that with more of a translucent panel.
with set backs and stuff on your roof, seems that is about all you can do. This is where fancy roofs are a REAL negative
Wingwinghello
Member
‘dang well I guess that’s that.
tesla doesn’t want to put it on the pergola as it’s not attached to the house.
wish there was a better answer, but, these darn setbacks kill how many panels can be put up. I have nice flat long roofs, but the setbacks to away MANY
panels that could physically be put in my best sun angles.
Here is mine. 11.2kw was the max unfortunately. Was quoted 11.3kw a few years ago with the smaller panel size. Higher estimated yearly with more east panels on previous quote. Roof pitch is about 22 degrees so hopefully I can get more out of that north side in Texas. No shade. Any way to get more panels on the roof?
Well install day finally came, and well... they did do two runs, but for the worst reason.
Couldn't fit 3 of the panels due to setbacks. Apparently they messed up the measurement for the roof, and thought they had more space. But the top row of 3 would be hanging 10" into the fire setback, which was a nogo...So now I have one set of 6 and one set of 5 panels, necessitating two separate strings. Grr. Oh well, at least my system is cheaper! And I'm probably the only one here with a DC/AC ratio less than 1 on a Tesla inverter.
The Tesla inverter is also quite a bit larger than the solar edge one.
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