Post Your Tesla Solar Layout

[SMAlset]

According to the consultant it must have an attic. I didn’t dive much deeper but may decide to go with 4 less panels as the eastern face is less efficient. Wish I had though about this while doing my roof last year I would’ve moved some vents to make more room.

while I like the visual interest created by some of the roofs, for solar generation they are limiting. Our limitations apart from the roof design is all the bathroom fan vents we had installed at build time. When they asked us where we wanted them placed, roof placement for venting was never a thought. Definitely would rethink some of those placements now and just not worth moving on the roof at this point.

As for plumbing stacks, since our bbq island had a sink, we were required by code to have a venting pipe that extended quite a bit higher than our bbq pergola beam covering. We also have a house with a number of those located on our roof in addition to our bath fan vents.

 

[pdx_m3s]

My current install awaiting for my powerwall design to complete as my project was broken out and Solar already installed.

Interesting panel placement. Are you in the southern hemisphere? Why so many north-facing panels when you have plenty of south-facing roof?

 

[willow_hiller]

Interesting panel placement. Are you in the southern hemisphere? Why so many north-facing panels when you have plenty of south-facing roof?

I can't remember exactly what the order questionnaire said, but I had something like "Avoid panels at the front of the house" vs "optimize production" checkboxes. Maybe they picked the aesthetic option?

 

[pdx_m3s]

I can't remember exactly what the order questionnaire said, but I had something like "Avoid panels at the front of the house" vs "optimize production" checkboxes. Maybe they picked the aesthetic option?

It's probably something like that. Or it could have been an HOA rule issue. I've heard that some only allow rectangular arrays.

 

[n8dagr8]

It would be nice if people would post what region they are in, too.

 

[pdx_m3s]

It would be nice if people would post what region they are in, too.

Turn your phone sideways. It says location on the left side.

 

[willow_hiller]

New layout submitted after the inspection. I guess they deemed the space over my carport wasn't up to code:

Still 36 panels, though. And only about 250 kWh less in annual production.

 

[j_medina13]

What inverters are they using for the 8.1kW system? Do they tell you which system they are going to go with once they send you the drawings?

 

[garrett5688]

In the configurator, it forces a minimum 2 Powerwalls with the large system. Is there a way to change that to 1 after submitting an order? I don’t really need “6 days backup”, don’t have much history of grid outage here, but would like 1 Powerwall for load shifting.

 

[pdx_m3s]

In the configurator, it forces a minimum 2 Powerwalls with the large system. Is there a way to change that to 1 after submitting an order? I don’t really need “6 days backup”, don’t have much history of grid outage here, but would like 1 Powerwall for load shifting.

If your using enough power to need a Large system, then you need at least 2 Powerwalls.

 

[ElectricCyclist]

Interesting panel placement. Are you in the southern hemisphere? Why so many north-facing panels when you have plenty of south-facing roof?

View attachment 557269

I am in pretty much Central California so I don't really think it is southern hemisphere but I did prefer to have the panels not show as much when looking at my driveway and the designers said this would not affect my production much. It has been up for almost a week now and my daily kWHs are between 42-44kWHs per day.

 

[GHTech]

Greetings,

I live in So. Cal. and have a 3.5 kW system that is 14 years old, and I also need to re-roof. Considering the prices of the Tesla solar, it makes no sense to uninstall and reinstall the current system. According to the usage numbers, I need at least a 6 kW system. I paid the $100 for both the solar roof and the solar panels to see what would make sense. I am leaning towards the solar panels. I paid on Fri. evening, and got the attached layout Sat. morning. The current system is on the only part of the roof that is south facing. There was no way for me to let the designer know that I will be removing the old system. I would have rather preferred them to put as much as they could on the south facing, next the west facing area that is adjacent to the south facing and lastly the east facing area. The current location is just above the garage, and the electrical panel is on that southern facing outside wall. This arrangement would maximize the production. I am not worried about being seen from the street (west side) as the angle is difficult.

As mentioned the layout was in my account Sat. morning waiting for a signature, and the status says "Permit: We're now obtaining a permit for installation from your city".

I would now like to add 2 Powerwalls, even though I am in LADWP territory, pricing makes sense to do it in one shot. Thoughts/ Suggestions about the layout changing? Thanks in advance.

Regards,

GHTech

 

[BrettS]

Greetings,

I live in So. Cal. and have a 3.5 kW system that is 14 years old, and I also need to re-roof. Considering the prices of the Tesla solar, it makes no sense to uninstall and reinstall the current system. According to the usage numbers, I need at least a 6 kW system. I paid the $100 for both the solar roof and the solar panels to see what would make sense. I am leaning towards the solar panels. I paid on Fri. evening, and got the attached layout Sat. morning. The current system is on the only part of the roof that is south facing. There was no way for me to let the designer know that I will be removing the old system. I would have rather preferred them to put as much as they could on the south facing, next the west facing area that is adjacent to the south facing and lastly the east facing area. The current location is just above the garage, and the electrical panel is on that southern facing outside wall. This arrangement would maximize the production. I am not worried about being seen from the street (west side) as the angle is difficult.

As mentioned the layout was in my account Sat. morning waiting for a signature, and the status says "Permit: We're now obtaining a permit for installation from your city".

I would now like to add 2 Powerwalls, even though I am in LADWP territory, pricing makes sense to do it in one shot. Thoughts/ Suggestions about the layout changing? Thanks in advance.

Regards,

GHTech

You can call them at 877-571-7652 and speak to an energy advisor to let them know that you will be removing the existing panels. They will redo the drawing for you. You can also ask them to add the powerwalls at the same time. You’ll have to wait until tomorrow to call, though, because they’re only open M-F.

 

[pdx_m3s]

Greetings,

I live in So. Cal. and have a 3.5 kW system that is 14 years old, and I also need to re-roof. Considering the prices of the Tesla solar, it makes no sense to uninstall and reinstall the current system. According to the usage numbers, I need at least a 6 kW system. I paid the $100 for both the solar roof and the solar panels to see what would make sense. I am leaning towards the solar panels. I paid on Fri. evening, and got the attached layout Sat. morning. The current system is on the only part of the roof that is south facing. There was no way for me to let the designer know that I will be removing the old system. I would have rather preferred them to put as much as they could on the south facing, next the west facing area that is adjacent to the south facing and lastly the east facing area. The current location is just above the garage, and the electrical panel is on that southern facing outside wall. This arrangement would maximize the production. I am not worried about being seen from the street (west side) as the angle is difficult.

As mentioned the layout was in my account Sat. morning waiting for a signature, and the status says "Permit: We're now obtaining a permit for installation from your city".

I would now like to add 2 Powerwalls, even though I am in LADWP territory, pricing makes sense to do it in one shot. Thoughts/ Suggestions about the layout changing? Thanks in advance.

Regards,

GHTech

I would just contact them and let them know you’re removing the old system. They’ve been really flexible and responsive to suggestions I’ve had for my order.

 

[GHTech]

I would just contact them and let them know you’re removing the old system. They’ve been really flexible and responsive to suggestions I’ve had for my order.

Hi!

Understood.

Thanks,

GHTech

 

[GHTech]

You can call them at 877-571-7652 and speak to an energy advisor to let them know that you will be removing the existing panels. They will redo the drawing for you. You can also ask them to add the powerwalls at the same time. You’ll have to wait until tomorrow to call, though, because they’re only open M-F.

Understood. Thanks.

 

[tinhtu]

Does anyone have some of the panels placed north facing line mine?

 

[tinhtu]

Does anyone have some of the panels placed north facing like mine?

 

[roblab]

I've got 68 panels, which cover the back of my roof and a large bank behind the house. Not much to see as to layout, just a bunch of panels, none of which are visible from the front of the house. They power everything just fine, from charging the car, running the house, the well, the septic pump, etc. etc. etc. YAY for solar!

I started out buying five panels and getting them set up. Each electric bill dropped, and in a few months I bought five more. The bill dropped some more. So I added another ten or so, and then another ten. Pretty soon I had 68 panels and no electric bill other than a connection fee. Of course, there were costs of inverters and grid tie connectors, but it all paid for itself.

I recommend it highly. Just don't stop at 24.

 

[steve3]

For those who’ve had their systems installed recently, do they enter your attic for any reason? No juicy secrets in mine...just a thick, undisturbed layer of blown-in insulation.

Excited about my 8kW system, but need a couple dominos to fall first: electrician coming mid-July to upgrade service & replace 40 year-old breaker panel; and waiting on Tesla engineering response to my request for change to a portion of their initial panel layout.