Post Your Tesla Solar Layout

[jboy210]

Hello,
I have been going back and forth with the design team at Tesla (through the project advisor) to get the optimal layout.
1st attachment is the original layout they proposed. The 2nd attachment is the one I suggested. 3rd is the latest iteration that they spit out. Last one is the satellite photo (North points up).... I even provided them with the drone pictures of my roof to make it easier.
I was trying to get rid of the panels that are facing directly North... they moved 5 of them and still left 2. They also rejected all of my suggestions as you can see in the 2nd attachment (marked in RED).

My main question is: "when the installation team actually comes out to install everything, has anyone been successful in getting them to relocate some of the low kW producing panels to the South-West side... if it is possible due to code and etc? Or installers will not deviate from the final approved design... or they simply do not have hardware to mount panels at "not as deigned" locations?"

Thank you, in advance, for any feedback.

The installers will likely mount according to the plan. There are codes, clearance to edges, and other requirements that must be met. Tesla is very rigid about this. They don't want some inspector to fail the installation because panels do not meet some requirement. They would rather not do your installation and have you go elsewhere, than have it potentially fail inspection or have an inspection violation later on. After all, if you sell the house and it was not up to code, the new owner will come after Tesla for the illegal install in addition to you.

 

[ellisina4]

The installers will likely mount according to the plan. There are codes, clearance to edges, and other requirements that must be met. Tesla is very rigid about this. They don't want some inspector to fail the installation because panels do not meet some requirement. They would rather not do your installation and have you go elsewhere, than have it potentially fail inspection or have an inspection violation later on. After all, if you sell the house and it was not up to code, the new owner will come after Tesla for the illegal install in addition to you.

Thank you... all makes sense... what does not make sense is how some panels are extremely close to the ridges and some are not...

 

[SMAlset]

Not sure but I think the set back rules are so firefighters or repair techs can get on that roof section. We have some panels that have a 12-inch setback from a hip but much more room at other sides of the panels.

 

[pdx_m3s]

Thank you... all makes sense... what does not make sense is how some panels are extremely close to the ridges and some are not...

The setback rules don’t apply to all roof edges. Here, the setback rule requires a 3’ setback on two edges from eve to ridge. This is for firefighter accessibility.

 

[arthurk192]

Hi All...this is the automated design (assuming automated since its Sunday and it was done a few hours after I paid $100) i specifically said I didn't want panels at the front of the house but the system ignored that. I'm hoping to email and call tomorrow morning to see if i can get the layout changed to have all of the panels at the back of the house and possible some on the small southern section. Check out the layout and images of my house and let me know if i'm crazy for asking them to adjust this.View attachment 579977 View attachment 579985
View attachment 579986

Can someone please help me figure out how much efficiency I lost by moving the panels to mostly the back of the house? I reduced the kW from 12.24 to 10.2kW but wanted to normalize the data to see if I was better off with panels at the front of the house vs back and if so by how much?

 

[SoCal Dave]

Can someone please help me figure out how much efficiency I lost by moving the panels to mostly the back of the house? I reduced the kW from 12.24 to 10.2kW but wanted to normalize the data to see if I was better off with panels at the front of the house vs back and if so by how much? View attachment 582655

A quick calc is taking expected annual / system size to give you a basis for comparison.

Your original was 16,026kWh annual / 12.24kW or 1,309kWh annual / kW system size.

Your revised is 13,149kWh annual / 10.2kW or 1,289kWh annual / kW system size.

Not a big difference IMO between the two as long as you can live with the overall reduction in system size.

 

[arthurk192]

A quick calc is taking expected annual / system size to give you a basis for comparison.

Your original was 16,026kWh annual / 12.24kW or 1,309kWh annual / kW system size.

Your revised is 13,149kWh annual / 10.2kW or 1,289kWh annual / kW system size.

Not a big difference IMO between the two as long as you can live with the overall reduction in system size.

Thanks Dave! Yup rather live with slightly smaller and less efficient rather then try to convince my wife we should put panels at the front of the house

 

[SoCal Dave]

Thanks Dave! Yup rather live with slightly smaller and less efficient rather then try to convince my wife we should put panels at the front of the house

Hah, I get the wife debate. However, looks like you have additional west by northwest facing surfaces. Why not load them up with panels as well?

 

[ellisina4]

Not sure but I think the set back rules are so firefighters or repair techs can get on that roof section. We have some panels that have a 12-inch setback from a hip but much more room at other sides of the panels.

Thank you for the info...

Does anyone know if there a way to reach out to the design team directly instead of communicating through project advisor?
Every time I ask the advisor a question or request any possible change, I get a usually... “I will ask design team”... then it takes 2 weeks for the answer and the re-design... a quick phone call or a direct email to design team would clear things up on the spot...
Thanks

 

[steve3]

Placed my order for 8kW system in June, installation not scheduled yet (bumpy road so far with multiple delays, latest is downsizing to 4kW after power company denied original order - exceeds 120% trailing 12 mo. usage; my Tesla advisor trying to get engineering to submit new layout, but engineer simply closed out my case instead!).

I can only benefit from tax credit in 2020...anybody in Denver with Xcel Energy know the average time from installation complete to system turn-on? I’ve read 4 months in other locales, hopefully it’s quicker here! If it’s that long here, I may already be out of time.

 

[MorrisonHiker]

Placed my order for 8kW system in June, installation not scheduled yet (bumpy road so far with multiple delays, latest is downsizing to 4kW after power company denied original order - exceeds 120% trailing 12 mo. usage; my Tesla advisor trying to get engineering to submit new layout, but engineer simply closed out my case instead!).

I can only benefit from tax credit in 2020...anybody in Denver with Xcel Energy know the average time from installation complete to system turn-on? I’ve read 4 months in other locales, hopefully it’s quicker here! If it’s that long here, I may already be out of time.

It took nearly 8 weeks for Xcel to approve our first solar system. They dragged their feet and basically approved it and installed our meter at 4:45 pm on a Friday on the last day of the last week that they were allowed to.

Do you have an EV? If you do but you haven't owned it for more than 4 months, you can mention it to Xcel and they will allow you an additional allotment for the EV. When we put in our first system, we got around the 120% limit by showing recent purchase of an EV. That effectively gave us 141%. It wasn't enough to cover all of our household usage, so after a year we were able to add another 4 kW.

If your system gets installed in 2020 then you should be able to claim it on 2020 taxes. Our second system was installed a few days before the end of 2019 and we claimed it on 2019 taxes.

 

[steve3]

Do you have an EV?
<snip>
If your system gets installed in 2020 then you should be able to claim it on 2020 taxes.

Not yet. Waiting til next year to pull the trigger on Y order.
When I read the fed webpage on the tax credit, it stated the tax credit applies to the calendar year the solar system is put into service, so that would seem to indicate system turn-on rather than installation complete?

 

[willow_hiller]

When I read the fed webpage on the tax credit, it stated the tax credit applies to the calendar year the solar system is put into service, so that would seem to indicate system turn-on rather than installation complete?

The consensus is that if your installation is completed in 2020, that is sufficient to claim the 26% Federal Tax Credit, even if your PTO comes after December 31.

 

[MorrisonHiker]

Not yet. Waiting til next year to pull the trigger on Y order.
When I read the fed webpage on the tax credit, it stated the tax credit applies to the calendar year the solar system is put into service, so that would seem to indicate system turn-on rather than installation complete?

We interpreted it as the installation of the solar system was complete when Tesla left the house. There's another thread here somewhere where people discuss the "placed into service" date. People argue it both ways, but if Tesla installed it 100% in 2020, then I'd say it was placed into service in 2020.

 

[Hay2000]

4kw system, 12 panels with optimizers 330-345, Inverter - Solaredge - 3800

 

[arthurk192]

Hah, I get the wife debate. However, looks like you have additional west by northwest facing surfaces. Why not load them up with panels as well?

Budget is getting tight and considering we are in escrow on this house I don't have a good baseline of what my costs will be however I also don't want to wait a year to see my electricity costs to then size properly but lose 5% of the tax credit.

 

[SMAlset]

Thank you for the info...

Does anyone know if there a way to reach out to the design team directly instead of communicating through project advisor?
Every time I ask the advisor a question or request any possible change, I get a usually... “I will ask design team”... then it takes 2 weeks for the answer and the re-design... a quick phone call or a direct email to design team would clear things up on the spot...
Thanks

Don't think so. It's intentionally designed that way so the designers aren't interrupted and can focus on the project before them. Really can't afford to mess up any of the technical stuff and sometimes permitting is waiting on them. As you can imagine if they put calls through to the designers they would likely be interrupted throughout the day given how busy Tesla is with orders right now.

 

[ragedogg69]

Another major update:

I had not heard about my interconnect being resubmitted so I shot my advisor an email on the 17th. Prompted with an out of the office message, but she got back to me on the 19th and said she would ask the team for an update. The 20th a new design was submitted and approved on the 21st. Got a text/email for scheduling on the 22nd, a Saturday. Took the earliest and even called scheduling to see if I could be bumped up, but the soonest is September 2nd.

So if you are not getting much action, it is in your best interest to find out who your project advisor is and shoot them an email. Mine was listed at the bottom of my Solar order.

It is install day! So far the only hiccup is the city of Buckeye will not allow batteries to be installed inside the garage. The powerwall installer told me they just failed an inspection because of it. So they are going in the sideyard that will be shaded from the morning and afternoon sun. The powerwall installer is solo today, so they might not get the batteries completed today, but solar is already started on the roof.

 

[ragedogg69]

It is install day! So far the only hiccup is the city of Buckeye will not allow batteries to be installed inside the garage. The powerwall installer told me they just failed an inspection because of it. So they are going in the sideyard that will be shaded from the morning and afternoon sun. The powerwall installer is solo today, so they might not get the batteries completed today, but solar is already started on the roof.

Solar complete. Powerwalls will have to be another day unfortunately. Guys were great, just lacking manpower. They gave me the panel layout with the serials. I already sent my advisor an email asking to be scheduled or have scheduling reach out to me. Not ideal, but I appreciate their efforts.

 

[ragedogg69]

The install team cracked six tiles on my roof. They immediately returned to replace them so the roof is now complete. I have no issues with this install team.