Post Your Tesla Solar Layout

[pdx_m3s]

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.

View attachment 668630

Bummer. Looks like you’re adding to an existing system? Have any pics of the whole installed system? Specs!?

 

[JeremyWhaling]

Bummer. Looks like you’re adding to an existing system? Have any pics of the whole installed system? Specs!?

Existing solar is 3.8 kW (12x 340 W) done by Tesla last year (almost a year ago). All west facing, the new 11 panel system fills out the east roof.

Layout is here: Post Your Tesla Solar Layout

 

[hwangja]

I just had my solar installed today. Got a 4.08KW system, 6 panels on S facing roof and 6 panels on W facing after a long time getting the redesign (original one had groups of 3 on 4 different planes, my roof is weird and broken up, not a whole lot of area, but I was pleasantly surprised when they were actually able to fit 6+6 on S and W, which seemed best).

I thought I was going to get 2 separate strings into 2 MPPT channels and even made a point to check the diagrams thanks to this thread, but I think I misread them . The diagram only showed two wires being run but circled with a number 2 also in a circle. I thought that 2 meant to "duplicate" the wires, but now I'm realizing it was just an indicator to look at the 2 section of the schematic for more details of how many wires are being run. I missed your diagrams as examples.

I also checked the actual wiring in the inverter and only see two wires, one going to each MPPT channel, with "jumper" wires between other pins. It looks like they did combine both sets of 6 into parallel strings. This seems like a terrible waste as they are on different roof planes, and it sounded like it was Tesla policy to have separate dedicated strings if from different planes.

Would there be any possibility I can get Tesla to come back out to rewire it? I'm kicking myself for not fully getting the picture in advance, and I was distracted today with work and didn't pay too close attention or ask too many questions to the install crew thinking everything was ready to go and already how I wanted it based on the design plans.

 

[hwangja]

I just had my solar installed today. Got a 4.08KW system, 6 panels on S facing roof and 6 panels on W facing after a long time getting the redesign (original one had groups of 3 on 4 different planes, my roof is weird and broken up, not a whole lot of area, but I was pleasantly surprised when they were actually able to fit 6+6 on S and W, which seemed best).

I thought I was going to get 2 separate strings into 2 MPPT channels and even made a point to check the diagrams thanks to this thread, but I think I misread them . The diagram only showed two wires being run but circled with a number 2 also in a circle. I thought that 2 meant to "duplicate" the wires, but now I'm realizing it was just an indicator to look at the 2 section of the schematic for more details of how many wires are being run. I missed your diagrams as examples.

I also checked the actual wiring in the inverter and only see two wires, one going to each MPPT channel, with "jumper" wires between other pins. It looks like they did combine both sets of 6 into parallel strings. This seems like a terrible waste as they are on different roof planes, and it sounded like it was Tesla policy to have separate dedicated strings if from different planes.

Would there be any possibility I can get Tesla to come back out to rewire it? I'm kicking myself for not fully getting the picture in advance, and I was distracted today with work and didn't pay too close attention or ask too many questions to the install crew thinking everything was ready to go and already how I wanted it based on the design plans.

Here was my original auto-generated layout, along with the final one, and the wiring diagram that I totally misread and now am kicking myself. It seems like such an obvious thing, how could Tesla, which supposedly designed the system for optimal efficiency, have missed, just to save a few bucks in wiring?

 

[bryan995]

Here is our design.
3150 sqft, new construction. SDGE territory. SoCal. Full, hot sun

Have an existing 4.2kw system (sunpower, micro-inverters). Adding another 4.1kw of Tesla panels and 2 PWs.

Front of house is north facing.
The bulk of the panels will be on the west pitch. 1/2 of the new panels will be south or east facing (can capture some morning sun?). Lots of vents on the roof, so tough to optimally place then into larger groupings :/

The existing 12 panels produce 6,900 kW / yr.
The new 12 panels are expected to produce 6,300 kW / yr.

House uses 14,000 kW / yr.
(May increase with additional EV charging).

Thoughts?

 

[pdx_m3s]

Here is our design.
3150 sqft, new construction. SDGE territory. SoCal. Full, hot sun

Have an existing 4.2kw system (sunpower, micro-inverters). Adding another 4.1kw of Tesla panels and 2 PWs.

Front of house is north facing.
The bulk of the panels will be on the west pitch. 1/2 of the new panels will be south or east facing (can capture some morning sun?). Lots of vents on the roof, so tough to optimally place then into larger groupings :/

The existing 12 panels produce 6,900 kW / yr.
The new 12 panels are expected to produce 6,300 kW / yr.

House uses 14,000 kW / yr.
(May increase with additional EV charging).

Thoughts?

Go bigger. You can add panels without stepping up to the next system size (medium).
Now is the chance since the marginal cost to go bigger is small. I'd aim to offset at more than 100% including an EV.

 

[bryan995]

Go bigger. You can add panels without stepping up to the next system size (medium).
Now is the chance since the marginal cost to go bigger is small. I'd aim to offset at more than 100% including an EV.

bigger??

We have a SR MY (delivered 3 weeks ago) and a tri-motor-CT on order. The ~14kW usage was our 2020 usage of ~12kW + ~2kW estimate for SRMY charging. Add another ~6kW of panels to our existing 4.1kW system? Is there a magic number of total PV kW to stay under for some tax/incentive/etc benefit?

 

[h2ofun]

bigger??

We have a SR MY (delivered 3 weeks ago) and a tri-motor-CT on order. The ~14kW usage was our 2020 usage of ~12kW + ~2kW estimate for SRMY charging. Add another ~6kW of panels to our existing 4.1kW system? Is there a magic number of total PV kW to stay under for some tax/incentive/etc benefit?

I have 15K of panels, and trying to add another 15K. Never can have to many, assuming I still have NEM

 

[Southpasfan]

bigger??

We have a SR MY (delivered 3 weeks ago) and a tri-motor-CT on order. The ~14kW usage was our 2020 usage of ~12kW + ~2kW estimate for SRMY charging. Add another ~6kW of panels to our existing 4.1kW system? Is there a magic number of total PV kW to stay under for some tax/incentive/etc benefit?

If you are in San Diego, any amount of panels will be cheaper than buying electricity. There is no maximum. Having said that, you can find all sorts of discussions on the boards here about maximizing investment. Just so you know, where those calculations lead is sort of like trying to figure out the exact speed at which your ICE car gets the best gas mileage. You can in fact find that out, and you can find out, given all the variables, where the maximum amount of kwh can be had for a certain number of dollars.

But H2O and I point out something different, which is that the price of electricity produced by your panels over the life of the panel is less than what SDGE is going to charge you, up to any amount. So, another vote here for go big.

For example, yesterday was cloudy in LA, only got 28kwh production. This led to needing about 4 kwh from the grid from 4 to 7 am. With another 10kwh of panels would be nothing from the grid. I would have liked that.

 

[bryan995]

If you are in San Diego, any amount of panels will be cheaper than buying electricity. There is no maximum. Having said that, you can find all sorts of discussions on the boards here about maximizing investment. Just so you know, where those calculations lead is sort of like trying to figure out the exact speed at which your ICE car gets the best gas mileage. You can in fact find that out, and you can find out, given all the variables, where the maximum amount of kwh can be had for a certain number of dollars.

But H2O and I point out something different, which is that the price of electricity produced by your panels over the life of the panel is less than what SDGE is going to charge you, up to any amount. So, another vote here for go big.

For example, yesterday was cloudy in LA, only got 28kwh production. This led to needing about 4 kwh from the grid from 4 to 7 am. With another 10kwh of panels would be nothing from the grid. I would have liked that.

Yes I am in San Diego.
On SDGE EV-TOU-5.

peak / super off peak / off peak
Summer is 0.60/0.09/0.33
Winter is 0.29/0.09/0.28

And your right. I have a feeling that prices will only continue to go up. But there is also a diminishing return with over production, no?. Though with two EVs, that may no longer be an issue? The most economical option may be to go 8kw solar + 1 PW+. Having at least 1 PW seems to make sense to me to enable peak-shaving, and backup etc.

Say I end up overproducing during the day, PWs are charged and usage is lower than production, so I would bank peak/off-peak rates via NEM. Then the house would run off PWs during peak, and the EVs would charge via super-off-peak 12midnight-6am. In essence trading ~3 hours of peak/off-peak credit for 6+ hours of super-off-peak?

Though in the winter, usage will fall significantly, and then I worry we would have too much excess production (which would be wasteful).

Where is the AI to help guide this decision??

 

[Southpasfan]

Yes I am in San Diego.
On SDGE EV-TOU-5.

peak / super off peak / off peak
Summer is 0.60/0.09/0.33
Winter is 0.29/0.09/0.28

And your right. I have a feeling that prices will only continue to go up. But there is also a diminishing return with over production, no?. Though with two EVs, that may no longer be an issue? The most economical option may be to go 8kw solar + 1 PW+. Having at least 1 PW seems to make sense to me to enable peak-shaving, and backup etc. … Wife is not going to be happy, but I will ping to PM to add a few more panels

Wife should be ecstatic. The price for Tesla solar and PWs is about 16 cents per kwh (apples to apples, 20 years of paying Tesla v. 20 years of paying utility).

You could in theory get Tesla costs with no PWs, down to like 11 or 12 cents per kwh, but holy cannoli Batman! SIXTY CENTS PER KWH!

Just max it out and tell your wife how much you are saving each month.

 

[h2ofun]

Yes I am in San Diego.
On SDGE EV-TOU-5.

peak / super off peak / off peak
Summer is 0.60/0.09/0.33
Winter is 0.29/0.09/0.28

And your right. I have a feeling that prices will only continue to go up. But there is also a diminishing return with over production, no?. Though with two EVs, that may no longer be an issue? The most economical option may be to go 8kw solar + 1 PW+. Having at least 1 PW seems to make sense to me to enable peak-shaving, and backup etc.

Say I end up overproducing during the day, PWs are charged and usage is lower than production, so I would bank peak/off-peak rates via NEM. Then the house would run off PWs during peak, and the EVs would charge via super-off-peak 12midnight-6am. In essence trading ~3 hours of peak/off-peak credit for 6+ hours of super-off-peak?

Though in the winter, usage will fall significantly, and then I worry we would have too much excess production (which would be wasteful).

Where is the AI to help guide this decision??

Your winter comments are key, even though with EV's, if you drive them, ...

I converted my house to 99% electric. So, I use tons of electricity in the winter, so I need to bank as much NEM in the summer.

I have yet to hear anyone say they ended up with too much solar. I sure am trying to test those limits. And I do not have an EV(s) yet

 

[pdx_m3s]

bigger??

We have a SR MY (delivered 3 weeks ago) and a tri-motor-CT on order. The ~14kW usage was our 2020 usage of ~12kW + ~2kW estimate for SRMY charging. Add another ~6kW of panels to our existing 4.1kW system? Is there a magic number of total PV kW to stay under for some tax/incentive/etc benefit?

Well, you indicated in your post that even with the new 4kW system, you won't be covering your annual usage of 14MWh, which will only go up with another EV (especially a thirsty cybertruck). This is a 15-20 year decision. Get enough to cover your usage 10+ years from now (also need to factor in degradation).

If I could do my stem all over again, I would have done ~16kW system instead of an 11kW system. It was tough because we were moving into a new construction house with zero baseline. In your case, you know what you need.

 

[h2ofun]

Well, you indicated in your post that even with the new 4kW system, you won't be covering your annual usage of 14MWh, which will only go up with another EV (especially a thirsty cybertruck). This is a 15-20 year decision. Get enough to cover your usage 10+ years from now (also need to factor in degradation).

If I could do my stem all over again, I would have done ~16kW system instead of an 11kW system. It was tough because we were moving into a new construction house with zero baseline. In your case, you know what you need.

This is why I am trying to go from 15 to 30KW. Get in front of NEM3. I will have maxed out my roof. Get the tax write off. And am ready for EV's.

 

[bryan995]

Called my Tesla PA. Told them to re-design with the optimal # of panels for my roof, they thought somewhere right around a medium (8-9kW) would be right. They are also looking in the existing sunpower system and if it can be connected (given the on-panel micro inverters).

Agreed with all points - glad I checked in here! Should be something like ~9kW new + 4.2kW existing. We are slightly east of SD so have full hot intense sun. Usually <1mile away from the marine layer. Should be close to optimal for PV. Worst case I start an ETH mining operation to burn off excess production… or install a pool

 

[pdx_m3s]

Called my Tesla PA. Told them to re-design with the optimal # of panels for my roof, they thought somewhere right around a medium (8-9kW) would be right. They are also looking in the existing sunpower system and if it can be connected (given the on-panel micro inverters).

Agreed with all points - glad I checked in here! Should be something like ~9kW new + 4.2kW existing. We are slightly east of SD so have full hot intense sun. Usually <1mile away from the marine layer. Should be close to optimal for PV. Worst case I start an ETH mining operation to burn off excess production… or install a pool

Nice! Now we’re talkin.

 

[Alset2]

Hello, here is mine.
Originally it was a 16kw system but I asked for it to be bumped up to 18kw to give me a little over my annual usage of 22kw .

What is funny is my 1st layout with 3 PWs came with in 1 hour of me paying deposit.
5 days later on a Friday they did my in home survey (in person) at which time I asked about adding panels.
Tuesday (4 days later) I called a rep to find status and they actually put in the request for added panels .
I got my new updated design in 2 days ..all is very good so far...

But then I decided to go ahead and add a 4thPW and hidden conduit and now I have been waiting for almost 2 weeks! I guess you gotta laugh.
I was so encourage by the speedy time line in the beginning that I figured I would get a simple PW added by the next day or so and get this system of to permitting...oh well.

Anyway, I am new to solar and wonder if any one sees anything in my lay out ?

It seems to be fairly balanced from my novice viewpoint.

 

[s0schen]

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?

View attachment 663323

Redesign request came back with 12.92.

 

[pdx_m3s]

Hello, here is mine.
Originally it was a 16kw system but I asked for it to be bumped up to 18kw to give me a little over my annual usage of 22kw .

What is funny is my 1st layout with 3 PWs came with in 1 hour of me paying deposit.
5 days later on a Friday they did my in home survey (in person) at which time I asked about adding panels.
Tuesday (4 days later) I called a rep to find status and they actually put in the request for added panels .
I got my new updated design in 2 days ..all is very good so far...

But then I decided to go ahead and add a 4thPW and hidden conduit and now I have been waiting for almost 2 weeks! I guess you gotta laugh.
I was so encourage by the speedy time line in the beginning that I figured I would get a simple PW added by the next day or so and get this system of to permitting...oh well.

Anyway, I am new to solar and wonder if any one sees anything in my lay out ?

It seems to be fairly balanced from my novice viewpoint.
View attachment 671724

Only thing I'd change is to move those 3 east-facing panels near the front of the house to the left/west-facing array.

 

[Southpasfan]

Hello, here is mine.
Originally it was a 16kw system but I asked for it to be bumped up to 18kw to give me a little over my annual usage of 22kw .

What is funny is my 1st layout with 3 PWs came with in 1 hour of me paying deposit.
5 days later on a Friday they did my in home survey (in person) at which time I asked about adding panels.
Tuesday (4 days later) I called a rep to find status and they actually put in the request for added panels .
I got my new updated design in 2 days ..all is very good so far...

But then I decided to go ahead and add a 4thPW and hidden conduit and now I have been waiting for almost 2 weeks! I guess you gotta laugh.
I was so encourage by the speedy time line in the beginning that I figured I would get a simple PW added by the next day or so and get this system of to permitting...oh well.

Anyway, I am new to solar and wonder if any one sees anything in my lay out ?

It seems to be fairly balanced from my novice viewpoint.
View attachment 671724

If the angle on the east facing side is the same as on the west facing side, I would think you would move a chunk of the ones on the east side so as to balance out east/west. Unless there is shading on the west side.