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Post Your Tesla Solar Layout
- Thread starter pdx_m3s
- Start date
One or two panels might not affect the permit, and depending upon the issuing city or county maybe moving all of them.
If you plug the two angles into PV watts you could see the actual numbers, just put in both configurations to test the anonymous advice!
It might well be significant though, worth a week or two if you need to.
If you plug the two angles into PV watts you could see the actual numbers, just put in both configurations to test the anonymous advice!
It might well be significant though, worth a week or two if you need to.
Just got back my redesign from Tesla.
Now 8kW Tesla + 2 powerwalls + existing 4.02kW sun-power system.
12kW total PV.
The energy offset is incorrect, we use 12kW now and ~18kW likely moving forward (EV).
I think they are being forced to design around too many of the pipes / vents. Not all seem to be real. Would prefer most panels on the west facing pitch. Any thoughts? Will it be hard to get them to have a more custom design added? How large of an efficiency decrease should I expect for south or east panels facing have compared to west?
I was thinking that adding a few east facing panels may be nice as it will bring available solar into the home earlier? Or perhaps not worth it?
Now 8kW Tesla + 2 powerwalls + existing 4.02kW sun-power system.
12kW total PV.
The energy offset is incorrect, we use 12kW now and ~18kW likely moving forward (EV).
I think they are being forced to design around too many of the pipes / vents. Not all seem to be real. Would prefer most panels on the west facing pitch. Any thoughts? Will it be hard to get them to have a more custom design added? How large of an efficiency decrease should I expect for south or east panels facing have compared to west?
I was thinking that adding a few east facing panels may be nice as it will bring available solar into the home earlier? Or perhaps not worth it?
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IMO, just get on as many as possible, if you are NEM. Coming back later to add is basically impossible. I just put a ton on facing north. WInter the pits,Just got back my redesign from Tesla.
Now 8kW Tesla + 2 powerwalls + existing 4.02kW sun-power system.
12kW total PV.
The energy offset is incorrect, we use 12kW now and ~18kW likely moving forward (EV).
I think they are being forced to design around too many of the pipes / vents. Not all seem to be real. Would prefer most panels on the west facing pitch. Any thoughts? Will it be hard to get them to have a more custom design added? How large of an efficiency decrease should I expect for south or east panels facing have compared to west?
I was thinking that adding a few east facing panels may be nice as it will bring available solar into the home earlier? Or perhaps not worth it?
but for now, they are doing great pumping back to PGE for my winter needs
willow_hiller
Well-Known Member
FYI:
Makes sense from a business perspective, but it's not great for consumers. Especially considering that Tesla's first design is usually based on satellite imagery alone that doesn't account for changes to pipes/trees/etc.
Yeah this is too bad since Tesla’s initial designs are usually not great because they are done before a site survey. I’m so glad I got Tesla solar when I did. There are so many things now about Tesla solar now that would give me pause about going with them.
Exactly - I think that in terms of price comparisons, this $200 won't much change the reality that Tesla will be significantly cheaper for most (unless there are multiple revisions at $200 each.) And my guess is that most customers, of which we on this forum are not representative, just go with the offered layout or go with somebody else, so they won't be affected, and the $200 will discourage those who are borderline about revisions from doing so.
But, it will add to the perception that Tesla is really going cookie-cutter and will not accommodate pretty much any customer involvement in the design, at least not without a cost. Depending on how it is implemented, even requests made before design (but missed/ignored) or requests for a specific number of panels ("max out the roof", or "I need a design to stay below 10 kW for NEM") could trigger this extra cost. And maybe it is warranted - certainly it costs Tesla time and money - but it does seem like this change should at least be accompanied by a better mechanism to ensure all customer requirements are documented before that first layout, or to limit to one original design + one redesign before charging.
Yep, also got solar installed in 2 months, etc. No issues. Yep, you get what you pay for
Came here to say the same thing - better accommodating initial requests with one redesign should be enough to handle 98% of the redesign issues.
Here is what I sent back to Tesla re. my desired layout. Trying to maximize more panels on the west/south side (W is perfectly left of the design image), and trying to keep the various strings balanced (is this important?). This is adding 8kW to an existing 4kW system. Their satellite photos had a whole bunch of non-existent vent piping which was causing issues. I was informed that the re-design may take 3-4 weeks.
Everyday Tesla texts me that I have pending actions in my account (to accept previous design). I assume I will just have to continue receiving texts until the re-design is completed?
Everyday Tesla texts me that I have pending actions in my account (to accept previous design). I assume I will just have to continue receiving texts until the re-design is completed?
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Have you confirmed that Tesla will install panels over those low-profile roof vents? I don't see a problem, but Tesla, well, is Tesla.Here is what I sent back to Tesla re. my desired layout. Trying to maximize more panels on the west/south side (W is perfectly left of the design image), and trying to keep the various strings balanced (is this important?). This is adding 8kW to an existing 4kW system. Their satellite photos had a whole bunch of non-existent vent piping which was causing issues. I was informed that the re-design may take 3-4 weeks.
Everyday Tesla texts me that I have pending actions in my account (to accept previous design). I assume I will just have to continue receiving texts until the re-design is completed?
View attachment 674024View attachment 674016
View attachment 674021View attachment 674020
Not yet. I keep calling in, getting assigned to a random PA, and then I email in requests/info/pictures. Have yet to ever hear from my actual assigned PA
As-is only 1 panel would cover a vent (bottom left). Worst case I can sort it out with the build team on the day of install.
If they push back, here is the alternate design.
15.64kw system EW facing+ 2 powerwall, no BOM yet so don't know if they are using PW+ or not.
Tesla 7.6+3.8 inverters (local limits to inverter sizing, can't get bigger).
M is the grid Meter, PW is my desired location inside the 3rd car garage, external is not recommended due to Chicago's winter. locally Tesla would default the PW to the basement by the breaker panel for ease of install.
New construction subdivision so no shading to worry about, not even chimneys
I requested the "01"? engineering/install drawing but don't have them yet.
I'm concern about the string distribution between east and west and the 2 inverter.
What do you guys think will be the best String configuration? Will I be able to talk to the install crew to wired the strings up the way I want?
To best minimize peak clipping. I'm thinking to split both inverters' strings for both east and west,
ie if the 3.8 take 15 panels in 2 strings facing west it would be 5.1w clipped to 3.8kw MOST of the afternoon
(the 3.8 can only take max 15 panels anyway so at least 1 inverter HAS to do a east west split anyhow)
Idea 1 2 string east, 4 string west,
7.6
String 1 East - 9 Panels - East 3.06kw
S2W-7P
S3W-7P
S4W-8P - Subtotal west 7.48kw
3.8
S1E-7P - 2.38
S2W-8W -2.72
Idea 2 3 east, 3 west
7.6
S1E-5
S2E-5 - East 3.4
S3W-10
S4W-11 - West 7.14
3.8
S1E-6 2.04
S2W-9 3.06
I'm thinking Idea 2 would be better as the 7.6 has a smaller west facing loading.
If you guys have other ideas/proposal, I'm all ears. Thanks in advance!
Tesla 7.6+3.8 inverters (local limits to inverter sizing, can't get bigger).
M is the grid Meter, PW is my desired location inside the 3rd car garage, external is not recommended due to Chicago's winter. locally Tesla would default the PW to the basement by the breaker panel for ease of install.
New construction subdivision so no shading to worry about, not even chimneys
I requested the "01"? engineering/install drawing but don't have them yet.
I'm concern about the string distribution between east and west and the 2 inverter.
What do you guys think will be the best String configuration? Will I be able to talk to the install crew to wired the strings up the way I want?
To best minimize peak clipping. I'm thinking to split both inverters' strings for both east and west,
ie if the 3.8 take 15 panels in 2 strings facing west it would be 5.1w clipped to 3.8kw MOST of the afternoon
(the 3.8 can only take max 15 panels anyway so at least 1 inverter HAS to do a east west split anyhow)
Idea 1 2 string east, 4 string west,
7.6
String 1 East - 9 Panels - East 3.06kw
S2W-7P
S3W-7P
S4W-8P - Subtotal west 7.48kw
3.8
S1E-7P - 2.38
S2W-8W -2.72
Idea 2 3 east, 3 west
7.6
S1E-5
S2E-5 - East 3.4
S3W-10
S4W-11 - West 7.14
3.8
S1E-6 2.04
S2W-9 3.06
I'm thinking Idea 2 would be better as the 7.6 has a smaller west facing loading.
If you guys have other ideas/proposal, I'm all ears. Thanks in advance!
Attachments
Got this proposal for a 12.24 kW system and I'm actually pretty surprised at the low performance. They're projecting 10,402kWh/year.
Is it possible they are just being extremely conservative? I've been checking on pvwatts using their "premium" panel setting and keeping everything else as default, and even ran these array sizes with the azimuth set to where each side of the roof is pointing (front is like 270*, back 60*) and it consistently comes back at 14.5-15.5kWh compared to tesla's 10.4. Any ideas why there is such a huge discrepancy between the two estimates?
Do they still come out and do a survey to confirm this arrangement or are their proposed plans pretty much set in stone and this is what I should expect?
This is in Northern VA if that matters.
Appreciate any feedback!
Is it possible they are just being extremely conservative? I've been checking on pvwatts using their "premium" panel setting and keeping everything else as default, and even ran these array sizes with the azimuth set to where each side of the roof is pointing (front is like 270*, back 60*) and it consistently comes back at 14.5-15.5kWh compared to tesla's 10.4. Any ideas why there is such a huge discrepancy between the two estimates?
Do they still come out and do a survey to confirm this arrangement or are their proposed plans pretty much set in stone and this is what I should expect?
This is in Northern VA if that matters.
Appreciate any feedback!
Attachments
Any shade? PVWatts doesn't try to take that into account. If I understand the drawing correctly the back is at 65 degrees and all of the panels on the front are at 245. What's the pitch of the roof?
I tried noodling around different pitches and house orientations and its looks like at least 13.5, and that's assuming the drawing has the north arrow in the wrong direction.
I tried noodling around different pitches and house orientations and its looks like at least 13.5, and that's assuming the drawing has the north arrow in the wrong direction.
Initially I thought it was just that top left corner that gets shade after about 6pm because of the foliage on the two maple trees that are in front of the house and off to the side, but I just walked out and took this pic - everything is shaded. Not sure how effective it would be with this evening sun (sunset is 8:37pm today)
Yes, your interpretation is correct. I tried to point the arrow in the direction of N. front of the house is ~240 and the back is ~70.
Not sure about the pitch. Is there an easy way to guess or calculate it without going up on the roof? House is only a few years old if there have been some standardization in roof design recently, haha.
EDIT: Checked the iphone measure tool and it looks like the roof angle is 30*
Yes, your interpretation is correct. I tried to point the arrow in the direction of N. front of the house is ~240 and the back is ~70.
Not sure about the pitch. Is there an easy way to guess or calculate it without going up on the roof? House is only a few years old if there have been some standardization in roof design recently, haha.
EDIT: Checked the iphone measure tool and it looks like the roof angle is 30*
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Comparing one company's estimate of annual production to another is not an apples-to-apples comparison. You should assume that they will all be equal insofar as the PV array is the same size (in kW). Adjust annual production up/down depending on the array size. Any difference in production as a result of inverter choice will not be significant.
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