We’ve just completed our second Tesla solar installation, a mid-sized 8 kW system on our SW Florida rental property, following on the heels of a larger 12 kW system that we installed in January on a brand new house (eventually our primary residence), while the just-installed 8 kW system was a retrofit to a five-year-old rental property.
1) Technology, overall quality and value for the dollar – A. Good panels (midrange, not the most expensive/watt or highest output either), Solar Edge DC optimizers and inverter, excellent output overall, sometimes – under optimal conditions – exceeding the peak output rating for each system. Likely easily exceeding yearly kilowatt hour estimates (not confirmed yet, as we have only had 4.5 months of experience with our older system and just barely one month with the newer system) but the 4.5 month old system is way ahead of its predicted output. Both systems (each specified with two Tesla Powerwalls) were under everybody else's prices with the same two batteries, although prices on just panels with installation were fairly similar across several reputable outfits. But where Tesla really beats up on the competition is around Powerwall prices – and there really isn't much competition in the marketplace for the Powerwall either – they are pretty much it in terms of storage options. And Tesla batteries are not cheap at $13,000 for two, which is the sweet spot for reasonable energy storage for the average (~2000 sq ft) house in Florida. The Tesla Gateway (the brains of the system so to speak) is brilliant, allowing a seamless integration of three potential power sources (batteries, grid, and solar cells) while managing load in relationship to your house, and funneling excess output from your solar system either into batteries or backfeeding into the grid. Its operation is completely invisible to the homeowner, in terms of how it juggles potential sources, targets and load. If power goes out, you barely notice a discernible dimming of the lights. The Gateway’s operation is depicted in app ‘power flow’ screen. 2nd pic is our 8kW system output.
2) Installation process and quality – A. We had our builder observing the first system install (he himself is highly technically competent and knows a lot about solar), and he said the Tesla group was a real ‘A’ team, at least as good as his install group. Entire system installed in a day. This rating only pertains to our install team which is out of the Tampa FL office. But they were really, really good. The second system had to have the installation location of some panels modified on the fly so to speak, due to the absence of crawl space on one side of the house, and everything appears to have been successfully modified in terms of the panel placements, without any ‘hit’ on the system’s max and overall output.
3) System design and customization – B/B+. There was quite a bit of variability on this, and the B grade might be an average across some real highs and lows. Our first system was designed pretty optimally from my standpoint (A), although they did not include coverage for the pool system and a 4.5 kW pool heater if the power fails – but probably the pool pump could have been broken out and covered even if the pool heater might have exceeded capacity. However on our second house design, they did not even initially include coverage for the house A/C which is just ridiculous in Florida (and where the AC system only draws 3.5 kW). I had to insist on a redesign so that this was included in the covered loads, and also had to challenge their panel placement on the second system, such that the south-facing roof panels were raised up to the higher section of the roof to avoid being shaded by a tree. The redesign triggered a re-pricing, where they mistakenly included Florida sales tax on Powerwalls (a $900 error that I then had to call their attention to in order to get it corrected). I would strongly recommend you go over the design carefully before agreeing to it or signing off on it, in view of these kinds of gaffes. I would also make sure that their pricing sheet numbers are accurate and reflect what's on their website, including whether State taxes should or should not be applied.
4) App for system and quality of its digital information – A+. This app is ‘way cool’ frankly and I would bet that it sells a lot of systems, because it tells you exactly what's going on in real time. It's really a game changer in my estimation, as it gives the owner an enormous amount of information that can be easily gathered. App has excellent organization and a neatly tabbed information structure. It can also support downloads. Armed with the app and its various subpanels, you can see real time consumption and house loads. This allowed me to diagnose, for example, the deteriorating efficiency of our rental property AC (as it started to use upwards of 45 kW/hr/day!), in order to get timely service before failure. A coolant recharge (it was down at least ½ lb) resulted in an immediate 40% drop in AC power consumption. This probably saved us $300 in summer energy bills. All your major house loads can be seen and visualized in the app as they initially come on line and begin drawing power – you can see for example on our new house (somewhat surprisingly) that the pool heater takes almost twice the power (4.5 kW) that the house AC (2.5 kW) does. You are put in charge so to speak of your energy consumption in a way that you simply could never be without a real time live monitor of kW. All this is free, from the app. The app is an industry best, and just a screaming home run in my opinion. It’s worth the price of admission. The info gathered by the Gateway and transferred to the App about consumption from grid vs. backfeeding to the grid is uncannily accurate, varying only a minimal amounts once in a while from what readings the power company generates. This image below is from our larger 12 kW system, which exceeds our consumption every month, unless we are charging the cars a lot. We are more than 300 kWh ahead for May (not driving due to COVID-19 has meant ~1/5th the mileage.
5) Communication from Tesla – B-/C+ and this might be generous. This was literally all over the board. Sometimes it was excellent (A), other times it was almost nonexistent and I just couldn't reach anybody (D), sometimes Tesla failed completely to inform me of critical issues and simply disappeared (F). Their communication with the power company and the County was also similarly variable. This resulted (in concert with Charlotte County’s endless foot dragging and long delays in permitting, including problems in getting dates from FPL to disconnect and reconnect during the second install) in a five month delay to getting the system installed. Part of the problem appears to be that there's no one person at Tesla bird-dogging your system installation and there are frequent handoffs from one energy rep to another. They admit this is an area where they need improvement, and I would agree.
Overall grade – A-. The superb app with its abundance of usable data, the overall high value for the money, the high-quality installation teams (at least in our Southwest Florida area), and the systems consistent performance at or above spec vastly outweigh the sometimes spotty communication from Tesla with buyers and power company/County third parties, the occasional sloppy attention to details in system planning, and other kinds of ultimately minor quality control issues. Also, and critically important to the overall A- grade, when they make a mistake they take responsibility for it, and eventually get it right. In other words, I was never worried that I was being scammed, treated not in good faith, or dealing with any version of sociopathy/dishonesty/corner cutting. This is really important, because there are some sleazy solar installation outfits out there. Tesla, in our experience, is clearly not one of them.
Although the addition of two batteries blows up our payback period, and is not absolutely essential in areas with true net metering, I have high confidence that the system will perform its intended function for many years. With the Powerwalls, we are now pretty much blackout-proof and protected against power outages at both houses – assuming a hurricane or tornado does not rip the panels off the roof, and they are rated to 160 mph winds down here, as part of our building code. But for folks where the local power utility offers true net metering, and where power outages are rare, you can get a high value system with a relatively short payback period by omitting the Powerwalls. Either way, I overall recommend Tesla as a company to go to for a home solar system install. I do wish that there was a bit more variation beyond 4, 8, 12, and 16 kW systems, but reducing variation has helped them be much more competitive in terms of pricing. I would not hesitate to recommend Tesla for folks in Southwest Florida looking for sustainable energy, and energy independence. It's really a remarkable feeling to know that your home is self-sufficient in a way that it had never been before, and that you are now powering your car simply from sunshine. It's an amazing feeling to know that you are both saving an enormous amount of money over the long term, while having a virtually zero carbon footprint residence and transportation system.
1) Technology, overall quality and value for the dollar – A. Good panels (midrange, not the most expensive/watt or highest output either), Solar Edge DC optimizers and inverter, excellent output overall, sometimes – under optimal conditions – exceeding the peak output rating for each system. Likely easily exceeding yearly kilowatt hour estimates (not confirmed yet, as we have only had 4.5 months of experience with our older system and just barely one month with the newer system) but the 4.5 month old system is way ahead of its predicted output. Both systems (each specified with two Tesla Powerwalls) were under everybody else's prices with the same two batteries, although prices on just panels with installation were fairly similar across several reputable outfits. But where Tesla really beats up on the competition is around Powerwall prices – and there really isn't much competition in the marketplace for the Powerwall either – they are pretty much it in terms of storage options. And Tesla batteries are not cheap at $13,000 for two, which is the sweet spot for reasonable energy storage for the average (~2000 sq ft) house in Florida. The Tesla Gateway (the brains of the system so to speak) is brilliant, allowing a seamless integration of three potential power sources (batteries, grid, and solar cells) while managing load in relationship to your house, and funneling excess output from your solar system either into batteries or backfeeding into the grid. Its operation is completely invisible to the homeowner, in terms of how it juggles potential sources, targets and load. If power goes out, you barely notice a discernible dimming of the lights. The Gateway’s operation is depicted in app ‘power flow’ screen. 2nd pic is our 8kW system output.
2) Installation process and quality – A. We had our builder observing the first system install (he himself is highly technically competent and knows a lot about solar), and he said the Tesla group was a real ‘A’ team, at least as good as his install group. Entire system installed in a day. This rating only pertains to our install team which is out of the Tampa FL office. But they were really, really good. The second system had to have the installation location of some panels modified on the fly so to speak, due to the absence of crawl space on one side of the house, and everything appears to have been successfully modified in terms of the panel placements, without any ‘hit’ on the system’s max and overall output.
3) System design and customization – B/B+. There was quite a bit of variability on this, and the B grade might be an average across some real highs and lows. Our first system was designed pretty optimally from my standpoint (A), although they did not include coverage for the pool system and a 4.5 kW pool heater if the power fails – but probably the pool pump could have been broken out and covered even if the pool heater might have exceeded capacity. However on our second house design, they did not even initially include coverage for the house A/C which is just ridiculous in Florida (and where the AC system only draws 3.5 kW). I had to insist on a redesign so that this was included in the covered loads, and also had to challenge their panel placement on the second system, such that the south-facing roof panels were raised up to the higher section of the roof to avoid being shaded by a tree. The redesign triggered a re-pricing, where they mistakenly included Florida sales tax on Powerwalls (a $900 error that I then had to call their attention to in order to get it corrected). I would strongly recommend you go over the design carefully before agreeing to it or signing off on it, in view of these kinds of gaffes. I would also make sure that their pricing sheet numbers are accurate and reflect what's on their website, including whether State taxes should or should not be applied.
4) App for system and quality of its digital information – A+. This app is ‘way cool’ frankly and I would bet that it sells a lot of systems, because it tells you exactly what's going on in real time. It's really a game changer in my estimation, as it gives the owner an enormous amount of information that can be easily gathered. App has excellent organization and a neatly tabbed information structure. It can also support downloads. Armed with the app and its various subpanels, you can see real time consumption and house loads. This allowed me to diagnose, for example, the deteriorating efficiency of our rental property AC (as it started to use upwards of 45 kW/hr/day!), in order to get timely service before failure. A coolant recharge (it was down at least ½ lb) resulted in an immediate 40% drop in AC power consumption. This probably saved us $300 in summer energy bills. All your major house loads can be seen and visualized in the app as they initially come on line and begin drawing power – you can see for example on our new house (somewhat surprisingly) that the pool heater takes almost twice the power (4.5 kW) that the house AC (2.5 kW) does. You are put in charge so to speak of your energy consumption in a way that you simply could never be without a real time live monitor of kW. All this is free, from the app. The app is an industry best, and just a screaming home run in my opinion. It’s worth the price of admission. The info gathered by the Gateway and transferred to the App about consumption from grid vs. backfeeding to the grid is uncannily accurate, varying only a minimal amounts once in a while from what readings the power company generates. This image below is from our larger 12 kW system, which exceeds our consumption every month, unless we are charging the cars a lot. We are more than 300 kWh ahead for May (not driving due to COVID-19 has meant ~1/5th the mileage.
5) Communication from Tesla – B-/C+ and this might be generous. This was literally all over the board. Sometimes it was excellent (A), other times it was almost nonexistent and I just couldn't reach anybody (D), sometimes Tesla failed completely to inform me of critical issues and simply disappeared (F). Their communication with the power company and the County was also similarly variable. This resulted (in concert with Charlotte County’s endless foot dragging and long delays in permitting, including problems in getting dates from FPL to disconnect and reconnect during the second install) in a five month delay to getting the system installed. Part of the problem appears to be that there's no one person at Tesla bird-dogging your system installation and there are frequent handoffs from one energy rep to another. They admit this is an area where they need improvement, and I would agree.
Overall grade – A-. The superb app with its abundance of usable data, the overall high value for the money, the high-quality installation teams (at least in our Southwest Florida area), and the systems consistent performance at or above spec vastly outweigh the sometimes spotty communication from Tesla with buyers and power company/County third parties, the occasional sloppy attention to details in system planning, and other kinds of ultimately minor quality control issues. Also, and critically important to the overall A- grade, when they make a mistake they take responsibility for it, and eventually get it right. In other words, I was never worried that I was being scammed, treated not in good faith, or dealing with any version of sociopathy/dishonesty/corner cutting. This is really important, because there are some sleazy solar installation outfits out there. Tesla, in our experience, is clearly not one of them.
Although the addition of two batteries blows up our payback period, and is not absolutely essential in areas with true net metering, I have high confidence that the system will perform its intended function for many years. With the Powerwalls, we are now pretty much blackout-proof and protected against power outages at both houses – assuming a hurricane or tornado does not rip the panels off the roof, and they are rated to 160 mph winds down here, as part of our building code. But for folks where the local power utility offers true net metering, and where power outages are rare, you can get a high value system with a relatively short payback period by omitting the Powerwalls. Either way, I overall recommend Tesla as a company to go to for a home solar system install. I do wish that there was a bit more variation beyond 4, 8, 12, and 16 kW systems, but reducing variation has helped them be much more competitive in terms of pricing. I would not hesitate to recommend Tesla for folks in Southwest Florida looking for sustainable energy, and energy independence. It's really a remarkable feeling to know that your home is self-sufficient in a way that it had never been before, and that you are now powering your car simply from sunshine. It's an amazing feeling to know that you are both saving an enormous amount of money over the long term, while having a virtually zero carbon footprint residence and transportation system.
Last edited:
