Welcome to Tesla Motors Club
Discuss Tesla's Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y, Cybertruck, Roadster and More.
Register

Should I wait?

This site may earn commission on affiliate links.

Black306

Active Member
Oct 14, 2019
1,066
1,561
Sacramento
Ordered a 7.2kW system back on 4/14 and Tesla came back with an initial system design in <48hrs. However, the design has 4 panels on the North facing roof. I’d rather have all of them on the South facing roof and, based on another house with the same roof design and solar, it’ll fit. Problem is Tesla is saying a redesign will take 4-5 weeks.

Should I wait and lock down the design before “accept & credit check,” or move forward and have them make the change (if it’ll fit) when they do a site assessment?
 
Ordered a 7.2kW system back on 4/14 and Tesla came back with an initial system design in <48hrs. However, the design has 4 panels on the North facing roof. I’d rather have all of them on the South facing roof and, based on another house with the same roof design and solar, it’ll fit. Problem is Tesla is saying a redesign will take 4-5 weeks.

Should I wait and lock down the design before “accept & credit check,” or move forward and have them make the change (if it’ll fit) when they do a site assessment?
If you're happy with North roof design then don't wait.

If you won't be happy with that design for many decades, every single day in future, then wait.
 
Ordered a 7.2kW system back on 4/14 and Tesla came back with an initial system design in <48hrs. However, the design has 4 panels on the North facing roof. I’d rather have all of them on the South facing roof and, based on another house with the same roof design and solar, it’ll fit. Problem is Tesla is saying a redesign will take 4-5 weeks.

Should I wait and lock down the design before “accept & credit check,” or move forward and have them make the change (if it’ll fit) when they do a site assessment?

Another thing to consider is whether Tesla is using the same panels as your neighbor. I've heard Tesla having some folks use their larger panels which may/may not fit on your roof the same way as that neighbor.

I assume you are in CA under one of the major IOUs so waiting is never a good thing with NEM3.0 looming.
 
  • Like
Reactions: no2gates
i was in the same boat in late 2018.... initial design had panels on both east and south facing roof sections. I changed it to south section only and they pretty much did it on the fly with no delays. i guess things have changed. good luck.
 
Ordered a 7.2kW system back on 4/14 and Tesla came back with an initial system design in <48hrs. However, the design has 4 panels on the North facing roof. I’d rather have all of them on the South facing roof and, based on another house with the same roof design and solar, it’ll fit. Problem is Tesla is saying a redesign will take 4-5 weeks.

Should I wait and lock down the design before “accept & credit check,” or move forward and have them make the change (if it’ll fit) when they do a site assessment?

I understand the desire to push forward (especially in CA), but the thing I would say is, if it was me in that situation, I would not "accept" the design if I did not actually "accept" the design. "I accept the design" means exactly that. Just because it fit on your neighbors house, unless you are both using the same PV company (tesla in this case), that actually doesnt mean much.

There could be different panels, different install products, and even different corporate tolerances for various company install rules.

Dont accept it unless you actually are ok with the way it is on the plans, with the idea "oh they will change it for me later". They may not change it for you later, and since you would have accepted it, you would not have much if any recourse. Get it fixed on the plans the way you want, or, alternatively, if you do accept it, understand that anything you make after that would be a "request" and its entirely likely your request does not get fulfilled.
 
  • Like
Reactions: BGbreeder
A friend in similar situation with Tesla now, though only two panels on north roof which they offered to eliminate. But a bunch of east-facing panels too. Tesla citing fire safety clearances, as some of the south-facing roof planes are rather tight - other installers were fine to fit all south, but also using slightly smaller panels 360W vs the 400W for Tesla. So either because of the 10% size difference, or Tesla being more conservative.
 
  • Informative
Reactions: TBrownTX
Another option is to go with a local company. In my experience, they are very responsive, but more expensive. I have a second home in NC, and the local solar company met me on site the day after I called them, went through several designs over the next few days, supplied a quote immediately after the design was agreed upon, and completed the install within four weeks. They were a Tesla authorized dealer, so I still got a Powerwall, but paid more for it than I would through Tesla. You get what you pay for.
 
Depending on your goals and constraints, more panels (even sub optimally located ones) maybe cheaper than a more expensive highly optimized "perfect" installation.

Put another way, you can buy more "capacity" with a cheaper provider and so you don't have worry about optimizing the placement or type of panels. You simply need to calculate what is my cost per kWh.
 
  • Like
Reactions: no2gates
Well, they finally got back with a revised layout...and they upped the system size to 7.6kW. 😂 Let's see if that'll fly with SMUD. (Doubt it, cause even the 7.2kW system was estimated to generate over 100% of my usage.
 
Well, they finally got back with a revised layout...and they upped the system size to 7.6kW. 😂 Let's see if that'll fly with SMUD. (Doubt it, cause even the 7.2kW system was estimated to generate over 100% of my usage.

They will just likely have you fill out a form that says you expect your usage to increase. I dont think there tends to be much pushback from utilities when the system size is under 10kW The difference to the utility between 7.2 and 7.6 is negligible, and I bet with that "my usage is planned to increase" form it will likely skate through.
 
What panels on old and new layout?
Same 400w panels currently being offered.

I find it funny that they had 14 panels on the South facing roof and 4 panels on the North facing roof with the 7.2kW system only to come back with 19 panels on the South facing roof with a 7.6kW system. 6-week delay for nothing. :rolleyes:


They will just likely have you fill out a form that says you expect your usage to increase. I dont think there tends to be much pushback from utilities when the system size is under 10kW The difference to the utility between 7.2 and 7.6 is negligible, and I bet with that "my usage is planned to increase" form it will likely skate through.
Hopefully. My neighbor just had a 6.XkW system and 1 PW installed last month. They had to go back and forth with SMUD 2-3 times, IIRC, cause even a 6.XkW system was a lot more than what they consume. Difference is they have a Y on order to claim a "my usage is planned to increase." I have a Cybertruck on order, but that's just a reservation and it'll be years before it'll impact my usage.
 
Tesla sent me a design configuration, then after a physical site inspection, changed the layout. When the actual installers came out, they changed it again when actually up on the roof.

It might be because the panel sizes had changed, the installation hardware was improved or some other issue had come up.

In the end I was super happy with the installation and service.
 
Glad they got back to you with an acceptable re-design. My friend in similar situation with a few odd north-panels, which I mentioned upthread, is still waiting for a re-design, or even just a follow-up response, after 4-5 weeks.

And I submitted my initial request for panels + Powerwall three weeks ago, have not had even a shred of response, let alone any initial design...
 
If they cannot add panels to the south facing roof you may still derive benefit from North facing panels depending upon the slope of your roof. We see increases in production from the North side tiles of the Solarroof at least 6 months of the year. Our roof is almost perfect North-South (002 and 182 degrees).
 
If they cannot add panels to the south facing roof you may still derive benefit from North facing panels depending upon the slope of your roof. We see increases in production from the North side tiles of the Solarroof at least 6 months of the year. Our roof is almost perfect North-South (002 and 182 degrees).
I have tons on my north facing, better than nothing, and yep for 6 months of the year, they kick butt.
 
  • Like
Reactions: jboy210