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Solar Comps in Los Angeles

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Solar Optimum's quote is significantly higher than all of the others' (including Tesla's), and they're the only one pushing Enphase inverters over SolarEdge. They claim they're superior and have a better warranty.

They also have PowerWalls in stock, which is appealing.

But their price per kWH is closer to 3.80 whereas others are quoting a dollar less (or more).

I do like the sound of their warranties compared to some of the others, but I can't reconcile all of the uncharges to them.
 
I personally would not buy Powerwalls and have anyone other than Tesla install them, under any circumstances.

When something doesn't work correctly, which will happen at some point, you do not want to deal with fingerpointing between your installer and Tesla.
 
I personally would not buy Powerwalls and have anyone other than Tesla install them, under any circumstances.

When something doesn't work correctly, which will happen at some point, you do not want to deal with fingerpointing between your installer and Tesla.

I agree. Tesla installed my 9.1kw system in 1 day without any issues. It’s been almost 2 years and everything is working well
 
It's funny that I've now seen this twice on this board. I had a positive experience with them. Granted I had to be on top of them but I expect to have to do that with any installer.

My opinion on them started out great, I really liked them. But they've dragged out wrapping up all the final details.

I got my powerwalls installed first week of July, the permits STILL haven't been signed off and we've gone through 3 revisions now.

They were supposed to schedule inspectors to come last week, but I didn't hear anything....
 
My opinion on them started out great, I really liked them. But they've dragged out wrapping up all the final details.

I got my powerwalls installed first week of July, the permits STILL haven't been signed off and we've gone through 3 revisions now.

They were supposed to schedule inspectors to come last week, but I didn't hear anything....
What were some of the permitting revisions that needed to be made?
 
What were some of the permitting revisions that needed to be made?

Correction Notice 1:
  1. Installed equipment does not match plans (It didn't)
  2. All breakers must be labeled
  3. All empty panel locations must be covered (There were a bunch of blanks in the old panel that never got covered, I personally asked for this one for months)
Correction Notice 2:
  1. Installed equipment does not match plans (It still didn't match the revised plans, apparently the left hand doesn't know what the right is doing...)
  2. Ground wires shall not be doubled on bus
  3. All wires must be protected with appropriate OCPD (They had breakers that were too large for the wires plugged in)
  4. Poor Workmanship: Nicked wires (There was a LOT of bare, exposed copper that the inspector showed me), unsealed conduit bodies, Raceway not properly secured
I'm hoping this 3rd set of revisions is the final set and our next inspection will pass. I still have the 10% deposit, I very much have the mind to not hand it over due to the nearly 6 months of back and forth BS.
 
We dealt with some of this too. Basically nothing matched the plans. Especially the attachments and methods. Prior to inspection, we finally agreed to add more flashing. But the attachments were already in place and removing would do more damage. There were MANY holes made on the roof whilst they searched for rafters in the sloppiest way possible. Supposedly “sealed” but no extra holes would be even better. Lots of sloppy workmanship if you know what to look for. Does it matter? Maybe. Maybe not. But it’s always easier to work with cleaner work later on.

In the end the inspector passed based on key items. I persisted with having the correct ampacity/breakers. It’s, true, the left does not know what the right does but in the end, things were “good enough.” I had to do some of my own verification for certain things like torque on some of the bigger connections for the EV (2ga).

They did get a battery for us sooner than we expected. After several trips, the HPWC is done right with a disconnect, 100A, and correct gauge.

Really glad it’s over.
 
We dealt with some of this too. Basically nothing matched the plans. Especially the attachments and methods. Prior to inspection, we finally agreed to add more flashing. But the attachments were already in place and removing would do more damage. There were MANY holes made on the roof whilst they searched for rafters in the sloppiest way possible. Supposedly “sealed” but no extra holes would be even better. Lots of sloppy workmanship if you know what to look for. Does it matter? Maybe. Maybe not. But it’s always easier to work with cleaner work later on.

In the end the inspector passed based on key items. I persisted with having the correct ampacity/breakers. It’s, true, the left does not know what the right does but in the end, things were “good enough.” I had to do some of my own verification for certain things like torque on some of the bigger connections for the EV (2ga).

They did get a battery for us sooner than we expected. After several trips, the HPWC is done right with a disconnect, 100A, and correct gauge.

Really glad it’s over.
Is your HWPC backed up so that the Powerwall (?) would still provide power if the grid goes down? Our Powerwalls are...but they told us they were limited to 80 amps at the time they installed them. They said they did use the wiring to allow for 90 (or 100?) amps but I think we were waiting on a software update for the Powerwalls.
 
Yes. We had a partial home back up installation. There went from the main panel to gateway using aluminum suitable for 100A (but put on an 70A breaker). Then from the gateway to a sub panel using aluminum suitable for 100A. The solar and Powerwall both backfeed into the sub panel. Additionally, several house circuits were also spliced from the main and another sub panel we have and routed to the backup sub panel.

I’ve been meaning to do a test but haven’t yet but it seems to make sense.
 
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