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Solar Panel Skirts require a proprietary tool

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This inspired me to climb up to the roof and take some photos of my recent install which I'm going to assume are the same as the OP. Here are possibly relevant ones:


One of them is clearly a Torx which matches the documentation up thread.

I wonder if it's possible to 3D print the tools
 
Thanks for all the feedback, really interesting. I will wait for Tesla to fix. I now appointment two weeks out.

By the time I get this fixed my system will have been 1/2 down for over two months.

Tesla really needs to do something about their support. I was going to get my wife a Tesla car, but concerned about their car support.

Hopefully, they will get this fixed. They certainly have the resources to do that.

Thanks again.
 
Glad I didn’t go with Tesla solar. I knew they used a proprietary mounting system and didn’t want to have to deal with that. Now they’re using an in-house inverter. Not my cup of tea. (Having said that, their PV pricing is very good if you’re okay with Hanhwa Q panels).
Good luck OP.
 
My 44 panel, 2 PW system was installed in Dec 2020. About two months ago I lost 1/2 of solar generation because I noticed one the inverters was not producing power.

Finally, after too much effort on my part Tesla sent someone to help me 2 months after I contacted them about my issue.

The Tesla service rep checked the inverter which was good, however on the roof where the wire connected to 42 of my panels wire was damaged by pests.

So he took pictures, and off he went, told me to contact Tesla again for repair, support.

Because I did not want to have to wait another two months for service, I asked on of my local experts on solar to look at it.

They reported they could see the wire damage, very minor, easy to fix, but could NOT REMOVE THE SKIRT to fix the wires. It required a proprietary tool.

They also reported that although almost all the cable was in conduit, this small area where the wire was exposed was the problem.

This is crazy. You are trapped with Tesla service with the proprietary nature of their equipment and install process.

Now I still do not have power on half my system. After 4 calls to service yesterday finally got an appointment 2 weeks from now to repair.

I am very concerned about Tesla's ability to service their customers, especially me.

I guess I will have to put pest abatement screen around the panels, more expense, but unavoidable.

Tesla should have fixed this months ago. Tesla should have made sure all the exposed wire was in conduits. Tesla should have recommended pest screening at time of install.

I like their stuff. I like Tesla as a company. All the people I talk to try to be helpful, but they need to fix this service issue.

Comments?
Hi Solar Bob,

Did they repair your solar panels? I have an identical problem ongoing with Tesla in Portland, OR. Tesla told me the panels are unrepairable. I know for a fact that they did not actually examine the wires to know. I believe they don't want to/or can't repair due to staffing. It would be useful to know if they have the capacity to repair the wiring in other markets.
 
Hi Solar Bob,

Did they repair your solar panels? I have an identical problem ongoing with Tesla in Portland, OR. Tesla told me the panels are unrepairable. I know for a fact that they did not actually examine the wires to know. I believe they don't want to/or can't repair due to staffing. It would be useful to know if they have the capacity to repair the wiring in other markets.

Yes, they did (although skirts is not the same thing as panels), as solarbob has been posting about their system operation multiple times since this April 2021 thread post.