SoCalSolarRoof
Member
Same, it was the last thing they did, mine was covered by underlay for a few weeks, due to rain, then they pulled the underlay off to put the ridge vent caps on.
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Solar Roof Installation Tips
- Thread starter MXDogCrate
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woferry
Member
Similar for mine, I didn't have a ridge vent originally, they cut it the first day of the install proper, just ran a circular saw along the top of the roof once on each side to cut away the decking they'd added to the top. In my time lapses it's about 8 seconds in on the second video (next to the last in my album, linked below), between 10:00 am and 10:15 on the timestamp, though unless you frame-by-frame it it's easy to miss.
Thanks for video, pictures, and answers. Did ridge vent help to cool off your attic ? My attic gets very hot during summer and I have a broken power attic fan so I am contemplating to replace attic fan before solar roof installation or just board it up during installation. Also, my house is about 20 years old and time to replace chimney cap so wondering Tesla can replace it with a new one if I request ?
My attic was shockingly cooler after the solar roof and ridge vent were installed.
woferry
Member
Yeah, it's hard to say how much the roof with it's airgap between the tiles and decking that should provide some insulation properties and how much the ridge vent each helped since they happened at the same time, but I feel like there was a dramatic drop in my attic temperatures. My attic had sufficient vent area before, but it was through soffit and gable vents (all of which are still there, so the ridge venting was additional). And it's still just a feel for me, I've been collecting attic, garage (with the Solar Roof but no ridge venting) and indoor/outdoor temps for a year or two before the Solar Roof and the 2 years since, but have never attempted to go back and analyze all that data to try to find similar days and any proof of change in temps. One of these days I hope to find the time to do that just to satisfy my own curiosity.
nwdiver
Well-Known Member
My understanding is that attic vans are one of the biggest scams. They're worse than useless. You don't want powered ventilation in an attic. You want hot air to naturally rise and escape. An attic fan creates a slight negative pressure in the attic pulling conditioned air from inside your home into the attic. Ridge vents definitely seem like the way to go.
I live in the LA area and really want to buy the solar roof but want to see it installed other than the 6 x 6 panel in the Santa Monica store. Do you know of any addressess that I could drive by?
Depending on your municipality, you might be able to search building permits online and find Tesla solar roof install permits. You could then drive by those addresses and see them in person.
I would think something like a chimney cap, vent fan, etc. would be out of the scope of their service. But, you can ask. And if they would not handle these items I would get them done well before the solarroof install starts. Tesla has wording in the contract about damage to solar tiles from other companies being outside the warranty.
Anyone who knows about on-site Home Assessment from Tesla Solar roof ? Tesla already submitted permit to our township (have been 4 weeks so it is in-progress or already done) so is this a prior step before installation ? They said it will take about 2 hrs and need to access attic, main panel, backyard, etc. Also, they will discuss equipment locations. My system is 15Kw Tesla solar roof with 3 PWs.
This is a step before installation, and it sounds like they are there to work out how the cables/conduit from the tiles will run through the attic and then down to your inverter, assess/confirm that the planned locations for your equipment are appropriate, and also plan the cabling between all of that equipment and your existing electrical. It is a great opportunity to ask any questions or express any concerns about where everything will be located.
It is interesting that it is happening after permits were requested, assuming they have already provided the detailed plans to the town. Depending on your township, it might not be a big deal to modify them, the actual changes (if any) from the permits might not require a revision, or changes can be made after install. The rules vary so much by jurisdiction that it is hard to know. However, definitely make sure that if permit revisions are required that Tesla is on top of submitting them. Sometimes Tesla will sit on and/or forget to submit them, which results in unnecessary delays during the inspection/PTO process.
That's what happened with my install. Permit application was submitted in August 2020 and the on-site assessment occurred in November 2020, just a couple of weeks before my install. I think "proper" scheduling of my on-site assessment got lost somewhere along the line. My teardown crew was significantly undersized and I would not be surprised if that had something to do with the delayed assessment. Fortunately, it did not adversely affect my PTO even though a few details changed from the plan Tesla submitted to my county. It seems like many of the CA jurisdictions are much more strict about the permitting process than my county in VA was.
They will go through your house structure and electrical pretty thoroughly during the inspection. And in some locations, it is easy to amend a permit. Ours had several based on things found during the tear-off and install process,
Thanks for information and hopefully I get installation date soon ! I am planning to put PWs on my finished basement since garage is too far from main panel and OTN (internet access) is also available in basement. What would be the best place to put gateway and inverters (if I have option)? I saw pictures of grey boxes (probably cutoff switch associated with inverter) so I am not sure it makes sense to install those in basement.
For us, the inverters, TEG, other boxes are on the outside of the house on the garage wall. That made the runs to the meter box short (8 feet or so) and let them reuse the existing run to the main breaker panel. Since we don't have a basement the PWs are on the inside of the same wall as the other boxes.
FWIW, here is a link to a write-up I did on our SolarRoof + PWs install. It has links to pictures of our various boxes. I am working on a YouTube video going over our 1st year with the SolarRoof, but will not have that up for another week or so.
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