System Size vs Estimated Annual Production

[njhtran]

Batteries offset the "buy at 40 cents" part, but you wont be generating a ton of electricity at 4pm on no matter what direction your solar is facing.

My electricity bill this past month was $800 and needless to say that means I was in the highest tier @ 26c.

OT vent: I would be at least $800 richer if Tesla didn't drag their feet on inspections appointments and applications for PTO and now LOSING my #!#$#@ permit to finish the app. Order placed in May!!!!

 

[jjrandorin]

My electricity bill this past month was $800 and needless to say that means I was in the highest tier @ 26c.

OT vent: I would be at least $800 richer if Tesla didn't drag their feet on inspections appointments and applications for PTO and now LOSING my #!#$#@ permit to finish the app. Order placed in May!!!!

What plan are you under where the highest tier is 26 cents (meaning that sounds very cheap for the highest tier for any SCE plan).

Also, just curious, but your order was placed in may, but when was your install done? The order date kind of doesnt matter for that purpose. It matters because thats when you started the clock in your head, but finalizing permits and such doesnt start until after install, so was your install in may, or was your order in may?

 

[njhtran]

What plan are you under where the highest tier is 26 cents (meaning that sounds very cheap for the highest tier for any SCE plan).

Also, just curious, but your order was placed in may, but when was your install done? The order date kind of doesnt matter for that purpose. It matters because thats when you started the clock in your head, but finalizing permits and such doesnt start until after install, so was your install in may, or was your order in may?

apologies the highest rate I have is .33c and it’s called domestic.

it was placed May and installed first week July. And imo the order date does matter because they dragged their feet on getting the permit in order to get the install done. As they have dragged their feet in every other aspect of process and paperwork

 

[jjrandorin]

apologies the highest rate I have is .33c and it’s called domestic.

it was placed May and installed first week July. And imo the order date does matter because they dragged their feet on getting the permit in order to get the install done. As they have dragged their feet in every other aspect of process and paperwork

I hear your frustration... but your PTO is counting from 1st week in July. Its possible for someone to order in Jan and not being installed until now, but their PTO wouldnt count from when they ordered in January.

If it sounds like I am making light of it, thats not the intention, I totally get the frustration, I am just saying that from everyone elses point of view, the clock on your PTO starts at the end of commissioning your system at the end of install.

I ordered my powerwalls last october (october 1st) connected to pre existing solar. They were not installed until Jan 6th and I got PTO in March sometime. My october order date is relevant because thats how long I waited in total, but as far as "waiting for PTO" it was from Jan 6th to March sometime.

In your case, I can completely understand the additional frustration because they lost your permit. I was similarly frustrated because I ordered in the beginning of October and missed the cutoff for 30% tax credit because tesla moved offices and went dark on me for like 6 weeks. They ended up making it up to me, but yeah i was not a happy person.

Complete side note here, and you are likely aware of this, but you know they are going to make you switch to one of the time of use plans (off the domestic one) with their higher non bypassable charges, right? I am still on a domestic plan as well, and I didnt have to switch because adding powerwalls to existing solar did not trigger a new NEM agreement. I am still under NEM 1. You will be under NEM 2, and be required to switch to a TOU plan. They will" do it for you" when granting PTO I believe.

Under our plan, the more you use the more you pay, under the tiered plan 4-9pm is going to cost like 40-50 cents a kWh depending on which one you pick, and they have different Non bypassable charges (NBCs).

Sorry to OP for taking this off topic. Since @njhtran and I live in the same city, I feel an affinity there so trying to help....

 

[BrettS]

it was placed May and installed first week July. And imo the order date does matter because they dragged their feet on getting the permit in order to get the install done. As they have dragged their feet in every other aspect of process and paperwork

The order date certainly matters in terms of the length of time that the whole project runs, but there are different steps along the way and each one can’t start until the last one is complete. They can’t start doing the inspection until the system is installed and they can’t finalize the request for PTO until the inspection has happened. So no matter when you placed the order the date you get PTO is going to be dependent on the date of the inspection and that’s going to be dependent on the date of the install.

It’s not like they can make the inspection and PTO happen any faster to make up for delays in getting your permit earlier in the process. That time has already been lost and can’t be made up.

That said, I don’t mean to minimize your frustration over this process as it certainly seems like they could have handled things better, especially in regards to this lost document.

I’m in a somewhat similar boat in terms of timing. My system was also ordered in may and installed at the end of June. I *finally* got my city inspection done two days ago and I’m still waiting for tesla to request PTO from my utility (who tells me that it will probably be another 30 days from when the PTO is requested until I actually get it)

If you have powerwalls and a system that’s large enough to run off grid, then you could potentially do that. I’ve been running my system off grid about 95% of the time since the day it was installed. (I’m running off grid so I don’t export any power to the grid since I don’t have my PTO). During this time I’ve saved more than $400 on my power bill and it if takes another 30 days to get PTO I’ll probably save another $200. This has certainly helped to ease the pain in the long wait for my official PTO.

Of course do be aware that operating your system like this before PTO is a bit of a grey area and some utility’s specifically forbid any operation of the system before PTO in their interconnection agreement (mine does not), but depending on your system and your willingness to go a little rogue it might be an option for you.

 

[njhtran]

i contacted sce and they advised me turnaround time of PTO from when they receive the app is 2 days. as i said before, the entire timeline from what tesla had suggested in comparison to what my builidng inspection department gave me is completely different. for example it took 3 weeks for my inspection date from the date of the install. when i spoke to the city inspection they said their turnound time is 2 days as well. tesla dragged that out for 3 weeks. the timeline for when they submitted the design for a permit also took 3 weeks when the city that should've been a few days max turnaround time from when it was submitted.

 

[BrettS]

i contacted sce and they advised me turnaround time of PTO from when they receive the app is 2 days. as i said before, the entire timeline from what tesla had suggested in comparison to what my builidng inspection department gave me is completely different. for example it took 3 weeks for my inspection date from the date of the install. when i spoke to the city inspection they said their turnound time is 2 days as well. tesla dragged that out for 3 weeks. the timeline for when they submitted the design for a permit also took 3 weeks when the city that should've been a few days max turnaround time from when it was submitted.

I had a very similar experience. As I recall, from the time everything was approved and signed and the little online tracker moved into the permitting phase it took about 2.5 or three weeks to get the permit. For most of that time I’m not totally sure what tesla was doing. My city heard nothing from them until the very end of that time. Once tesla actually applied for the permit the city only took two business days to approve it.

And I had a similar experience with the inspection. It took just under 8 weeks from the time the system was installed until the inspection was scheduled with my city. And again, once they scheduled the inspection the city came out to inspect in 2 days. But I’m not totally sure what tesla was doing for that 8 weeks.

I do know that my city requires signed and sealed engineering drawings for the permit, so I believe that in order to get the permit they needed to have their drawings signed and sealed and I believe (although I’m not certain) that is what took so long to get the permit.

And they also made some changes on install day (one panel didn’t fit in the location where it was shown in the drawing, so they had to move it) and the city required the permit to be updated with new signed and sealed drawings before the inspection could happen, so I think that was at least part of the delay in waiting for the inspection, but even so, 8 weeks seems ridiculous.

 

[njhtran]

yup. and then now the entire "oh Fedex LOST your permit" thing... :facepalm: Sorry all for hijacking. i'm done ranting

 

[hurjio]

Is the federal tax credit based on installed date or PTO date? (referenced source would be nice)

 

[jjrandorin]

Is the federal tax credit based on installed date or PTO date? (referenced source would be nice)

IRS says "placed into service" which most equate to installed date. There are a few threads here on that, with links to the specific IRS guidance (which vaguely says "placed into service". Most equate placed into service as installed on your property in full, so in effect its installed date.

 

[wjgjr]

Is the federal tax credit based on installed date or PTO date? (referenced source would be nice)

You can take a look at the instructions for IRS form 5695, which you will use to claim the credit: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i5695.pdf. In the "Who Can Take the Credits" section:

For purposes of both credits, costs are treated as being paid when the original installation of the item is complete....

There are different rules for home construction or re-construction related to when you move in, but for most of us putting solar on our home while we continue to live in it, this should answer it.

 

[Uncle Paul]

I am also in the process of getting Solar installed. It does not seem to me that Tesla is "dragging their feet" at all.

They seem to have a very efficient system, but it depends a lot on how quickly the governmental-Utilities-HOA-Engineering-Permitting- Inspections can all happen.

They have been very proactive in going through the many steps, but so many of the hoops they need to go through are currently being drawn out by employees working from home.

I believe they have every incentive to get your panels approved, installed and turned on as quickly as possible, so they can book the revenue. Not sure why they would want to drag their feet.

Like you, I am anxious, and with our recent very hot weather, know my electric bill will be going through the roof. Want my Solar turned on...yesterday

 

[getakey]

Looks to me like the service is better in CA than on the East Coast/South. I may have missed it but I don't recall seeing a complaint from someone in CA

oops just saw the person from Temecula

 

[njhtran]

They seem to have a very efficient system, but it depends a lot on how quickly the governmental-Utilities-HOA-Engineering-Permitting- Inspections can all happen.

we'll have to agree to disagree. if you read my response above you'd know that i've already personally confirmed with the utilities and every step of govt permitting and inspections that the hold ups were dragged out by tesla, unless you count the part where supposedly fedex "lost" the permit being sent from one tesla dept to another. i was like you, bright eyed and bushy tailed tesla koolaid drinkijng at the 1month, 2month and even at the 3month mark. now going into the 4month mark, i can't recommend it to anyone. anyone who has been asking me about my solar i tell them it's been a 1/3 of the year and isn't on yet.


The finance company for my solar informed me that they paid Tesla as soon as the installation was done. So to answer your question there is no incentive for them to stay on top of seeing the rest of it through in a timely fashion , as they can redirect their resources to the ones that haven’t paid out yet.

 

[SoCal Dave]

we'll have to agree to disagree. if you read my response above you'd know that i've already personally confirmed with the utilities and every step of govt permitting and inspections that the hold ups were dragged out by tesla, unless you count the part where supposedly fedex "lost" the permit being sent from one tesla dept to another. i was like you, bright eyed and bushy tailed tesla koolaid drinkijng at the 1month, 2month and even at the 3month mark. now going into the 4month mark, i can't recommend it to anyone. anyone who has been asking me about my solar i tell them it's been a 1/3 of the year and isn't on yet.


The finance company for my solar informed me that they paid Tesla as soon as the installation was done. So to answer your question there is no incentive for them to stay on top of seeing the rest of it through in a timely fashion , as they can redirect their resources to the ones that haven’t paid out yet.

It has been interesting to compare my experience to njhtran's. We actually live in the same city. It was 7 1/2 weeks from me putting down my $100 deposit to getting PTO. This included getting my house re-roofed and re-painted during that time. Njhtran's experience has been quite the opposite. Not sure why our processes have been so different. I hope he soon gets PTO.