Tesla is coming out to do a home assessment next week. Hoping we can fit an XL with 4 Powerwalls. Any advice or suggestions for working with Tesla, TECO, and HOA?
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Tampa Area Solar Install
- Thread starter FamilyT3sla
- Start date
I've found when working with Tesla, it pays to think of yourself as the general contractor, the grown-up. Be prepared to pickup the phone and initiate follow-up when communication is lacking between you and Tesla, but maybe more importantly, between Tesla and the various other subs, utilities, city inspectors, etc - such as when things are supposed to be moving from one step to the next, or when you feel progress has stalled.. When Tesla tells you the next step is in somebody else's hands (per the process), pick up the phone and make sure that the "other" party knows Tesla thinks it's in their court. No less than 5 times, I found that Tesla had not coordinated and communicated adequately between their own subs, the utility inspectors, utility approval committees, city inspectors, etc - and so the processes stalled while Tesla and the other parties involved were both waiting for each other. A quick call would get things rolling again. It happened a lot!
If you really want the system, be prepared to stay "friendly" when things seem to be going badly. It would seem that Tesla currently has many more customers than they can install & service, so my impression is when the situation gets "hot" with a particular customer they just turn off and go silent, and move onto to supporting & servicing the next more friendly & accommodating customer. In the end, I found the hassles and babysitting of the process worth it to get these excellent systems, but it was not always smooth sailing, and I've talked with many that seem to have had the same experience.
If you really want the system, be prepared to stay "friendly" when things seem to be going badly. It would seem that Tesla currently has many more customers than they can install & service, so my impression is when the situation gets "hot" with a particular customer they just turn off and go silent, and move onto to supporting & servicing the next more friendly & accommodating customer. In the end, I found the hassles and babysitting of the process worth it to get these excellent systems, but it was not always smooth sailing, and I've talked with many that seem to have had the same experience.
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According to the Tesla site, I need an XL with 4 Powerwalls as well. Average $250/month TECO bill. 17 year old roof. Everyone on my street are getting their roofs replaced for around $12,000 traditional shingles. Keep us posted on your progress here in Florida.
We are looking at a panel based system as we have a brand new home and tile roof which is the neighborhood standard. Going to be interesting to see what the HoA says about putting panels on the front of the house as it faces south.
Read your HOA rules documents, there should be an answer for that in there. At least in california, an HOA can not stop someone from putting solar on your roof. You still have to submit it to the HOA here, but I dont think they can stop it in any way.
In Florida the state law prevents HOA from stopping you from installing as needed to produce needed power. I'm in the same boat in the Tampa area and will need to work with my HOA, as about half my panels will be on the front/street side
Single family home here in California with an HOA and recently ordered our system (ordered 1/4 but didn't finalize plans/contract until a week or so ago). Apparently our area gets fast tracked due to the PG&E safety shutdowns and so the process can go quickly after ordering. Fortunately for us, our HOA has a Architectural Committee that reviews and approves changes like this to homes. They can do a quick turn around on something like this after receiving the application, exterior photos and roof plan and equipment specs. Made a point in the app of saying how the conduit would be run (on roof, under eaves and down wall to panel in our case) and that all conduit would be paint matched to the material it was installed on. We also had to include our contractors license info and a copy of their Certificate of Liability which we got from Tesla.
I'd suggest early on contacting your management company and finding out how applications for these exterior changes get processed by them. If we had to wait for a Board Meeting, ours would have taken longer since they meet only quarterly. And if there were any changes or clarifications needed, could be even longer until the next meeting.
As for panel placement, we wanted to fit all of ours on the side and rear of the house as it faces South and West. There are homes in our development that due to the position of the house have them on the front roof. Not ideal visually but in California can't be a reason for turning down. I'll come back and post the language I used on our application if it helps. Tried to cover all the bases so there wouldn't be any questions they had. There are also a number of homes already in our development that have panels so that helps move things along.
I'd suggest early on contacting your management company and finding out how applications for these exterior changes get processed by them. If we had to wait for a Board Meeting, ours would have taken longer since they meet only quarterly. And if there were any changes or clarifications needed, could be even longer until the next meeting.
As for panel placement, we wanted to fit all of ours on the side and rear of the house as it faces South and West. There are homes in our development that due to the position of the house have them on the front roof. Not ideal visually but in California can't be a reason for turning down. I'll come back and post the language I used on our application if it helps. Tried to cover all the bases so there wouldn't be any questions they had. There are also a number of homes already in our development that have panels so that helps move things along.
After discussing what our install would look like with Tesla, this is what we added to our HOA application. I was careful to add the language about painting of the conduit which Tesla's guys do in our area. Also carefully added language about "if it becomes necessary to install near the main panel....painted house color if possible" since we won't know exactly how the equipment will be positioned until the electricians are here. Was told they will try to accommodate our placement request if at all possible. Made sure we included Tesla's roof layout diagram and equipment spec sheets, print out of our photos, and Certificate of Liability before submitting. Your HOA's management company should be able to tell you what you will need for your application.
I saw that law. Hoping the HoA doesn’t lean on an interpreting what impact the placement has on the system.
IF you have any problems, let me know. I am a lawyer and can write them a letter.
Well they came back with a Large system with 3 Powerwalls (which is too small). They are going to redo the design but they are not quoting Panasonic panels but instead Hanwha Q.PEAK-DUO-BLK-G5 315. Anyone have any experience with these?
Came back with correct design now XL with 4 power walls. Told close to the end of the year for the power wall install. Also now has Solar Edge inverter. Here is the layout. View media item 118559
No option to go with Panasonic panels and they want to split the order because of the power wall backlog. Anyone experience this?
Apparently don’t say you want to keep it as a single order. I was told to cancel. Time to look at other vendors.
PDACPA
Member
@TampaRich I am in the same boat! Please keep us posted. @FamilyT3sla When did you start the process ? (edit as I saw he was doing solar panels and not solar roof)
Well the Tesla energy team told me to cancel my order so I did. Not a good statement for customer service. I’m now investigating solar through local vendors that are tesla certified that have powerwalls in stock
New lower pricing on Tesla Solar Panels
16.32 kW Solar Panels $30,000
4 Powerwalls $29,000 (12 day reserve)
Install Solar + Powerwall together -$2,500
Cash price $56,500
Federal Tax Credit -$14,690
Price after incentives $41,810
This is starting to look good. Still need to verify that Powerwall will run my Carrier air conditioning.
16.32 kW Solar Panels $30,000
4 Powerwalls $29,000 (12 day reserve)
Install Solar + Powerwall together -$2,500
Cash price $56,500
Federal Tax Credit -$14,690
Price after incentives $41,810
This is starting to look good. Still need to verify that Powerwall will run my Carrier air conditioning.
That’s too bad. What did you end up doing? We were also told back in Feb maybe that the solar and PWs were going to have to be split installs, solar by end of March (that got screwed up by covid) with PWs in “the Fall”. Told it was due to the large backlog of orders they had and the need to train more installers for PW. We weren’t exactly thrilled with dealing with two install dates but went along with it just hoping the PWs would be done before wildfire shutdowns by our utility. They said the solar getting installed earlier would get us a buildup of credits for summer usage.
Well hate to tell you but at some point we were notified that Tesla was back to combining the installs so it would be just one trip. Shock, yeah! Probably would have happened to you too. Have to say we wondered whether the first decision was solely due to a back up of orders and available teams (everyone in wildfire areas would love to have backup power) or because maybe something new was expected to come out on the PW side so waiting on that or maybe just not enough PW production available to handle their orders and what they resell to other solar/PW installation companies.
If you didn’t pursue this with another installer, now would be a good time to revisit with Tesla. Prices dropped over the weekend, new solar panels 340W compared to the 315s (both Q-Cells Q.peak Duo Blk), and new orders will be getting the higher rated panels. There is a new Gateway coming out too but looks to still be in beta testing in the field now.
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