Tesla Energy (Solar City) Solar Price Matching

[beantownrich]

I was really excited for Tesla to come out and give me a quote on going solar for my new house. We explored a bunch of options but had sticker shock when the initial estimate came back at $4.30 per Watt (I live in MA). The salesman said that I should get a few quotes and they'd match the lowest one.

I used EnergySage and got quotes from 4 installers in my area. The lowest being $3.00 per Watt (reputable installer) which I sent on to Tesla. The quotes together average out to $3.14 per Watt. The salesman said he'd submit it for a price adjustment.

Tesla came out for their engineering visit and designed the system. My needs fit perfectly on the rear of my house... exciting! Then the quote comes back... It was $3.40 per Watt.

I asked if they could do any better but he said that was the best they can do. I don't get it. Why offer a price match if you're not going to honor it? Why are they still $.20 higher than the next highest bid? It was my understanding that they use a slightly inferior product anyway.

Has anyone had success getting them to budge or should I just look elsewhere and give up on the sleek panels.

 

[prash]

You decide whats more important to you- looks or cost. 0.20$/W extra for sleek panels is not unreasonable. I did not opt for looks and got a 7.98kw system at 2.53$/W at Illinois in dec 2017

 

[D-egg-O]

They price matched and beat the lowest estimate I had from a local installer.

 

[SoundDaTrumpet]

I received quotes through EnergySage as well in 2016. There was tremendous variations in terms of warranty in both product and workmanship. If you are risk adverse, the offer you counteroffer you received from Tesla looks good to me.

I actually went with a SunPower X21 panels via SunWorks at $4.00/W. My annual output was 6-7% higher than "PV Calc" estimates. Assumptions for PV calculator is "premium" and 95% shade factor. All in all the X21 panels performed as advertised... better performance from shade effects. My house has panels have no shade elements, so the X21 panels performed 1-2% better than the average premium panels.

 

[NuShrike]

Has anyone had success getting them to budge or should I just look elsewhere and give up on the sleek panels.

I got 4 price quotes (SolarCity, ..), one after I've already signed a contract with another!

I didn't even ask SolarCity for price-match as they're willing to start at $1+/W over local installers with super-premium SunPower panels (though they did later ask) -- just too scammy for me. The street wisdom already was don't go for super-premium panels as not "worth" it, but when SolarCity is already pricing above that ...

My other nits were SC panels are too power-limited for my limited roof-space at 320W -- esp when Panasonic is also making 330W panels but SC won't sell those. The 320W panels are also unproven in longevity (IMO) vs others in the market when it comes to light-induced degradation. I don't like buying relying on warranty.

There's no performance guarantee on the panels themselves so if you're not getting promised power vs quote, SC will pay the difference (up to zeroing power-bill). This doesn't work if I'm trying to sell-back power at peak rates on net-metering. Other panel makers make guarantees to actually replace the panels.

Other installers do have sleek-look installations, if you look for them (such as Equinox).

I optimized mine for max optimal power, so SC not even entertaining tilt-mount panels was just too much cookie-cutter at the money I'm dropping.