destructure00
Active Member
Not yet. Been going back and forth trying to figure out how to avoid a panel upgrade. Takes a week or two to get an answer back any time I ask a technical question.
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Tesla now RENTS solar panels
- Thread starter Rachmaninov
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- Solar Solar Roof Tesla Energy
Not sure if this was covered in this thread, so my apologies if this was discussed already. One thing solar "renters" should be aware of, and something I only realized once my current Tesla installed system stopped functioning (still waiting for repairs), is that if you do decide to "suspend" your rented solar service, your utility will not take you off the "Solar" rate plan while "ANY" solar is on your roof, even if you "suspend" your solar service with Tesla.
In my case, I'm producing no solar for weeks now, and Tesla has indicated it could be months to restore my solar install to a functioning state, and my utility, even though they can see zero solar production, will not take me off the Solar Rate plan as long as that solar is on my house, even if completely non-functional. In most cases the solar rates plans will work out to be more expensive than non solar plans in the situation where you're not producing any solar for one reason or another to take advantage of the solar plan cost structures.
Possibly some utilities will remove the solar meters while the solar is on the house, but mine will not (SRP - Arizona), and my electric company seems to be following the trends of most other utilities so I'm guessing most have similar policies.
In my case, I'm producing no solar for weeks now, and Tesla has indicated it could be months to restore my solar install to a functioning state, and my utility, even though they can see zero solar production, will not take me off the Solar Rate plan as long as that solar is on my house, even if completely non-functional. In most cases the solar rates plans will work out to be more expensive than non solar plans in the situation where you're not producing any solar for one reason or another to take advantage of the solar plan cost structures.
Possibly some utilities will remove the solar meters while the solar is on the house, but mine will not (SRP - Arizona), and my electric company seems to be following the trends of most other utilities so I'm guessing most have similar policies.
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Data point: I ordered the subscription on August 24 and got the PTO from my utility nearly two months later today October 21. Install date was on October 3 and city approved on October 7. After not hearing from Tesla in two weeks, I decided to call my utility (SCE) to see what’s up. Turns out that Tesla hadn’t gotten their act together to submit to the NEM application to SCE. I escalated it to supervisor at Tesla and they submitted to SCE this past Saturday the 19th. So the lesson here is call Tesla for status as they are backed up in submitting applications to the utilities.
On another note, how long does the app usually take to update to show data? Mine just shows the output and no usage.
On another note, how long does the app usually take to update to show data? Mine just shows the output and no usage.
I would agree with that. I was regularly confirming "next steps, dates, & times" with Tesla, with my Utility (for rebates and PTO), directly with inspector for inspection dates where the inspector wanted a Tesla installer on site during the inspection, with city inspector dates/times (again wanted Tesla on site at the same time) - it was not uncommon for one or more of each of these to not be in sync (not always Tesla's fault though, but often it was a lack of communication from Tesla with one or more of these groups).
Mine was showing data from the moment it was installed (before PTO)... but it was just showing my house & grid flow of power. I was hanging out in the garage when they did the post-installation test, and I stood their with the Tesla installer until I could see solar/grid/PW all moving data in the app. After the test, Tesla removed the "test" meters which basically disabled solar and PW from powering the house or seeing the grid. So then all the app showed (gateway still functioning) was house & grid usage.
My impression is that with non-Tesla installers, there is an extra step to get Tesla to "turn" on something on the server side for the App to be active, and maybe because it was not "Tesla" installing it they wait for utility PTO before activating the back end (just guesses on my part). Was Tesla your installer?
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Thanks for the response. Tesla was the one that installed the array and the inverter. I reached out to them if there was anything else I need to do to "activate" the app now that I have been given PTO. I guess I'll just need to wait on that. All I can see right now is the output and nothing else (no grid, no usage).
SureValla
Member
Same here. Ordered around beginning of Sept. I reached out in beg of Oct to ask if there was anything else and they tell me they arewaiting for me to sign another piece of paper they claim to have sent me. It never appeared in my tesla account nor do I have any emails in all of Sept from Tesla about this document. I signed immediately and now am waiting again. I've reached out again to see what the latest status was.
When our system was installed, we could see solar and Powerwall energy flows instantly. We had to wait nearly 8 weeks for PTO. Once we got that, we had to call Tesla to inform them we had received PTO. They still had to wait another day or so to receive the official PTO email from our utility company (vs. the old "I got the PTO door hanger" method). Once Tesla got the official PTO from the utility, they "turned on" our system and we started seeing grid power flows in the app.
We didn't have Advanced Time Based Control enabled for the first few days. After a couple of days, they found some of the CTs were reporting odd numbers. They were able to reassign them remotely to the correct power flows. Once they did that, everything was reflected correctly in the app.
I suppose the other variable that my impact what you can see in the app depends on where your Utility requires meter & Cut-off devices to be installed, different utilities have different requirements, and then that in turn might effect which side of the cut-off the Gateway CT clamps need to reside. In my case the system is setup to run the entire house from the Powerwall with the grid completely off. So, I had to pay for an extra master circuit panel that was moved into my garage from the outside previously (one that is oversized and over priced in my opinion) that has every circuit in my house, and that sits on the house side of the separate utility solar and battery cutoff switches.
So in my case the gateway can see & measure everything being coming in from the grid, or used by the house, even though the Solar and Battery were switched off and without meters. My utility required a 3rd cut-off switch just for the grid (the main circuit panel still has a mains cut off too - which I didn't understand until now) to allow just the grid in I guess. The outside, and inside of my house look ridiculous - like I have cut off switches for an industrial building - because of my utilities requirements.
Word of advice: Thanks to a Tesla forum member, I figured out why the app wasn’t showing energy usage and impact. It is because Tesla didn’t install a Power Blaster in the service panel. Without that energy monitoring device, the app will only show solar production. Pretty disappointing that Tesla didn’t even tell me that they didn’t install it. I’ll be calling them tomorrow. But for those still waiting on your installations, insist that they install the Power Blaster.
I called Tesla and they confirmed that a Power Blaster was supposed to have been installed in my panel. They will send a field service technician in the next week or two to install. Hoping it goes through, you never know with Tesla. I was quite pleased though with their telephone support. Much easier than online.
destructure00
Active Member
Finally got an answer back...I can avoid the panel upgrade by dropping from the large 11.4kw to the medium 7.6kw system. The issue was using a 60 amp backfeed breaker for the large system on a 200 amp panel, which exceeds the 240 amp busbar capacity using the 120% rule. In this scenario, they would normally derate my 200 amp main breaker to 175 amps, but my AHJ requires 22kA fault current rating on derated breakers. Square D does not make a HOM main breaker in 22kA, so the answer was to replace the panel.
By dropping system size to 7.6kw, they will use a 40 amp backfeed breaker. This allows us to stay within the 240 amp busbar capacity, removing the need to derate the main breaker and removing the requirement for a 22kA fault current rating.
Waiting now for updated docs in my Tesla account so I can sign for the smaller system and continue the process.
To my knowledge, Homeline panels use QOM main breakers in either the QOM1 or QOM2 frame size; QOM1 for panels with 125A or smaller bus, and QOM2 for panels with a larger bus. Both are definitely available in 22kAIC, here is the QOM2 for 175A, 22 kAIC:
https://www.se.com/us/en/product/QOM2175VH/
Cheers, Wayne
destructure00
Active Member
Thanks for letting me know, I wasn't aware that there was an "old style" of HOM panel that used a HOM main breaker instead of the QOM. Good to know.
Cheers, Wayne
destructure00
Active Member
My house was built in 1997, so this is a 22 year old panel for whatever that's worth.
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