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Tesla now RENTS solar panels
- Thread starter Rachmaninov
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- Solar Solar Roof Tesla Energy
iamcaseyf
Member
iamcaseyf
Member
one5n1neSDoo
Member
Hahahah I got my PTO email from PG&E yesterday evening. Finally turned on my system today. Only took over 4 months from ordering to PTO... 
destructure00
Active Member
destructure00
Active Member
Did you get that issue figured out? Just checked mine when I got home and if I'm reading the meter correctly it looks like it generated 26 kwh today, from the medium 7.5kw system.
iamcaseyf
Member
yeah, I turned the main dial to on but didn’t have the other switch on the inverter flipped on as well haha. Flipped that on and numbers started to move! Now it’s just waiting for the official email from APS in order to get data in the app
destructure00
Active Member
How much production depends on lots of factors, but as just a reference point, my 8.7 kw system generates about 25 kwh a day for me on a sunny day, right now. in May - July, I get between 48-52 kwh on a sunny day.
destructure00
Active Member
Thanks for the reference point, SD and PHX are probably very similar for sun angle and sunrise/sunset times.
It was sunny all day today, sunrise 7:30am sunset 5:50pm. My panels are split with 1/3 facing south, 1/3 east, and 1/3 west. No idea really what to expect but that seems promising for summer when sun is more directly overhead and sunrise is near 5:20am and sunset is near 7:40pm
For me, the main production months (where I earn most of my NEM credits) are March - Jun. This is because Production dramatically picks up in march, but its not yet so hot that you need to use AC. Its not as hot as AZ where I live, but I live inland, so July days can get over 100-- sometimes up to 107-108 even 110. Anyway, March - late May has high production for me, and low usage with no AC use.
sevusal
Member
That is so cool. I wish PGE in NorCAL build a similar app. I couldn't get power blaster installed at my home. so I can only see power generation on Tesla app.
If you're interested in a relatively easy way of getting this data that's not super expensive, look into the Rainforest Eagle and pvoutput. The combination of these two can get you graphs like this: cwsm 6.300kW | Live Output
The Rainforest Eagle reads your smart meter wirelessly and uploads the data to pvoutput, which does the data storage and charting.
sevusal
Member
destructure00
Active Member
Here's my first day's production (actually energy sold). Still can't see it in the Tesla app but this may be even more useful anyway. First glance says the system won't quite pay for itself in the dead of winter, but it should only get better from here.
.10/kwh buyback x 22 kwh x 30 days = $66/month credit for a $100/month system. Not figuring in reduction to peak demand charge yet, which would add to that total as a cost avoidance. At $12.xx/kw demand charge in the winter ($17.xx summer), it would take roughly 3kw reduction in peak demand to make up the rest of the difference. And this is for January, it should only get better from here. In July the days are 4 hours longer and the sun peaks at 80 degrees rather than the current 33 degrees.
.10/kwh buyback x 22 kwh x 30 days = $66/month credit for a $100/month system. Not figuring in reduction to peak demand charge yet, which would add to that total as a cost avoidance. At $12.xx/kw demand charge in the winter ($17.xx summer), it would take roughly 3kw reduction in peak demand to make up the rest of the difference. And this is for January, it should only get better from here. In July the days are 4 hours longer and the sun peaks at 80 degrees rather than the current 33 degrees.
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destructure00
Active Member
PTO email came out today. Few minutes later I got notification from Tesla that I could turn my system on. Immediately after that the app started working.
iamcaseyf
Member
Same, it was a super quick succession right after that APS PTO email. Finally able to use the app and see whats happening
How has your system been working so far? Were there any issues with the installation?
It's been doing exceptionally well. Install went smooth, no delays. My friend did it as well and was raving about it last week.
I don't think you will see any peak demand reduction, APS peak period is 3pm - 8pm and your solar pretty much stops producing by 4pm in the winter. Peak demand is your highest 1 hour of use so cutting demand from 3pm - 5pm doesn't help your demand during the other 3 1 hr periods.
I am on the same APS rate plan as you and also use Hubitat and smart thermostats to control my peak demand, without a PowerWall I don't think solar is at all effective in peak shaving in Arizona other than possibly giving you an extra hour in the summer (3-4pm) where you can run your AC without drawing from the grid and without some smarts to monitor solar output you run the risk of a cloudy day cutting 3-4pm output and your AC still running and driving up your peak demand charge.
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