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What’s the consensus on EMT or PVC piping? Is it better to have them run it through your attic making more holes in your roof? Or having Tesla install on the exterior down to the side of your house? I’m talking about piping the wire’s. Thanks

I can see a benefit for both. Just asking.

Cheapest is to run conduit around the outside the house but it does create a bit of an eyesore depending on how much they have to do. I have some secondary conduit that goes from outside the house to the attic and the Site Rep said they would not use it. My installation is pretty straightforward so there won't be too many conduit runs all over.
 
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Yes, some of the nearest ones are PVC Plumbing vents, I think we can move two panels over to the South side without cutting anything off but the Tesla Rep that did the Site Visit mentioned it would be up to the installers to take more exact measurements. Honestly, he made it seem like they had a lot of flexibility. Saying things like "In the event the drawings changed then Tesla would resubmit to the City". Pitfall being that would delay PTO.

Thanks for the CenterPoint info tho, going to go check the spot where I think I can have the PW outside because it is near their gasline. The strange thing is that Tesla located the Backup Gateway outside the hom'se NW corner (near main breaker and CP Gas) and thats where the non-backed up loads get split. Whichs means they have to run new lines to the subpanel clear across the home to it's SE corner inside the garage just to power my Air Handler.
The Gateway needs to be where the power feed is and the circuit breaker panel. In my case it is on the outside of the house and the PW's are in the garage, but that is on the other side of the wall. They just drilled a hole and ran conduit through the wall, brick, and to the outside of the house.

The installation crew was in communication with the engineers so as they made on-the-fly changes they were being update right then. Even the graphic of the house on the Tesla website got updated the same day as installation. The install team has a lot of leeway to do the installation, but it seems they need to just make the case to whoever they are talking to. If is saves money or time it is a no-brainer. If it costs more maybe there is push back??? Not really sure.
Cheapest is to run conduit around the outside the house but it does create a bit of an eyesore depending on how much they have to do. I have some secondary conduit that goes from outside the house to the attic and the Site Rep said they would not use it. My installation is pretty straightforward so there won't be too many conduit runs all over.
I think the default is to go over the roof. Access to the attic space may be a PITA on some houses. On my house I have walk in access to the attic on the 2nd floor and decking and lighting. So it was easier for them to go through the attic. Also faster and less material since going over the roof uses more conduit and more bends to do. They do have to install a box on the roof to seal the conduit penetration. But going through the attic is a much cleaner install. I think they use less wire and copper wire costs are going up. The PVs are on the other side of the house from the PWs.
 
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Half of my attic. The major side that the panels will be installed on or at. In the rear of the home. Doesn’t have a floor to walk on. Only wooden cross beams and insulation. Like my previous home. I’ve had people or installer’s. Walk on the beams for other projects before. Like lights or installing fiber/coaxial line’s. I wonder if the installer’s will be willing to work in that area or will they decide to run the EMT on the exterior of home? They last installer that I had up there. Was for my exterior lighting. He was the smallest guy of there crew. He only needed to work along the edges of the attic to drop wire. I would prefer to have the EMT on the interior of the home. With the Powerwall’s in the garage?
How is the heat in your garage?
When charging your EV and Powerwall’s running?
Is this a concern?
I do have fans running in my garage. They are set to come on at high heat times of the day. I have them on a HomeKit timer.
With the Summer heat. I hate having a hot garage. I try to charge after 8pm. But with the solar system I will be charging as soon I get home.
 
I've put in my two comments to Tesla's Design on their website. 1) Relocate the PW to outside next to the Gateway 2) Do a Full Home Backup with one PW. After this, I'm just gonna stay quiet and let time roll by. Looks like the best design adjustments will be done on the fly with the installers on-site. Crossing fingers for Oct :D
 
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I've put in my two comments to Tesla's Design on their website. 1) Relocate the PW to outside next to the Gateway 2) Do a Full Home Backup with one PW. After this, I'm just gonna stay quiet and let time roll by. Looks like the best design adjustments will be done on the fly with the installers on-site. Crossing fingers for Oct :D
Yeah. I’ve learned from my Tesla vehicle order. It comes when it comes. I’m going to put the down payment in tesla stock. Expect to take it out in November maybe.
 
Half of my attic. The major side that the panels will be installed on or at. In the rear of the home. Doesn’t have a floor to walk on. Only wooden cross beams and insulation. Like my previous home. I’ve had people or installer’s. Walk on the beams for other projects before. Like lights or installing fiber/coaxial line’s. I wonder if the installer’s will be willing to work in that area or will they decide to run the EMT on the exterior of home? They last installer that I had up there. Was for my exterior lighting. He was the smallest guy of there crew. He only needed to work along the edges of the attic to drop wire. I would prefer to have the EMT on the interior of the home. With the Powerwall’s in the garage?
How is the heat in your garage?
When charging your EV and Powerwall’s running?
Is this a concern?
I do have fans running in my garage. They are set to come on at high heat times of the day. I have them on a HomeKit timer.
With the Summer heat. I hate having a hot garage. I try to charge after 8pm. But with the solar system I will be charging as soon I get home.
The install crew is made up of the electrical team and the roof team. Electrical was one day and installed the PWs, GW, re-routed power etc. The roof team installed the brackets to the roof and ran the conduit related to the PVs. The second day they installed the panels and ran the PV wires to the Inverters in the PWs. They don't need the electrical crew to do that. It will be the lead for the roof team that will decide the final panel location and conduit routing. Maybe some fresh baked cookies might go a long way :) There was a small section in the attic they had to step on joists, but other than that it was a clean shot from the south facing roof through the attic to the garage wall.
 
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The install crew is made up of the electrical team and the roof team. Electrical was one day and installed the PWs, GW, re-routed power etc. The roof team installed the brackets to the roof and ran the conduit related to the PVs. The second day they installed the panels and ran the PV wires to the Inverters in the PWs. They don't need the electrical crew to do that. It will be the lead for the roof team that will decide the final panel location and conduit routing. Maybe some fresh baked cookies might go a long way :) There was a small section in the attic they had to step on joists, but other than that it was a clean shot from the south facing roof through the attic to the garage wall.
This is my roof. My garage , meter , and electrical box. Will be towards the right. If you are looking at the back of my house. My roof is perfect for solar. I’ve been told by other Solar salesperson’s.
Because my house faces North. They say.
But hopefully with the slant and different peak’s of the roof. They will decide to run the EMT through the attic.
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Installation day. Roof crew in the big truck, electrical crew in the van. Left side of the house faces nearly due South (189 degrees) and the panels go on that side facing the house to the left. PW's on the right side of the garage where that bump out is. Electrical panel and service are on the outside of that right side of the house.

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PW's being hung on the wall. I marked the locations I wanted them with painters tape and marked out the studs. They attached the mounting brackets right where I put the tape down. I kind of expected them to adjust as needed, but the brackets were on the wall very quickly. They have a lifting device to get them up on the brackets and they slide down and lock in place. Then the installer used a laser guide and spent maybe 10 minutes aligning them and the inverter just right. They used the laser guide to align the conduit. They were meticulous.
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On the outside of the house is from left to right... the new full disconnect > the Gateway > the old meter box where the grid power comes up from the ground > the old main panel > a subpanel with my 14-50 outlet and a few other circuits. Grid power runs up from the large conduit and takes a left and goes into the GW. From there is goes through the new conduit on top to my existing power panels. The power from the PW's comes through the new conduit along the bottom and into the bottom of the GW. The red box on the bottom is my Sense power monitor and the internet service.
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These are the anchors. They fill this void with a silicon roof sealant. I could see from the attic that a few times they missed the rafter and had to shift an inch or so to the side. I was worried that the hole that was left might leak. But this sealant filled the holes.

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Final panels installed. I have 37 400W panels. Of note is that the original drawing had the panels just sitting right at the level of that lower plumbing vent. The roof crew shifted them up probably 3 feet or more. In the very late evening the shadow line from the house next to me starts creeping up the bottom of my roof. This gives me a little more sun on that lower row. They also modified row 2 and 3. By the end of the day the new arrangement was already showing on my Telsa solar page.
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@Rocket_man Looks like they did a great job. Very clean and minimal piping runs. I will be sitting in my garage planning out. Where i want my Powerwall to sit. I have clear wall next to my Circuit panel. I’m not sure how close they can install next to my Tankless Water heater. I Do plan to get or install myself. A Tesla Wall connector on the same wall later.

Hopefully i can get the Powerwall installed here. If not then will have them put it on the other side of the panel. My meter is on the outside. along the same wall.
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And by the end of day 2 everything was connected and I had solar. Unfortunately I've been in this mode since then and still don't have PTO. That was back in mid April. So right now on a sunny afternoon I am on 100% solar and my PW's are charging up. I get to 100% pretty much every day unless it is really raining. The two PWs in April, would run the house all night before they hit the 20% reserve I set. But now they only get me to around 2 am and I'm back on the grid.
 
@Rocket_man Looks like they did a great job. Very clean and minimal piping runs. I will be sitting in my garage planning out. Where i want my Powerwall to sit. I have clear wall next to my Circuit panel. I’m not sure how close they can install next to my Tankless Water heater. I Do plan to get or install myself. A Tesla Wall connector on the same wall later.

Hopefully i can get the Powerwall installed here. If not then will have them put it on the other side of the panel. My meter is on the outside. along the same wall.
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That might be a little tight. You need about 30" for the PW. If that outlet weren't there it would seem to fit. They have certain setback rules for installing the PW next to other things. I'm not sure what those are. I assume a car pulls in along that side of the garage. In some localities that might require a bollard to make sure the car cannot drive into the PW. When the Fire Marshal came to inspect my PW install he mentioned that they were out of the way of cars coming into the garage, but as far as I know in this part of TX there is no requirement for bollards to protect them.
 
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