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I had no issue with Tesla, just insane timing issues with Novec agreeing to kWh limits. What are you seeing? Delay on getting the Maryland people to do anything, as usual?
Tesla says they don't install in VA, I'm just trying to figure out why. That's really my issue. I'm not in MD.
No, the install team is from MD. I'M in Virginia, as you see. No problem here. My support people say they have a bunch of installs here. Not sure what they are talking about. I was installed in 2018, but have no idea what they mean by 'we don't install in Virginia'. There was never a hint of that from my sales person last year.
Obviously fewer here because of no state incentive, but you should go back and say, when did this change and why?
(As you can see in my sig, I have a large solar system and 3 PWs.)
Obviously fewer here because of no state incentive, but you should go back and say, when did this change and why?
(As you can see in my sig, I have a large solar system and 3 PWs.)
My bad, I purely assumed it was from a different provider. I'll just submit the $100 and see what happens =)
I was at the SC today for an unrelated issue, turns out they can only install solar as low as Fredericksburg. Something to do with interconnects with the power company? I have idea, but i'm going to try to dig deeper and see if this is something actively being worked on, or if it's a lost cause. I definitely want to get solar from "someone" this year and Tesla is by far the cheapest right now.
Yeah, Novec, isn't Fairfax Dominion? I know my sales person was always mentioning Dominion, so, I doubt that's it.
I'm having Tesla start their analysis for a new 16.32 kW solar install. I noticed that NOVEC, my elec co, suggests Prospect Solar:
Solar | Easy And Affordable Solar Solutions
Home | Prospect Solar
Does anyone know anything about Prospect Solar? Or other alternatives to consider other than Tesla?
Solar | Easy And Affordable Solar Solutions
Home | Prospect Solar
Does anyone know anything about Prospect Solar? Or other alternatives to consider other than Tesla?
Well, one issue is that my roof is not at all ideal for solar -- in their design Tesla had to use mostly east and west facing slopes and only a small south facing roof was available. I have room for a ground mount and the Tesla person that I talked to thought that they didn't do ground mount -- only roof mount.
Since i have the room for a ground mount (and can easily clean and maintain the panels from there) and those would be ~20% more efficient, that might be better so I am looking at other options for the panels if Tesla refused to do ground mount panels, but would still use Tesla for the PWs.
I also might build a carport or reconfigure another outbuilding just for solar panels if they feel they need to mount them on a structure -- but looking for options. Tesla tries to make it easy and their system is very good so far, but I have unique challenges and this is getting complicated fast.
Interesting... mine is also all East and West, and works quite well. about 1/3 E and 2/3 W. I'd check with Tesla to be sure they will interconnect PWs with existing 'other' solar. They may have issues with that.
Assume you don't have any HOA issues with ground mount....
Interesting... mine is also all East and West, and works quite well. about 1/3 E and 2/3 W. I'd check with Tesla to be sure they will interconnect PWs with existing 'other' solar. They may have issues with that.
Assume you don't have any HOA issues with ground mount....
Well I read somewhere that E/W orientation loses ~20% efficiency, but now other information seems to suggest it is not that bad. Tesla estimates my annual production as below
Quantity: 48 Panels
System Size: 16.32 kW
Est. Annual Production: 17369.30 kWh
I assume this has the E/W orientation discount built in?
Another issue as I am getting into this is that it seems Virginia has true 100% net metering (with the limit that you can only panel up to 102% of consumption so you aren't a net seller). This net metering combined with an existing generator seems to indicate that PW would be of little value for me -- aside from the novelty of playing with the PWs on the app. Am I missing some other benefit of the PWs?
PWs to me are for backup power. No gennie, don’t need large UPSes. Just small ones for perhaps surge protection on my PCs and network equipment. I’ve had many small outages and one two-hour one in the last year or so. Whole-house backup that is silent and invisible is great. Whether it’s worth it is all personal preference.
You are correct in that you don’t get the benefit of TOU back and forth like in California since we pay the same rate all day but the independence makes up for it, to me.
And yes the calculation includes the ‘EW discount’. They use the government website (or the equivalent) to see what actual insolation you get with panels at the precise angle and orientation.
Edit: as below, PVWatts was one of the ones I was thinking of!
You are correct in that you don’t get the benefit of TOU back and forth like in California since we pay the same rate all day but the independence makes up for it, to me.
And yes the calculation includes the ‘EW discount’. They use the government website (or the equivalent) to see what actual insolation you get with panels at the precise angle and orientation.
Edit: as below, PVWatts was one of the ones I was thinking of!
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willow_hiller
Well-Known Member
Yes. I just got my system design here in Maryland and I programmed the system into the PVWatts calculator which is highly regarded: PVWatts Calculator
(12 panels SW + 10 panels NW, etc.)
For 36 panels, Tesla estimated 14,249 kWh annual production, and the PVWatts calculator estimated 14,456 kWh.
Recently (this June) Virginia law was amended to increase the annoying 20kW cap on residential net metered systems to 25kW.
Has anyone encountered dealing with NOVEC who appears to have not gotten the memo and is insisting on the 20kW cap instead of allowing up to 25kW? Does anyone have the contact of a NOVEC manager or lawyer or someone with a clue at NOVEC? Or am I missing something?
Bill Tracking - 2020 session > Legislation
Has anyone encountered dealing with NOVEC who appears to have not gotten the memo and is insisting on the 20kW cap instead of allowing up to 25kW? Does anyone have the contact of a NOVEC manager or lawyer or someone with a clue at NOVEC? Or am I missing something?
Bill Tracking - 2020 session > Legislation
Turns out that the change from 20 to 25 applies to Dominion, but not to NOVEC -- another provision later in the law says co-ops have different rules, which are word-for-word mostly the same except the recent amendment didn't change the reference to 20 for co-ops so residences served by NOVEC and any other co-ops are still limited to 20kW
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