I bought a 9.6 Kw solar and single Powerwall+ (Wish I had gotten two) system from Tesla and am loving it!
I got estimates from 4 other installers in my area that used Powerwalls, and actually had them in stock, and the cheapest quote for the same specs was a full $13,000 more than Tesla.
Actually I called 5 other installers, but the fifth one I said I was looking at Tesla for the counterbid, and he said right up front, “we can’t beat their price, can’t even come close, but we’ll do *this* *that* *and the other thing* which were mainly buzzphrases about good product support, better panels, more experience etc.
I’m not certain exactly what panels Tesla uses, but they are 400 watt panels as opposed to the industry leading 420 watt panels, and if I was building a huge sokar farm, that might be a draw, but I’ve got only 24 panels and the small loss of efficiency is no where near the significance of $13,000.
Also it isn’t mentioned here I don’t think, but Tesla panels look FANTASTIC! They’re solid black, very low profile, and have the aero skirt covers on the edges which make them look super clean. My neighbor has “conventional” panels on his roof and it makes his house look kind if like an industrial site. You might not think appearance makes a big difference until you see them side by side.
The initial roof inspection went without a hitch and that inspector was very nice! My installation took one day, the team was amazing and very clean, totally professional, and the electrician doing the powerwall install was incredibly knowledgeable and answered all my questions.
Tesla handles ALL the paperwork with PG&E, I just had to electronically sign some PG&E interconnection docs (Tesla even includes the $145 fee for filing that doc in the system bill price) They handled all the city inspections and kept me well informed with the app.
On a funny side note, I took delivery on a model 3 performance on the day of solar installation; The orders for car and solar were weeks apart, but just landed on the same day by coincidence
My solar system, (and car) are working flawlessy. My PTO (permission to operate) was granted about 2 1/2 weeks after the inspection, and I have taken no power from the grid since the actual install (more than a month) Every step of the way in the process I was kept informed, and they responded to a change in the panel config that I asked for in the same day as my request. I would go Tesla again without hesitation!
I’m in the SF bay area.