Time Lapse Video of Virginia Solar Roof Install

[trautmane2]

My solar roof install finished up last week. I'm eagerly waiting for my gutters to be installed this week and ultimately PTO.

Here is a time lapse video of my install so far:

This was my first time using my son's GoPro with iMovie, so cinematography could definitely be improved.
The video is also a little too long (7.5 minutes) for most normal folks .
Maybe ok for the fans here though ...

 

[Uncle Paul]

Had my 12 panels installed last week. Took little less than 3 hours total. Super engaged crew with great team leader Omar. Cleaned up everything before leaving and told me what to expect with inspection and Utility acceptance. Great experience.

 

[MP3Mike]

So Tesla has custom branded underlayment now... Interesting.

 

[Uncle Paul]

Branding underlayment will resolve conflicts in the future if a leak in the roof is discovered.

 

[trautmane2]

So Tesla has custom branded underlayment now... Interesting.

Yeah - here's some more discussion about that in case you are interested:
Solar Roof Underlayment Change?

 

[patrick40363]

My solar roof install finished up last week. I'm eagerly waiting for my gutters to be installed this week and ultimately PTO.

Here is a time lapse video of my install so far:

This was my first time using my son's GoPro with iMovie, so cinematography could definitely be improved.
The video is also a little too long (7.5 minutes) for most normal folks .
Maybe ok for the fans here though ...

How do they run the wires to the inverters? Are they just under the tiles or do open up a channel in the roof?

 

[trautmane2]

How do they run the wires to the inverters? Are they just under the tiles or do open up a channel in the roof?

I have 170 PV tiles on 6 strings that ultimately got punched through the roof in two spots, one in my main attic and one in my garage attic. The strings get joined in junction boxes like this in my attic:

and then are piped back outside to the inverter box (bottom left in this picture):

 

[trautmane2]

The tiles are daisy chained together with connectors on their backs:

 

[gigawatt1010]

Congrats on your install! Did you get any powerwalls? When did you order your system?

 

[SMAlset]

Looks like a really nice install and I love the overall look of it on your house (nice house too!). Thanks for the video and the photos (ok I did advance the video a head a bit a few times lol). Always helpful to see what people have experience in their installs.

 

[trautmane2]

Congrats on your install! Did you get any powerwalls? When did you order your system?

Thanks - no powerwalls for me. The grid is pretty reliable in our area (underground lines) and Dominion Power of Virginia currently has 1:1 net metering, so it made sense for me financially to skip batteries.

I ordered in early July. It's been a long journey, but I'm very excited that it's almost done.

 

[trautmane2]

Looks like a really nice install and I love the overall look of it on your house (nice house too!). Thanks for the video and the photos (ok I did advance the video a head a bit a few times lol).

Thanks! Yeah - even after collapsing things down to 20-ish seconds per day, it runs too long. My poor wife tried to pretend to stay interested. Going in, I really didn't grasp how big of a construction project it was going to be.

 

[Gwgan]

Looks good! Can you share a map of which tiles are live?

 

[trautmane2]

Took little less than 3 hours total. Super engaged crew with great team leader

3 hour turn-around: wow (I realize that's for panels, but still pretty impressive). I liked the crews on my project too. When they are around for a couple of weeks, you get to know them a little.

 

[trautmane2]

Can you share a map of which tiles are live?

Here's a map of the PV tiles with ground pictures of the areas. Hope to get drone arial shots soon.

 

[gigawatt1010]

Thanks - no powerwalls for me. The grid is pretty reliable in our area (underground lines) and Dominion Power of Virginia currently has 1:1 net metering, so it made sense for me financially to skip batteries.

I ordered in early July. It's been a long journey, but I'm very excited that it's almost done.

Thanks, glad to hear yours got done before year end. Do you think you'll get your PTO in time for the 26% tax credit deadline?

I ordered in May of this year and Tesla just told me they can't install it until maybe end of Q1 2021. We were originally shooting for July, which they promptly cancelled and pushed for potentially Nov. That obviously came and went.

So our new date is now towards the end of Q1 2021. I think it depends on location, I'm in upstate NY and most of the installs I see are in CA and FL. There was one in MA and I think DE, but you're the first in VA that I know of.

 

[wjgjr]

Thanks, glad to hear yours got done before year end. Do you think you'll get your PTO in time for the 26% tax credit deadline?

I ordered in May of this year and Tesla just told me they can't install it until maybe end of Q1 2021. We were originally shooting for July, which they promptly cancelled and pushed for potentially Nov. That obviously came and went.

So our new date is now towards the end of Q1 2021. I think it depends on location, I'm in upstate NY and most of the installs I see are in CA and FL. There was one in MA and I think DE, but you're the first in VA that I know of.

FYI, it is likely (though an accountant/tax advisor is the only one who can answer this for sure) that PTO is not a requirement for the ITC - in fact, all that may be required is a completed install. (Having made the payment and having inspections done definitely help, but it is not a given that these are required - there are several threads discussing the particulars.)

I know there have been a few done in the DC area, including VA - part of the team that did our roof (in MD) back in the spring (technically still winter) was next moving to a job in VA. But I would agree that a lot of the installs are in a small number of states. Some combination of high energy prices, good incentives, and more sun likely means that the value to consumers is higher there, so it makes sense they would get higher sales and focus more resources there.

Hopefully for you, with it being moved back to Q1, you might see a drop in the price - and if you hear that prices are going down, contact Tesla and they should re-price it for you. That is what happened with us as they could not do it in 2019 (once they decided they weren't doing more v2 installs.) They told us we were first on the list when the weather improved in 2020, which ended up being the beginning of March (teardown actually started on 2/29.) Even with the new underlayment, I am guessing they are avoiding scheduling installs in the winter, just because the weather can be a pain to deal with. Instead, they had their crews out in CA doing more work there.

 

[trautmane2]

Do you think you'll get your PTO in time for the 26% tax credit deadline?

I am hopeful the PTO completes before the end of the year since it simplifies the tax credit questions which I've pondered for a while by reading the threads @wjgjr mentioned. I've pretty much decided that the credit is justified in my case regardless of when PTO occurs because the system is functional and paid for before the end of the calendar year. Of course, I'm not a tax professional and the current rules are ambiguous.

At one point in late August or early September, I was told to expect a March 2021 install. I questioned then whether I wanted to continue, but ultimately decided to go forward. It actually made things much better after that point, since the stress of everything getting done by the end of the year was removed. I think that's a key piece of advice to others waiting for or considering solar roof installs: set your completion expectations way out (8 months to a year) and if that still works for you, proceed.

I think this is likely to change (hopefully soon) as Tesla ramps up its efforts. Guys I spoke with on my crew said that in our area (DC, MD, VA), Tesla is currently installing 5 roofs concurrently and they had a goal of getting 10 roofs done in December. I think 3-5 of the 15-20 guys working on my roof on any given day were new trainees. They are also subcontracting out the tear-down/underlayment piece now since that is pretty close to a standard industry practice for any new roof.

I have no idea where things stand for NY installs. I was lucky to have @wjgjr as a relatively local example. I also spent some time going through building permit databases for counties in my area to try and find others with a solar roof. This was a big purchase for me and I really wanted to see it on other houses.

I hope your project gets started soon. For what it's worth, the crews here expect to work through the winter now (whereas last winter, a couple told me they were actually sent out to CA to help there).

 

[wjgjr]

I hope your project gets started soon. For what it's worth, the crews here expect to work through the winter now (whereas last winter, a couple told me they were actually sent out to CA to help there).

Interesting that they are planning to work through the winter - I guess they are going to just try and deal with the weather (waiting to see if this snowstorm happens Wednesday to start it off,) now that the underlayment isn't going to prevent installs.

 

[macbeth]

trautmane2,

How bid was this system? What % was solar producing and what % was dummy tile? This install looks amazing, I am in the process now of getting permits, etc for my solar roof and would love to know what your system stats are.