Vendors have literally halted my Powerwall installation

[njmurvin]

I apologize that this is so long. I've tried to make it as brief as possible. But, there is so much to explain.

I am nearing the end of a dual Powerwall installation and my project is HALTED until I can figure this out. My problem is with the vendors rather than the equipment. Allow me to explain.

This involves 2 solar vendors (I'd rather not name names yet, so let's call them SolarVendor and BatteryVendor). I purchased a 10kw system from SolarVendor in 2019. My solar install is not typical in that, because of several impediments (block wall and chimney) blocking clean access to my 400amp main panel, the solar output instead enters my system via an existing 175 amp sub panel (panel rated 200amp but running off 175amp breaker) located about 90' from the main panel diagonally across the house. The system has worked well for the 3+ years I've had it.

In late 2021 I learned about the SGIP program, contracted with BatteryVendor (after trying to get SolarVendor to handle it, but they shut me down) who placed me on the wait list. My reservation letter came in early 2022 and we were off to the races ... or so I thought. There was a shortage of Powerwalls at that time which caused enough delay that BatteryVendor had to get me a 6 month extension (which will expire in July 2023).

BatteryVendor finally delivered my Powerwalls in August 2022. After many unexplained delays and lack of communication from BatteryVendor, they finally finished installing my Powerwalls, Tesla Gateway, critical loads panel and moved the backed up circuits from my main panel in February 2023. It is important to note that they installed this equipment near my 400amp main panel (with some hideous 3" conduit wrapping around the chimney) - 90' away from the sub panel where the solar output enters my home. Note that we chose NOT to include the 175amp sub panel in the backed up circuits because it would use most of the 200amp capacity of the gateway leaving little room for other critical circuits from the main panel. The plans that they submitted to my city's building and safety department specified that they would be replacing the existing 22inch flex conduit and wires between the solar disconnect box and the sub panel with a 90ft EMT conduit and wires that would extend the existing solar output to the Tesla Gateway on the other side of the house.

Out of the blue, on the day of the installation of the 90' conduit, the BatteryVendor's lead technician informed me of a "problem" that prevented them from continuing. He put me on the phone with his supervisor who essentially told me that they didn't realize until just then that my solar system came from a different vendor. He followed that I had to get SolarVendor to give them a waiver letter or I need to hire SolarVendor to make the connection to the gateway (at my expense). Essentially, he refused to let his crew touch anything that SolarVendor had installed. Later, BatteryVendor offered to contact SolarVendor directly to get what was needed. I thought that was a good idea, since it was very vague what they wanted from SolarVendor. Wrong. The person who contacted SolarVendor must have pissed them off because BatteryVendor came back to me asking me to work it out with the "uncooperative" SolarVendor.

That's where I am now. I finally was able to begin a dialog with SolarVendor and this is the latest from them, "... if they change anything we install even wiring it will void out our service calls or any warranty at the time of their installation. They will need to ensure your solar is properly working once completed and inform us with pictures and proof of voltage readings and the work that was done. Our warranty will only continue to warranty the panels and inverter only. If they cross wires or cause a issue with the product due to voltage current or wire crossing the warranty will be voided. You must ensure that the work is being done by a licensed C10 electrician."

I'm not an electrician (beyond DIY stuff). Honestly, I probably should have but didn't see any of this cross-vendor BS coming. Frankly, I thought it was a clean demarcation of vendors by taking the output from the disconnect to the gateway (SolarVendor being responsble for everything upsteam of the disconnect and BatteryVendor responsible for everything downstream). Apparently not. I find it interesting that BatteryVendor went out of their way to get permissions from my homeowner's association but neglected to consider the ramifications of dealing with an existing solar installation from a different vendor (a fact that I disclosed to them on multiple occasions - aside from the fact that they should have known I was a new customer without a history with their company).

As they say, "It is what it is." I need to get this sorted ASAP as my drop dead date will soon be looming.

I have considered proposing some options to SolarVendor to get this train moving again. Here's what I have come up with:

1) Sacrifice the warranty from SolarVendor and just make sure I'm protected from BatteryVendor blowing up any of SolarVendor's equipment. I'm not certain what that warranty is really worth in light of Net Metering 3.0 and how it's likely to affect small vendors like SolarVendor moving forward (yes, they're a small outfit). I'm not even certain BatteryVendor would agree to this. They seem pretty steadfast in their refusal to touch anything of SolarVendor's.

2) Propose that BatteryVendor install all the conduit and wires for the 90' (since I'm already paying for that), but not connect it to the solar disconnect or gateway. Hire SolarVendor to make the actual connections after inspecting the wire and conduit ensuring it meets their standards (even I could do that much).

3) Propose to hire SolarVendor to do it all (run conduit, wires and make the connection to the gateway). I don't like this option because I'm already paying BatteryVendor to do this.

4) This one may be a stretch. Propose that BatteryVendor move most of the circuits back from the backup panel to the main panel and make the sub panel a backed up circuit. I'd probably have to do a load calc for the sub panel to make sure this is viable. Besides the 175 amp sub panel (which would come out much less in a load calc), I need a minimum of 3 other circuits protected (50amp and two 20amp circuits - two refrigerators and the bedroom circuit with the CPAP machine). By doing so, I think I could leave the solar feed at the sub panel untouched. I'm not sure what challenges this would create with CT sensors, etc.

I know this was long and I appreciate anyone who used their precious time to read it. If you see anything wrong with my plan, please comment on this thread or, even better, make a new suggestion for a better way to manage this.

Thank you.

 

[sunwarriors]

None of this surprises me. If you look at all my posts, vendors will never want to work on any old system due to liability, finger pointing if things go wrong, warranty claims, etc etc etc that I can post till my fingers fall off. It's sorta like self driving. Who'll handle liability if the car permanently maims/scars someone for life? (killing people is cheaper normally in a lawsuit).

You state you didn't see this coming, but this is obvious to anyone who reads these energy forums since lots of people here, me included harp on this point all the time (I'm doing it again here):
"Honestly, I probably should have but didn't see any of this cross-vendor BS coming."


This doesn't help you now unfortunately (maybe it'll help lurkers/readers), but since solarprovider didn't accept PWs early on, at that point, it was decision time to either cut them out or not or force them to install later when they came back in stock.

I specifically went away from Tesla since no independent provider was willing to give me exact time frames when I could even get a PW. Some said 6 months, some said no clue, some said we have them, but when I was about to sign, they said it was already allocated for someone else and I cut them out right away.

As I keep stating here, do everything all at once, don't assume you can come back and add stuff later. Your case is an example of junk that happens when you use multiple vendors, multiple time to install things, etc. It can go well and I stress that as well in a lot of my posts.


Now, as for your situation and my thoughts, I think the PW stuff is "harder" than basic solar. Getting that warrantee is probably more important to me, but a lot of warranties are by the manufacturer anyways. A lot of installers go away, but the manufacturer usually deals with it since it's their hardware.

NEM3.0 shouldn't affect your working NEM2.0 install already if you are just adding a battery now. Solar panel stuff is overall understandable by a lot of companies/people.


4) will be hard because that's a lot of work. I've stated before that I think solar is the easy $$, storage, much more work/less $$. Why you see a markup for small battery installs. If you can get batteryvendor to connect it or a waiver from solarvendor, that makes sense to me since you probably haven't spoken to solarvendor in over 3 years. That, or some waiver that makes them not liable for anything related to the solar so you run the risk of that going down and losing any support for it (so solarvendor, when they see the ESS won't support it nor will batteryvendor).


Best case is maybe simply put up a bit more $$ and get solarvendor to just work with batteryvendor and hope the $$ keeps solarvendor happy to check/connect the few connections and still cover your warranty.

You need new $$ because I'm sure solarvendor is busy for the next 6+ months with all the NEM3.0 rush jobs. It's a waste of their time to talk to you at all when easier $$ is to be had. Make it worth their while and maybe they'll come and play.

 

[h2ofun]

None of this surprises me. If you look at all my posts, vendors will never want to work on any old system due to liability, finger pointing if things go wrong, warranty claims, etc etc etc that I can post till my fingers fall off. It's sorta like self driving. Who'll handle liability if the car permanently maims/scars someone for life? (killing people is cheaper normally in a lawsuit).

You state you didn't see this coming, but this is obvious to anyone who reads these energy forums since lots of people here, me included harp on this point all the time (I'm doing it again here):
"Honestly, I probably should have but didn't see any of this cross-vendor BS coming."


This doesn't help you now unfortunately (maybe it'll help lurkers/readers), but since solarprovider didn't accept PWs early on, at that point, it was decision time to either cut them out or not or force them to install later when they came back in stock.

I specifically went away from Tesla since no independent provider was willing to give me exact time frames when I could even get a PW. Some said 6 months, some said no clue, some said we have them, but when I was about to sign, they said it was already allocated for someone else and I cut them out right away.

As I keep stating here, do everything all at once, don't assume you can come back and add stuff later. Your case is an example of junk that happens when you use multiple vendors, multiple time to install things, etc. It can go well and I stress that as well in a lot of my posts.


Now, as for your situation and my thoughts, I think the PW stuff is "harder" than basic solar. Getting that warrantee is probably more important to me, but a lot of warranties are by the manufacturer anyways. A lot of installers go away, but the manufacturer usually deals with it since it's their hardware.

NEM3.0 shouldn't affect your working NEM2.0 install already if you are just adding a battery now. Solar panel stuff is overall understandable by a lot of companies/people.


4) will be hard because that's a lot of work. I've stated before that I think solar is the easy $$, storage, much more work/less $$. Why you see a markup for small battery installs. If you can get batteryvendor to connect it or a waiver from solarvendor, that makes sense to me since you probably haven't spoken to solarvendor in over 3 years. That, or some waiver that makes them not liable for anything related to the solar so you run the risk of that going down and losing any support for it (so solarvendor, when they see the ESS won't support it nor will batteryvendor).


Best case is maybe simply put up a bit more $$ and get solarvendor to just work with batteryvendor and hope the $$ keeps solarvendor happy to check/connect the few connections and still cover your warranty.

You need new $$ because I'm sure solarvendor is busy for the next 6+ months with all the NEM3.0 rush jobs. It's a waste of their time to talk to you at all when easier $$ is to be had. Make it worth their while and maybe they'll come and play.

I ran across the same thing with one of my installers, I wanted to make an improvement, but the installer said if you change anything,
you are on your own. I was going to pay them to do it and get trained on how it worked, which is REAL simple. So, for now, I am stuck with what I have. I was actually lucky they work with my existing solar, but I guess I was paying them enough money they could live
with that.

 

[holeydonut]

I ran across the same thing with one of my installers, I wanted to make an improvement, but the installer said if you change anything,
you are on your own. I was going to pay them to do it and get trained on how it worked, which is REAL simple. So, for now, I am stuck with what I have. I was actually lucky they work with my existing solar, but I guess I was paying them enough money they could live
with that.

Yeah, one of my neighbors had existing solar from Tesla, but when he wanted to add ESS, the only vendor willing to work with him would install Enphase Empower. They basically ripped out the Solaredge that Tesla had put in, and installed Micros on all the existing solar panels and re-did his home run.

Effectively they re-used the solar panels to get DC, but replaced all the AC with Enphase. Guy lost the warranty on the panels and roof penetrations/leaks, but he got ESS out of it which is what he really wanted.

 

[charlesj]

Interesting. Tesla had no problem installing my 2 batteries for my existing solar with Enphase inverters.
Perhaps that was because all they had to do with the older part is install those current sensors in the subpanel on the solar wire into the breaker.

 

[CrazyRabbit]

Tesla had no problem changing out the wire from my enphase combiner box to the gateway. Ripped out two 100 amp disconnects..

 

[SageBrush]

This is early days for ESS, and trying to connect products from different manufacturers is an exercise in misery. This is specifically true for inverters and ESS.

My best guess without knowing a lot more about specifics is that the low-friction route is to find a battery installer who will build from their inverter up.

 

[njmurvin]

None of this surprises me. If you look at all my posts, vendors will never want to work on any old system due to liability, finger pointing if things go wrong, warranty claims, etc etc etc that I can post till my fingers fall off. It's sorta like self driving. Who'll handle liability if the car permanently maims/scars someone for life? (killing people is cheaper normally in a lawsuit).

You state you didn't see this coming, but this is obvious to anyone who reads these energy forums since lots of people here, me included harp on this point all the time (I'm doing it again here):
"Honestly, I probably should have but didn't see any of this cross-vendor BS coming."


This doesn't help you now unfortunately (maybe it'll help lurkers/readers), but since solarprovider didn't accept PWs early on, at that point, it was decision time to either cut them out or not or force them to install later when they came back in stock.

I specifically went away from Tesla since no independent provider was willing to give me exact time frames when I could even get a PW. Some said 6 months, some said no clue, some said we have them, but when I was about to sign, they said it was already allocated for someone else and I cut them out right away.

As I keep stating here, do everything all at once, don't assume you can come back and add stuff later. Your case is an example of junk that happens when you use multiple vendors, multiple time to install things, etc. It can go well and I stress that as well in a lot of my posts.


Now, as for your situation and my thoughts, I think the PW stuff is "harder" than basic solar. Getting that warrantee is probably more important to me, but a lot of warranties are by the manufacturer anyways. A lot of installers go away, but the manufacturer usually deals with it since it's their hardware.

NEM3.0 shouldn't affect your working NEM2.0 install already if you are just adding a battery now. Solar panel stuff is overall understandable by a lot of companies/people.


4) will be hard because that's a lot of work. I've stated before that I think solar is the easy $$, storage, much more work/less $$. Why you see a markup for small battery installs. If you can get batteryvendor to connect it or a waiver from solarvendor, that makes sense to me since you probably haven't spoken to solarvendor in over 3 years. That, or some waiver that makes them not liable for anything related to the solar so you run the risk of that going down and losing any support for it (so solarvendor, when they see the ESS won't support it nor will batteryvendor).


Best case is maybe simply put up a bit more $$ and get solarvendor to just work with batteryvendor and hope the $$ keeps solarvendor happy to check/connect the few connections and still cover your warranty.

You need new $$ because I'm sure solarvendor is busy for the next 6+ months with all the NEM3.0 rush jobs. It's a waste of their time to talk to you at all when easier $$ is to be had. Make it worth their while and maybe they'll come and play.

Well, I guess I'm a slow learner. Seriously, I don't recall reading much, if anything, here about cross vendor issues - but I spend most of my time on the X forum. If I did, I guess it didn't register in my situation because BatteryVendor was so eager for my business despite knowing that my solar was installed by another vendor. Like I said, they did their due-diligence with the homeowner's association but neglected to raise any flags over the existing solar installation. It was a total non-issue until the 11th hour. I admit that I never informed SolarVendor of my plans (a mistake I won't repeat) after they blew me off in the beginning of the project when I approached them about the SGIP program mainly because I didn't think I needed to. Live and learn, I guess.

For the record, neither of these providers is Tesla. BatteryVendor is a smallish independent solar provider and SolarVendor is a very small provider. I had no problem with SolarVendor over the 3 years I've owned my system but, honestly, I haven't had to deal with them until now since the installation and startup. BatteryVendor has been difficult to deal with. Their work product appears to be good - once they finally do it. But, delays and poor to non-existent communication have been brutal. If I had it to do over, I would pass on the free Powerwalls to avoid all this crap. But, I'm in too deep now and need to see it through. I just need to try to minimize the damage.

My plan going forward is to contact SolarVendor and propose #2 (BatteryVendor install all the conduit and wires for the 90' (since I'm already paying for that), but not connect it to the solar disconnect or gateway. Hire SolarVendor to make the actual connections after inspecting the wire and conduit ensuring it meets their standards). If they aren't willing or able to do that, I'll ask them to suggest any other steps that could be taken to preserve my complete warranty with them.

 

[njmurvin]

This is early days for ESS, and trying to connect products from different manufacturers is an exercise in misery. This is specifically true for inverters and ESS.

My best guess without knowing a lot more about specifics is that the low-friction route is to find a battery installer who will build from their inverter up.

Agreed. However, that's where thought I was. I have microinverters that come through a combiner box that goes to a solar disconnect. I just want BatteryVendor to take the 4 wires (2 hots, neutral and ground) that come out of that disconnect into the gateway instead of into my panel. They won't touch those 4 wires - and it turns out BatteryVendor will terminate my warranty (at least the labor part of it) if they do.

 

[SageBrush]

Agreed. However, that's where thought I was.

Ask Enphase if they support Tesla ESS. My guess is that they will try to turn you towards their ESS solution

A friend of mine is taking a PV installer class at the local CC and has become an Enphase hater. While the panel installation is easy, the entire class and instructor could get the centralized Enphase control to commission. And that is without the considerably more complicated ESS.

I'm a central inverter kind of guy myself unless the roof makes it a poor choice, so your issues do not surprise me

 

[charlesj]

Agreed. However, that's where thought I was. I have microinverters that come through a combiner box that goes to a solar disconnect. I just want BatteryVendor to take the 4 wires (2 hots, neutral and ground) that come out of that disconnect into the gateway instead of into my panel. They won't touch those 4 wires - and it turns out BatteryVendor will terminate my warranty (at least the labor part of it) if they do.

I presume that since you have a combiner box you have more than one 20A breakers for solar panels.
I only have on, no combiner, and the breaker is in a sub panel. Tesla had no problem installing their gateway after the main breaker to control the system with a whole house backup panel that has the two 30A battery breakers along with two subpanel breakers.
Surprised battery installer cannot do something similar with your combiner box output being in there as well.

 

[njmurvin]

I presume that since you have a combiner box you have more than one 20A breakers for solar panels.
I only have on, no combiner, and the breaker is in a sub panel. Tesla had no problem installing their gateway after the main breaker to control the system with a whole house backup panel that has the two 30A battery breakers along with two subpanel breakers.
Surprised battery installer cannot do something similar with your combiner box output being in there as well.

I have 27 LG panels with Enphase micro inverters. Honestly I’m not sure what all the combiner box does but it houses the Enphase monitoring hardware that lets me see how much I’m generating.

There’s only one 50amp breaker in the sub panel where the AC solar output connects. The reason that they have to move the solar output to the gateway is that the existing sub panel where the solar now feeds won’t be part of the backup loads. I think this is a pretty unique configuration as most installs feed the solar into a main panel … or at least a sub panel that will be backed up by the gateway/Powerwalls.

 

[njmurvin]

As a worse case scenario, I may have to explore my option #4 which is to sacrifice some of my main circuits from the backup loads and add the sub panel where the solar enters to the backup loads. In this case I wouldn’t have to run the solar feed into the gateway and SolarVendor wires wouldn’t be touched.

I’m a bit fuzzy on how the CT sensors factor into the equation. Do I need sensors on each circuit in the sub panel and the solar feed? How do I connect these being 90’ away from the gateway? I’ll have loads in 3 places: main panel where I left the non backed up loads, new backup loads panel and my existing sub panel where the solar connects. Which circuits need CT sensors?

 

[wwhitney]

I'm not a contract law specialist, or experienced in the nuances of contracting. So my opinion is primarily on the technical aspects.

1) Extending an existing 50A feeder from Panel 2 to reach the Gateway or Generation Panel (presumably via a splice in Panel 2) is a conceptual triviality for any electrician. Given the distance, it would still take some effort but is straightforward.

2) Therefore, you should just tell SolarVendor that is what you are going to do, and that you expect they will honor their warranty for all equipment upstream of that feeder. [Certainly my expectation as a consumer.] Then get BatteryVendor to extend the feeder for you.

This is literally just an AC feeder like any other feeder on the premises, and the only part of SolarVendor's work that BatteryVendor will have to touch is to disconnect two wires from the 50A breaker in Panel 2 and splice them to their new conductors in the feeder extension. So if BatteryVendor balks at that, something is wrong with them.

Cheers, Wayne

 

[charlesj]

I have 27 LG panels with Enphase micro inverters. Honestly I’m not sure what all the combiner box does but it houses the Enphase monitoring hardware that lets me see how much I’m generating.

There’s only one 50amp breaker in the sub panel where the AC solar output connects. The reason that they have to move the solar output to the gateway is that the existing sub panel where the solar now feeds won’t be part of the backup loads. I think this is a pretty unique configuration as most installs feed the solar into a main panel … or at least a sub panel that will be backed up by the gateway/Powerwalls.

The combiner is new to me and never dealt with it as I only have one 20A solar breaker in a subpanel. I have two subpanels, one on each floor, both are transferred to the backup panel that is under the gateway shown in my picture. Originally, those two subpanels went to the main breaker by the meter with a 100A breaker for each floor. Tesla removed those two 100A breakers, sent the wire to the backup panel with their original breakers and added a new 150A breaker in that main box by the meter.
then new wires from that 150A breaker to the gateway then from the gateway to the backup panel.

As a worse case scenario, I may have to explore my option #4 which is to sacrifice some of my main circuits from the backup loads and add the sub panel where the solar enters to the backup loads. In this case I wouldn’t have to run the solar feed into the gateway and SolarVendor wires wouldn’t be touched.

I’m a bit fuzzy on how the CT sensors factor into the equation. Do I need sensors on each circuit in the sub panel and the solar feed? How do I connect these being 90’ away from the gateway? I’ll have loads in 3 places: main panel where I left the non backed up loads, new backup loads panel and my existing sub panel where the solar connects. Which circuits need CT sensors?

The CT sensors would be on the wire in your backup panel that comes from the extended solar combiner. It senses current so the gateway knows how much power is generated and can calculate and show production on the Tesla app. You would still be able to log into Enphase and see how the panels are working individually and as a whole as you can right now.

The battery installer would not be changing anything that was installed, the combiner. Extending the solar wire from that 50A breaker is not a change to Enphase. Inverters are still under warranty as mine are, so would be the combiner as that wasn't changed.

 

[BGbreeder]

I have 27 LG panels with Enphase micro inverters. Honestly I’m not sure what all the combiner box does but it houses the Enphase monitoring hardware that lets me see how much I’m generating.

There’s only one 50amp breaker in the sub panel where the AC solar output connects. The reason that they have to move the solar output to the gateway is that the existing sub panel where the solar now feeds won’t be part of the backup loads. I think this is a pretty unique configuration as most installs feed the solar into a main panel … or at least a sub panel that will be backed up by the gateway/Powerwalls.

I'm with @wwhitney on this as well. I think that it is routine to land solar in a Gateway. Our solar went to the main panel from our combiner box (aka sub panel) originally, and now it lands in the Gateway. Icing on a cake for a licensed electrician.

I would let the batteryvendor do their work. In the future, if you have a solar issue, take the solar vendor to court over it; they would have to prove that the moving of the solar breaker from one sub panel to another caused the future issue. While it is dangerous to make analogies, I think that this is directly analogous to aftermarket modifications to vehicles, where under warranty, the vehicle manufacturer has to prove that the fault was caused by the aftermarket device, which almost never happens. I don't think the solar wiring to support an ESS being a problem would possibly fly, unless of course the battery vendor does muck the wiring up, at which point their insurance would pay for a new, same sized solar. To be realistic, I would expect zero help/gratitude from the solarvendor going forward as they seem pretty PO about something with you, perhaps your choice of a different battery vendor...?

Good luck,

BG

 

[njmurvin]

I'm with @wwhitney on this as well. I think that it is routine to land solar in a Gateway. Our solar went to the main panel from our combiner box (aka sub panel) originally, and now it lands in the Gateway. Icing on a cake for a licensed electrician.

I would let the batteryvendor do their work. In the future, if you have a solar issue, take the solar vendor to court over it; they would have to prove that the moving of the solar breaker from one sub panel to another caused the future issue. While it is dangerous to make analogies, I think that this is directly analogous to aftermarket modifications to vehicles, where under warranty, the vehicle manufacturer has to prove that the fault was caused by the aftermarket device, which almost never happens. I don't think the solar wiring to support an ESS being a problem would possibly fly, unless of course the battery vendor does muck the wiring up, at which point their insurance would pay for a new, same sized solar. To be realistic, I would expect zero help/gratitude from the solarvendor going forward as they seem pretty PO about something with you, perhaps your choice of a different battery vendor...?

Good luck,

BG

Thanks. I couldn’t agree more. I think you’re referring to the Magnuson-Moss warranty rules and I, too, have wondered if they might apply to solar. They certainly apply in principle.

BatteryVendor is the one that stopped work. I’ll have to see if they will resume work based on SolarVendor’s conditions - and, as you suggest, deal with the issue of warranty if and when it arises.

I did reach out to SolarVendor early yesterday to see if they would continue full warranty support if I hired them to inspect the wiring/conduit and make the physical connections themselves. Crickets so far. I’ll give them another day and then try to proceed as if they’re going to be hostile no matter what I propose - which is probably the case.

It’s too bad, really. I tried to go through them for the batteries but they didn’t seem that interested in going through the SGIP process. I’ve even referred clients to them two of which bought systems (my brother and a close friend).

 

[charlesj]

Thanks. I couldn’t agree more. I think you’re referring to the Magnuson-Moss warranty rules and I, too, have wondered if they might apply to solar. They certainly apply in principle.

BatteryVendor is the one that stopped work. I’ll have to see if they will resume work based on SolarVendor’s conditions - and, as you suggest, deal with the issue of warranty if and when it arises.

I did reach out to SolarVendor early yesterday to see if they would continue full warranty support if I hired them to inspect the wiring/conduit and make the physical connections themselves. Crickets so far. I’ll give them another day and then try to proceed as if they’re going to be hostile no matter what I propose - which is probably the case.

It’s too bad, really. I tried to go through them for the batteries but they didn’t seem that interested in going through the SGIP process. I’ve even referred clients to them two of which bought systems (my brother and a close friend).

You know, I am wondering how difficult it would be to run that AC wire to a non-backup panel instead of moving the soar.
Then you don't have to mess with the solar wiring at all.
Do you have just that one subpanel? How may breakers in the main panel?

 

[njmurvin]

You know, I am wondering how difficult it would be to run that AC wire to a non-backup panel instead of moving the soar.
Then you don't have to mess with the solar wiring at all.
Do you have just that one subpanel? How may breakers in the main panel?

I'm not sure that would work out. During a power outage, solar would be shut down. This is actually how it exists now.

This may be moot. As of this morning, it's looking like BatteryVendor is now willing to move the solar AC output to the gateway. I'll believe it when it's done - but that's the current plan.

 

[MP3Mike]

NEM3.0 shouldn't affect your working NEM2.0 install already if you are just adding a battery now. Solar panel stuff is overall understandable by a lot of companies/people.

I think his point was that NEM3.0 might put SolarVendor out of business, meaning they would no longer be around to provide warranty service.