Getting a solar system installed and operated at your house can be a very intimidating experience. I remember when I first did my research for the project, I was totally overwhelmed with all the information out there. What would have really helped me in my research was a summary of what to expect for solar experience from signing up to operating the system so I will try to do just that here with this post. Everyone’s experience will be different, but hopefully you can learn from my experience to avoid some pitfalls, speed up the process, and even save some money!
Why Tesla Solar?
I picked Tesla Solar because of its pricing and technology. Based on my extensive research and real quote comparisons, the Tesla solar system was by far the cheapest of all the other alternatives out there. In fact, one of the other companies I contacted flat out said that they can’t beat Tesla’s price if I’m considering them. The reason that Tesla’s pricing is so good is because Tesla does not employ an army of salespeople so this saving can be passed directly to you. Tesla’s technology is really good as well. The solar system is elegantly and seamlessly integrated into the Tesla phone app so you can control, track, and operate the system straight from your phone!
There are of course a few drawbacks of Tesla solar that you need to know and think about. First of all, the customer service for Tesla Energy is a bit lacking. I got assigned a Project Advisor at the start of the project, but I don’t think my advisor was particularly helpful. She was difficult to get a hold of and didn’t really help resolve any of my issues in a timely manner. You can certainly bypass your Project Advisor to call Tesla Energy directly but I didn’t think the customer service there was that much better either. I really hope that Tesla has improved their customer service since my installation so others will have a better customer service experience.
The second drawback you need to know about is that as of April 2021, in order to install a Tesla solar system, you will also have to install the solar panels in conjunction with a Powerwall system. The Powerwall is an integrated battery system that stores your solar energy for backup protection or for use whenever you want. Even after the federal subsidy for the Powerwall, I initially didn’t want it to be part of my solar project because of the added cost. However, I’m now glad I got the Powerwall because it really helped me out during a power emergency. Last October my neighborhood had a power outage (seems to happen more often now especially here in California) and my house made it though with no problem. I was able to run all my appliances and do everything like normal without skipping a beat. I think the Powerwall is worth the added cost.
Sign up
Signing up for Tesla solar is very easy. If you want to get $300 off your solar panels or $500 off your solar roof project, click on this referral link here. Once you are on the signup screen, can simply enter in your home address and Tesla will provide you with the recommended solar system size for your house based on your home size. You put down a small down payment and now you are on your way to getting solar! As a reference, I have a total living space of around 1,700 square foot for my house and Tesla recommended a 4.1 kW system with 1 Powerwall for my house.
Project Timeline
July 6- Initial Sign Up and Self-Assessment: After the initial signed up, I had to create a Tesla web account. This online portal was where I managed the tasks for this project and it was a great way to track the progress of the project. The first to-do task from Tesla was for me to conduct a self-assessment of my house. I had to walk around the house to take pictures of items Tesla asked for and uploaded my electric bill to the online portal. I suggest you get this task done as soon as possible because this is one of the few tasks under your control and the project doesn’t move forward until you get this done.
July 14- Solar Panel Layout Design: Based on the information that I gave them from the initial self-assessment, Tesla’s staff designed a layout for the solar panels and submitted it to me. After my review, Tesla submitted the design to the city for permit approval.
July 23 – On-Site Home Assessment: Tesla sent out one of their employees to perform an in-person assessment of my house and took pretty much the same pictures that Tesla asked for in the original self-assessment. This seems like a redundant step, but I guess Tesla wanted to confirm that the information I provided were correct.
August 10 – Permit Received: Tesla received the permit from the city to install the solar panels. The timing of this varies depending on where you live, but it took me approximately 4 weeks from signing up to getting the city approval for installation.
August 13 – System Installation: Tesla scheduled the installation pretty much as soon as they got permission to do so from the city. Since my system is relatively small and my roof access is pretty straightforward, the installation only took half of the day. The installers were very professional and took great care of my property. The only minor inconvenience was having my power turned off for a few hours during the installation. There were a few minor hiccups in the installation. For example, Tesla didn’t coordinate well with the electric utility for the ground rod installation so an employee had to come back to install the ground rod after my utility came out and mark the underground utility. There were also some missing electrical components in the electric panel due to supply chain issues so they had to come back a week later to install those parts. These hiccups delayed the final city inspection for a few weeks since the system had to be completed and operational before the city inspector can come out and sign off on the installation.
September 15 – Final Inspection: Tesla coordinated the final inspection and had an employee at the house to meet with the city inspector. The inspection was very short but it did take more than a month between installation and inspection due to some coordination issues.
September 16 – Final Payment: After the final inspection, Tesla immediately sent out the invoice for the final payment. If you pay the invoice with the link Tesla send you, then Tesla will deduct money from your bank account. However, if you call Tesla Energy directly and ask them to connect you to the billing department, Tesla actually let you pay with a credit card by phone for no fees! I was very happy to be able to pay for this project with a credit card and get a boat load of credit card points.
October 26 – PTO (Permission to Operate): This was the final and perhaps most painful part of my experience. Even though I had the solar panels installed since the middle of September, they were pretty much just fancy roof decorations because I was not officially allowed to operate the system until Tesla get PTO approval from the utility for me to operate the system. The reason is because the utility doesn’t want you to push excess solar power back into the grid before having an official agreement in place for how the utility will pay you for the excess power that you generate. The good news is that toward the end of October, I noticed that Tesla added a “pre-PTO” mode to the phone app where you can operate the system system before the official PTO notice because the app prevents the system from pushing energy back into the grid and have it go to your Powerwall instead. I’m glad Tesla solved this issue because it was very frustrating to already pay for a system but not be allowed to operate it.
Current Status/Project Reflection:
My Tesla solar system and Powerwall have been running very well. The production fluctuates depending on the weather condition, but assuming a clear day, the production I got was around 8 kW/per day in the winter and 24 kW/per day in the summer. The Tesla app also has some cool features such as off-grid mode where you can disconnect your house entirely from the grid and just run it purely on the Powerwall storage and the solar panels. Even with my relatively small solar system and 1 Powerwall, I was able to successfully ran my house entirely off grid for several days with little changes in normal usage so I know I can survive a prolonged power outage with this system in place. There are also other cool features with the Tesla app such as scheduling when you pull power from the grid to save money on your Time-Of-Use plan, having your Powerwall pull power from the grid and store right before a significant storm event, and even having your Powerwall act as a powerplant to push power back to the grid for emergency support.
When I first started this project in early July, I really thought that it was going to take a few weeks to get solar power to my house. It turned out to take more than 14 weeks, but despite the long timeline, it has been a very rewarding experience. Not only did I do something great for the environment, I will end up saving money in the long run since my cost of energy is fixed while utility rates will keep rising. I’m really glad to finally take the plunge to install solar and go green.
If you are thinking about getting a solar system for your house, now is a great time to do it since the new solar tax credit in the Inflation Reduction Act allows you to subtract 30 percent of solar costs from your federal taxes. Click here to sign up and advantage of my referral code to get $500 off your Tesla solar panel system!