Review for Tesla

06/16/2022
Aardvark Power & Light Altadena, CA

An excellent installation, but oh, the journey to get there!

In the end, the crew from Tesla Residential Energy (“Skywalker” crew for the roof panels, and “Dooku” crew for the batteries and electrical work) did a terrific and elegant job on installation of the system, working hammer and tongs to get the job done expeditiously. 5 stars on that part. But my, the rocky one-year journey to get there! It all looked so easy during the on-line ordering process. Just a few clicks and a $100.00 deposit; easier than ordering food from an online menu. Then the trouble started: system order administratively downsized from 14 kW to 6.8, no explanation, but endless bot-driven messages to approve that revision. No way! Contacting a project advisor in customer service was nearly impossible back then (by now, dramatically improved). Turns out they won’t install on the pergola roof, because it doesn’t have four walls and is not a “permanent structure.” Much money wasted in providing a buried conduit from there back to the interconnection point on the main house. Next, they refused to install panels on the garage because the framing was weak and saggy. This was a correct call, but the roof and framing had to be removed, new stronger framing installed, along with a new roof. A 5-figure exercise. Then, Tesla Design required plans, load calculations and sealed sign off from a Professional Engineer, showing that the garage roof would bear the 3 lb per square foot load of the panels. $4,000. more. Then, a tree had to be removed from near the side of the garage where the batteries were to go. Another $200. FInally, Design agreed to the 13.2 kW design I wanted, with 4 Powerwalls totaling 54 kW of storage, and two inverters, eliminating a single point of failure. Service had to be upgraded to 200 A. from 100 A. with a brand-new load center, solar approved. Done, another 4 figures. LA Fire, and LA Building changed codes during this period, requiring further changes to the design and location of certain things. Fully 7 iterations of the design were done for various reasons prior to installation, and an additional iteration will be done post-installation because of some incorrect load calculations and a mistake in the wiring diagram, this to support the coming inspection which, we hope, will not produce additional surprises. Then the installers came, and for code and technical reasons, decided that a different panel was required, and all the circuits had to be transferred to the new panel. This was included in the contracted installation; no extra charge. But a lot of extra work for the Tesla electricians. After a long three days (typical installation takes one to two, says Tesla), the heroic installers completed their work and commissioned the system. By then, it was sunset, so it was necessary to wait until the next day to see if everything worked. It did! Because some of the panels are north-facing, which is suboptimal, the 13 kW nameplate system only produces a maximum of 9.8 kW at noon near the summer solstice, but this is enough power for long enough each day to bring the Powerwalls up to full charge each morning, run the pool pump in the morning and the air conditioning in the afternoon, and keep the Tesla Model S topped off, all without calling on power from the grid. Winter conditions will produce less power, but less needed because of no air conditioning required. It’s amazing: like running off grid from a silent whole-house generator and a propane tank that automatically fills itself each day for free. Now, it’s on to inspection and then Permission To Operate from the utility so excess capacity can be generated and sold back to Souther California Edison, rather than curtailed and wasted. Bottom line: when you click “order” from Tesla or any other vendor, be prepared for it to lead to more complexity than you thought! And likely significantly more time and money.