Tesla solar panels

[SunEagle]

I was referring to the posters on this thread. The skepticism i was referring to is unique to this Forum.


My experience dealing with Tesla employees has been good. The service on the cars has been efficient with no upsell that I always got at regular dealerships. Several of my tenants were SpaceX or Tesla employees and I was impressed with the quality of their education and experience. I had a mediocre experience with a Solar City/Tesla employee while negotiating the assumption of a Solar PPA when my daughter purchased a home in 2017 with a Solar City PPA on that home. I have several friends who have purchased Tesla Powerwalls from third party installers and their experience has been good. My brother installed a Powerwall (third party installer) and solar on an investment property in Mauai and he is very happy.

I have read here and on other forums of botched sales experience with Tesla Solar installations.

I agree that Tesla reps can be of good service depending on where they are and who they represent.

I still have some skepticism for the shingles and the people that sell them. Shingles are a tough sell (was in the business for 6 years) and adding the complexity of solar collection makes it even more difficult to install them correctly.

[J.P.M.]

[QUOTE=Ampster;n417258]
I was referring to the posters on this thread. The skepticism i was referring to is unique to this Forum. [QUOTE]

Yes, I believe I figured that out from the context. However, I'd suggest what you call skepticism about vendors, particularly SolarCity/Tesla or the other national level vendors of residential installs is not unique to this forum, just a bit more common around here given that there's probably a higher proportion of more informed folks posting about such topics here.

Whatever or however one chooses to characterize it, ether as skepticism, or reality based, or anything else, expressing such attitudes and opinions may also be at least partially a consequence of this being the forum of few(er) illusions.

While you write mostly of good experiences/impressions of Tesla on the vehicle side, I don't see how that applies to my question about your experience dealing with SolarCity/Tesla any more than, for example, my dealings with the GM Electromotive as an engineer dealing with stationary power applications would be applicable to how I felt about how they designed and serviced the Buick I owned at the time.

[solar_future]

At $1.40 and $1.5 a watt after tax rebates, many consumers can save a lot of money on their utility bill by installing solar. Of course the utility companies and their pensioners will try discourage residential solar because it cuts into their profits. With a Tesla warranty you know have an large established company standing behind their product, while will many smaller installers you have no idea if they will be in business 10 years later.

[SunEagle]

At $1.40 and $1.5 a watt after tax rebates, many consumers can save a lot of money on their utility bill by installing solar. Of course the utility companies and their pensioners will try discourage residential solar because it cuts into their profits. With a Tesla warranty you know have an large established company standing behind their product, while will many smaller installers you have no idea if they will be in business 10 years later.

Have you not read about all of the earlier failures that Tesla Solar went through?

[PugPower]

Personally I would go with ANY other company over Tesla for a solar install. The cars are fine, but the residential solar install business seems to be a total mess.

[solar_future]

For a 30% discount for a product that has a warranty for a major company, I would consider the much cheaper option. In these tough economic times, I am sure a lot of other people will too.

[J.P.M.]

For a 30% discount for a product that has a warranty for a major company, I would consider the much cheaper option. In these tough economic times, I am sure a lot of other people will too.

I wouldn't be able to afford the anxiety the lack of confidence would incur in me if I somehow were to allow Tesla to put their stuff on my property even if they paid me 30%.

[solar_future]

I wouldn't be able to afford the anxiety the lack of confidence would incur in me if I somehow were to allow Tesla to put their stuff on my property even if they paid me 30%.

I wouldn't be able to sleep at night with a smaller installer. I would have no idea if the installer would go out of business and my warranty would be worthless. Tesla's solar panels have a 25 year warranty. The inverter has a 10 year warranty and Tesla workmanship has a 20 year warranty.

[SunEagle]

I wouldn't be able to sleep at night with a smaller installer. I would have no idea if the installer would go out of business and my warranty would be worthless. Tesla's solar panels have a 25 year warranty. The inverter has a 10 year warranty and Tesla workmanship has a 20 year warranty.

That is if the Solar division is still around to provide support after 20 years.

[J.P.M.]

I wouldn't be able to sleep at night with a smaller installer. I would have no idea if the installer would go out of business and my warranty would be worthless. Tesla's solar panels have a 25 year warranty. The inverter has a 10 year warranty and Tesla workmanship has a 20 year warranty.

Opinions vary.

I'd note that every SolarCity install in my HOA used subcontracted labor with a lot of it looking like it was hanging around the Big Box parking lot a few hours before. Go figure.

I'd also note, and even though I always get the name of the person I'm speaking with at the start of a conversation, every time I called SolarCity looking for information about a job, I'd never talk to the same person twice. I also usually dealt with SolarCity offices in different states form (so far) CA, NV, OR.

I also found the folks at SolarCity to be poorly informed and mostly unprofessional. I get the suspicion the place has a real revolving door for employment.

On the other hand, I've always found that installs done by established, licensed, local electrical contractors who have been around for, say, 10+ years and who have sold/installed PV for, say 5+ yrs. or more seem to do the best work and have competitive prices. For this conversation I'd also note that all of those type vendors seem to all still be in business since 2005, the year I got involved w/my HOA as the guy who reviews and monitors all the PV installs.

From my experience, I'll take a local, experienced vendor any day. While there's no guarantees in life, and vendor surveillance is still/always necessary by the (home)owner for any PV, I'll take my chances with such a vendor over what I've consistently seen from the big, national outfits.

One last opinion: Although I'd caution that this is more anecdotal information than researched/verified, seems to me that most of my neighbors who used SolarCity or the two other big, national outfits, Vivant and Sunrun usually cited the size of the outfit among the reasons for their vendor choice. I can also say that the big national outfits didn't charge less/STC W for what seems to be generally mediocre or poor quality work.

Take what you want of the above. Scrap the rest. Like I wrote, it's all opinion.

[PugPower]

At $1.40 and $1.5 a watt after tax rebates, many consumers can save a lot of money on their utility bill by installing solar. Of course the utility companies and their pensioners will try discourage residential solar because it cuts into their profits. With a Tesla warranty you know have an large established company standing behind their product, while will many smaller installers you have no idea if they will be in business 10 years later.

Do a google search on "Tesla Solar Reviews" and then tell me about standing behind your product. Who cares about how much you potentially save if all you have is potential headaches afterwards and little to no customer support? Tesla's residential solar install business is failing , that's why they have to give away the farm to try and attract customers. If things don't go their way soon, the residential solar install division of Telsa will not be around in a couple years.

[Ampster]

For a 30% discount for a product that has a warranty for a major company, I would consider the much cheaper option. In these tough economic times, I am sure a lot of other people will too.

Yes, i would also do the same. I have been involved in construction most of my life and have done three self installs and three other professional installs. As a result I am confident in my ability to oversee an installer process to ensure quality. I would not advise this for the faint of heart. I would also insist on full access to monitoring.

[Ampster]

If things don't go their way soon, the residential solar install division of Telsa will not be around in a couple years.

That may be true as far as solar installation.
Tesla, as a publicly traded corporation will be around because of their lead in battery technology and software. I specifically mentioned software because it is what makes my two Teslas run and which I constantly get free over the air updates.

The key will be if you have the full guarantee of the parent or some subsidiary that they could walk away from. I would also want a name brand inverter and a manufacturers warranty on the panels themselves. I have a steep asphalt shingle roof so I am not concerned about leaks.

[PugPower]

I noticed that on the Tesla residential solar site it does not state what kind of panels and inverters they use. Does the customer get any input as to what equipment they install?

[Ampster]

I wouldn't be able to afford the anxiety the lack of confidence would incur in me if I somehow were to allow Tesla to put their stuff on my property even if they paid me 30%.

In my mind I could do a lot of therapy for anxiety if they were to pay me. Bring it on.