Tesla coupled with a SolarCity charging station?!

[gg_got_a_tesla]

To all Roadster owners out there (some of who are getting a Model S) who also got a charging station installed by one of Elon's other great investments, SolarCity, can you please provide some input on how good the experience with SolarCity was with regard to the charging station installation and maintenance?

And, do some of you have a SolarCity solar PV system installed as well on your roofs? I do and have mostly had a great experience with SolarCity on the PV system front but for a few hiccups early on (back in 2007-2008) with water leakage into the garage wall and such which they have since rectified quite well. More recently, the inverter they installed (by Xantrex) had a recall on it (this is out of SolarCity's control, of course) so, my system was out of commission for almost 4 months but, SolarCity compensated me quite okay for that interruption.

Any feedback would be great! After all, SolarCity is the official charging station installer for Tesla, aren't they?!

[rsquared99]

I used Solar City to install my PV system and HPC about two years ago when it came close to the time of delivery for my Roadster. Solar City was just opening an office in Arizona, so I waited a bit for them to get thing set up and had one of their first Phoenix area PV systems installed. They weren't really into the HPC installations here until I made an inquiry and they agreed to do it for me after some discussion with the California operation. My house was built in 2004, so it had a 200 amp capacity and it was a pretty simple installation for them to do. They took care of the permits and approval process and everything went smoothly. I've been very pleased with Solar City with regard to the PV system, especially their remote monitoring capability since I can pretty well ignor the system operation until they call me to inform me of a problem. I've had one inverter failure early on in the system operation, which took them about a month to replace. Otherwise, except for a couple of resets of the system monitor, everything has been humming along nicely. No problems with the HPC installation or equipment.

[ggr]

To all Roadster owners out there (some of who are getting a Model S) who also got a charging station installed by one of Elon's other great investments, SolarCity, can you please provide some input on how good the experience with SolarCity was with regard to the charging station installation and maintenance?

My feedback is mostly good. The charger installation took three visits, because the guy came down from Orange County to San Diego, and even though the inspector had assured him by phone that the specifications were the same, she then rejected the installation for some paper-worky reason. But the job was done very well. The solar panel installation was smooth and well done. We did have an inverter failure for a while, but that doesn't seem to be SolarCity's fault. Overall I was very happy.

[gjamrok]

I had a SolarCity PV system installed (with a group purchase from 1BOG.com) in December of 2009. (I live in LA). At that time, one of the big draws was that they were offering a free charging station install if you purchased a Tesla (I already had put down a Model-S reservation). I even had the engineers at Solar City system leave room for a few extra PV panels for when the Model-S arrived. Unfortunately, the last I heard was that SolarCity had discontinued the Free Charging station installation. I hope they restart the program after (or preferably a little before) the Model-S is released.

[DZCPA]

A few months ago Solar City gave me a quote for my home. They did not use micro inverters but just one large one. Using micro inverters allows more flexibility to add panels in the future where Solar City could not handle that. Also, if one panel drops power due to leaf, dirt, bird presents...all panels drop their power output. With micro inverters, only that panel is affected as all the others will still operate at full power. I went with another company and are very happy.

[gg_got_a_tesla]

News from SolarCity on EV charger installations:
SolarCity to offer solar-powered EV chargers | Green Tech - CNET News

[TEG]

A few months ago Solar City gave me a quote for my home. They did not use micro inverters but just one large one. Using micro inverters allows more flexibility to add panels in the future where Solar City could not handle that. Also, if one panel drops power due to leaf, dirt, bird presents...all panels drop their power output. With micro inverters, only that panel is affected as all the others will still operate at full power. I went with another company and are very happy.

Panels are expected to outlive inverters by a long while, so eventual inverter replacement is expected.
One argument in favor of the old OBI ("One Big Inverter") approach is that the inverter is easily accessible, and can be replaced and serviced without having to remove panels.
Lets say in 10 or 15 years your micro-inverters start to fail. Do you pull up all the panels to replace them all at once? Or pull up one panel at a time to replace them each time there is a failure? Some mounting systems make it difficult to remove individual panels. If it is a panel in the middle of the array do you climb on top of the other panels to get to it? Serviceability is something to consider.

...Good job for going solar...

[DrComputer]

My HPC was installed by Solar City (per Tesla's recommendation). I was not very happy with them. In anticipation of getting my Roadster I had the garage remodeled and a 240V 100A circuit brought in specifically for the HPC. All the Solar City guy had to do was connect the wires and mount it on the wall. They originally quoted me $200-300 to do that and I agreed. Then the installer got there he insisted that he was "required" to do a whole house energy load test and inspect the panel and that it was going to cost me $750. Since my Roadster was going to show up in a few days and he was already there, I begrudgingly agreed to his inflated price. Needless to say that when I did install my PV system I did NOT use Solar City but went with REC Solar instead. My PV system uses a central Sunnyboy inverter with Tigo optimizers on each panel. I believe this is the better combination.

[NigelM]

Panels are expected to outlive inverters by a long while, so eventual inverter replacement is expected.

We went with Enphase microinverters which now guarantee for 25 years, matching the PV panels. See here: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/news

NEWS:The California company pairs the microinverter, the M215 Series, with a new cabling system and a 25-year warranty designed to match the lifespan of a solar panel.

Using microinverters means that I can monitor energy production from each panel and can easily see if all panels are working (no problems, dirt, tree shadows etc.). I have exactly 100 panels on my roof and there is a limit on the amount of power output any OBI can handle; this would have meant that I would need multiple inverters, even the big ones! Now they are about the size of a small suitcase and weigh 35-40lbs, so I had the problem of where to locate 4-6 of these things. The biggest argument against the OBI is that if one panel fails for any reason you have no idea which one, you'll just see total power production has decreased.

One argument in favor of the old OBI ("One Big Inverter") approach is that the inverter is easily accessible, and can be replaced and serviced without having to remove panels.

Microinverters are easily accessible. Removing a panel takes a couple of minutes and is simple enough that anyone who knows that bolts unscrew counter clockwise can do it. Inverters are sealed units and there shouldn't be any servicing.

Some mounting systems make it difficult to remove individual panels.

Advance research is critical to create a system that avoids these problems. Most are really easy and if you have them on ground level or are worried about security you can get locking bolts.

If it is a panel in the middle of the array do you climb on top of the other panels to get to it?.

Yes. Of course, it's better to crawl or do a "baby shuffle" on your butt across the panels so you don't put all your weight on one foot in the middle of a panel; also the panels can be slippery and if you're up on the roof, standing isn't such a good idea...

[Mycroft]

Nigel, what was the total cost of your solar install? I know each installation will be different, but I just want a thumbnail of a typical install.