I got a PM asking me to explain just "how bad" my 7.9 kWp + 3x Powerwall installation was since it seems like I posted an infinite set of problems throughout the last year. I'll just share the details here in case anyone is browsing TMC to research solar+ESS for their own house. This shows you what a messed up installation looks like.
Keep in mind I still don't have PTO, but if you're 44 weeks in, does it really matter another 3 weeks?
The main root cause of my terrible experience is that Sunrun simply wasn't ready to sell Powerwalls. I'm basically beta testing their processes; and their processes SUCK. This shouldn't take away from Sunrun having some really good-hard-working people. The issue lies squarely on process and experience. Nobody over there was ready to face the challenges of ESS since they were so used to solar-only stuff. And nobody over there was accustomed to dealing with an un-cooperative PG&E. Our friendly (sarcasm) monopoly knows PV+ESS hurts their profits the most; and they have folks that will fight homeowners to prevent the installs. Sunrun wasn't ready for that combat.
I had to take on the role of project manager using the wealth of information here on TMC (especially @Vines and @wwhitney). If left to their own devices, Sunrun would have made me pay an extra $10k; and the finished system would be super messed up.
Keep in mind, ZERO of the 44 weeks in my experience was a delay due to parts availability. Sunrun had the Powerwalls in stock since they were entering 2020 with a fresh initiative to be a major Tesla Partner. Sunrun had TEG2 inventory in hand well before my permit was ever issued by the County. Had Sunrun employed fully knowledgeable ESS folks with an end-to-end advocate, I think this install would have taken about 3 months tops (12 weeks). Admittedly, COVID and sheltering in place slowed things down; about 5 of those 44 weeks were lost due to COVID delays and me not being able to get anyone to visit my home.
Sunrun has a great team of doers (the people who put the panels up and run the core operations). I can't stress this enough. The actual 2 weeks of work their installers did on my house to get the solar and ESS hooked up was very good. The failings were all in Sunrun's design and internal lack of experience unblocking issues. 42 weeks of pain, red tape, stupidity, frustration to get access to 2 weeks of great work by great crews.
If you're shopping for an outfit for your own home; make sure they know how to deal with all the hurdles required to install ESS. Tesla Energy is probably your best bet simply because they should know the most. But as we've seen, Tesla can't give white glove service since they're now a volume shop focused on razor thin margins with no room to deviate from their cookie cutter script.
If you go with a smaller shop to get flexibility and a personalized touch... make sure they employ the right people to unblock the issues in my list below. Or else you face the problem of becoming your own PM which is not fun at all.
Here's the overview of all the stupid stuff that has happened each week of my install. Major blockers that required my attention to resolve are highlighted in red. The # of emails includes both email messages coming from Sunrun and outbound messages from me. But the message count excludes the texts between me and various ops folks.
Keep in mind I still don't have PTO, but if you're 44 weeks in, does it really matter another 3 weeks?
The main root cause of my terrible experience is that Sunrun simply wasn't ready to sell Powerwalls. I'm basically beta testing their processes; and their processes SUCK. This shouldn't take away from Sunrun having some really good-hard-working people. The issue lies squarely on process and experience. Nobody over there was ready to face the challenges of ESS since they were so used to solar-only stuff. And nobody over there was accustomed to dealing with an un-cooperative PG&E. Our friendly (sarcasm) monopoly knows PV+ESS hurts their profits the most; and they have folks that will fight homeowners to prevent the installs. Sunrun wasn't ready for that combat.
I had to take on the role of project manager using the wealth of information here on TMC (especially @Vines and @wwhitney). If left to their own devices, Sunrun would have made me pay an extra $10k; and the finished system would be super messed up.
Keep in mind, ZERO of the 44 weeks in my experience was a delay due to parts availability. Sunrun had the Powerwalls in stock since they were entering 2020 with a fresh initiative to be a major Tesla Partner. Sunrun had TEG2 inventory in hand well before my permit was ever issued by the County. Had Sunrun employed fully knowledgeable ESS folks with an end-to-end advocate, I think this install would have taken about 3 months tops (12 weeks). Admittedly, COVID and sheltering in place slowed things down; about 5 of those 44 weeks were lost due to COVID delays and me not being able to get anyone to visit my home.
Sunrun has a great team of doers (the people who put the panels up and run the core operations). I can't stress this enough. The actual 2 weeks of work their installers did on my house to get the solar and ESS hooked up was very good. The failings were all in Sunrun's design and internal lack of experience unblocking issues. 42 weeks of pain, red tape, stupidity, frustration to get access to 2 weeks of great work by great crews.
If you're shopping for an outfit for your own home; make sure they know how to deal with all the hurdles required to install ESS. Tesla Energy is probably your best bet simply because they should know the most. But as we've seen, Tesla can't give white glove service since they're now a volume shop focused on razor thin margins with no room to deviate from their cookie cutter script.
If you go with a smaller shop to get flexibility and a personalized touch... make sure they employ the right people to unblock the issues in my list below. Or else you face the problem of becoming your own PM which is not fun at all.
Here's the overview of all the stupid stuff that has happened each week of my install. Major blockers that required my attention to resolve are highlighted in red. The # of emails includes both email messages coming from Sunrun and outbound messages from me. But the message count excludes the texts between me and various ops folks.
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