My 11.2kW Tesla Solar Project - Portland, OR

[BrettS]

In light of the above issues I could avoid turning off house or PV breakers or PW switches by instead setting the Powerwall “reserve to 100% “ overnight on the app.. Wouldn’t this be the same as having all power shutdown to the house at night when solar was not producing? Then there would be no reset/reboot issues. I realize this may not be ideal for the refrigerator but if I really need to conserve it could be a better option

As @jjrandorin said, setting the reserve will affect how the system uses the power in normal operations when the power is on. When the power fails the powerwall will use any and all available capacity to power your house.

Basically the reserve setting tells it how much power you want to make sure is available in the event of a power outage. Then the system will work to ensure that the powerwalls don’t go under that number during normal operations, so no matter when the power failed you would have at least the reserve capacity to support your house during the power failure.

 

[pdx_m3s]

A couple updates.

My install was selected for internal quality review. A Tesla Solar employee came out and reviewed the install and fired up the system. He confirmed output and made sure all of the optimizers paired with the inverter. Took about 20 minutes and confirmed everything is good to go.

I was sent over another utility interconnection/net meting agreement to sign. I have previously already signed one on 9/22, so not sure what this is for.

Still no invoice to pay for the system.

 

[pdx_m3s]

Well my system has been officially sent to my utility for final PTO. Tesla is definitely behind on project administration. Final inspection was last Wednesday. I was also told that "due to high volume" invoices are taking longer to process and go out. I don't see how Tesla scales their energy generation business under its current organization.

 

[SMAlset]

Well my system has been officially sent to my utility for final PTO. Tesla is definitely behind on project administration. Final inspection was last Wednesday. I was also told that "due to high volume" invoices are taking longer to process and go out. I don't see how Tesla scales their energy generation business under its current organization.

They will work through it like other companies during covid and not be fully staffed for demand. When Elon said the focus would be on growing Tesla Energy in 2020, covid hadn’t arrived on the scene.

I’ve worked in companies during downturns and people double up on duties and try the best they can, work longer hours and be glad they have a job. Tesla has a lot of pokers in the fire right now so sure they are needing to spread out resources and still please investors and to some degree Wall Street. TE still offers a good price point and hopefully next year the staff and installers and areas served can all grow to meet demand. I see it like Tesla on the car front continuing to add more Superchargers. With the Energy install volume and WFH, we’ve occasionally had a wait to talk to someone about our order but haven’t found it as bad and certainly not worse than other companies we’ve dealt with during covid. Really can’t say for us that they were ever non-responsive or very long in getting back on a question or concern. And the SF Bay area has got to be among the highest volume areas right now.

 

[jboy210]

A couple updates.

My install was selected for internal quality review. A Tesla Solar employee came out and reviewed the install and fired up the system. He confirmed output and made sure all of the optimizers paired with the inverter. Took about 20 minutes and confirmed everything is good to go.

I was sent over another utility interconnection/net meting agreement to sign. I have previously already signed one on 9/22, so not sure what this is for.

Still no invoice to pay for the system.

At least Tesla and the city/county have declared you operational. So when you do pay you can claim the credit on this year's tax return.

 

[pdx_m3s]

At least Tesla and the city/county have declared you operational. So when you do pay you can claim the credit on this year's tax return.

As long as installation has occurred and it's been paid for, you can claim the tax credit.

The mere timing of an inspection/approval has no bearing on one's ability to claim the credit.

 

[jboy210]

As long as installation has occurred and it's been paid for, you can claim the tax credit.

The mere timing of an inspection/approval has no bearing on one's ability to claim the credit.

This has been a point of discussion. It is based on the definition of "put in operation". Most agreed it was based on passing inspection because of that implies certification by a 3rd party as the work being completed.

 

[wjgjr]

As long as installation has occurred and it's been paid for, you can claim the tax credit.

The mere timing of an inspection/approval has no bearing on one's ability to claim the credit.

Even paid for is perhaps not clear - the instructions state "For purposes of both credits, costs are treated as being paid when the original installation of the item is complete" (noting this does not apply if you are building or doing renovations where you move out.) https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i5695.pdf

 

[jjrandorin]

At least Tesla and the city/county have declared you operational. So when you do pay you can claim the credit on this year's tax return.

If, somehow, @pdx_m3s didnt get PTO between now and the end of the year, I suspect he would be driving from Portland to Fremont CA to camp out in Tesla's parking lot until someone fixed something with the PTO application (lol).

 

[jboy210]

If, somehow, @pdx_m3s didnt get PTO between now and the end of the year, I suspect he would be driving from Portland to Fremont CA to camp out in Tesla's parking lot until someone fixed something with the PTO application (lol).

Tesla Energy is Vegas and Palo Alto. But let's hope that won't matter and it will not come to that. Even working with notoriously slow Tesla-PG&E we got PTO 3-4 weeks after passing the final inspection.

 

[pdx_m3s]

Utility meter swap and final PTO approval scheduled for Wednesday at 9am. So close!

 

[pdx_m3s]

Well the new meter is in and I'm officially making power.

Not sure how long it takes for Tesla to get word of PTO, but looking forward to monitoring. All just in time for our cloudy winter

 

[jboy210]

Well the new meter is in and I'm officially making power.

Not sure how long it takes for Tesla to get word of PTO, but looking forward to monitoring. All just in time for our cloudy winter

Clouds and rain much better than fires. Feel free to send the excess clouds and rain down south.

 

[wjgjr]

Well the new meter is in and I'm officially making power.

Not sure how long it takes for Tesla to get word of PTO, but looking forward to monitoring. All just in time for our cloudy winter

You can email them to let them know. Sometimes it seems they don't get notification from all utilities or don't notice it. Contacting them can resolve that - and at least in our case (and I think some others) Tesla asked us to send them the PTO document from the utility because they did not receive it yet. Though, in your case, since they haven't invoiced you yet, it might trigger a request for payment, so if you want to sit on the money a bit longer, that could be the trade-off.

 

[pdx_m3s]

I let Tesla know that the utility replaced the meter and my system is on and running. They said that they have to get a letter from the utility confirming PTO to close out the project, at which point they will invoice me.

Not sure why some people are invoiced after installation, some are invoiced after inspection, and some are not invoiced until PTO. Perhaps it depends on jurisdiction.

Also, still no monitoring from the app. Guessing they have to get final PTO confirmation first.

When all said and done, I got a brand new SR+ and a 11.2kW solar system for less than $49k net. Quite the deal.

 

[darhall993]

I let Tesla know that the utility replaced the meter and my system is on and running. They said that they have to get a letter from the utility confirming PTO to close out the project, at which point they will invoice me.

Not sure why some people are invoiced after installation, some are invoiced after inspection, and some are not invoiced until PTO. Perhaps it depends on jurisdiction.

Also, still no monitoring from the app. Guessing they have to get final PTO confirmation first.

When all said and done, I got a brand new SR+ and a 11.2kW solar system for less than $49k net. Quite the deal.

Congrats on your new solar and SR+. I would keep calling Tesla and SolarEdge until you can get access to the SolarEdge app, it’s very handy to see the details, I had a third party installer and Powerwalls so different situation, but having the panel and inverter perf data is key.

 

[pdx_m3s]

Got the final "OK to turn on your system" from Tesla this morning (it was already on following the meter swap yesterday). Still no invoice.

 

[darhall993]

Got the final "OK to turn on your system" from Tesla this morning (it was already on following the meter swap yesterday). Still no invoice.

Did the Tesla App go live for you? Are you seeing Solar Production data?

 

[pdx_m3s]

Did the Tesla App go live for you? Are you seeing Solar Production data?

Nope. Still no data in the app. The gateway is plugged in and within a few feet of the inverter.

 

[jjrandorin]

Nope. Still no data in the app. The gateway is plugged in and within a few feet of the inverter.

Now that you have the "final PTO" email, you should be able to call tesla energy support and ask them to sync everything up. Probably faster than waiting for them to "just do it".