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Tesla Solar in Houston & Surrounding Area’s
- Thread starter Jones1
- Start date
I sent a text to Tesla. I now have an install date for 12/27-28/2022
I’ve been busy all morning at work. So I received 2 emails. Around 6:30 am. From Centerpoint. The first email said application has been sent to inspection.
The second email. Was a few minutes after I received the first. I didn’t get a chance to see or read it for a while. The second email said application had been approved. So now I have a Christmas install date. 27th for powerwall with a 28th install for solar panels.
The second email. Was a few minutes after I received the first. I didn’t get a chance to see or read it for a while. The second email said application had been approved. So now I have a Christmas install date. 27th for powerwall with a 28th install for solar panels.
DrewHou
Tesla S|3|Solar+PW
Yes. My first email. Said moved to inspection process. The second said approved to install.
wiltoking
Member
Wh
Interesting, who did you receive this from Centerpoint? The only email I have is from the Distributed Generation Team that had approved the design and moved it to "Inspection in Progress". Which I took to mean the next step would require it to be installed. However, the Tesla Solar representative I have says they are still waiting for approval even after forwarding him the Centerpoint email twice! Not sure if it's the rep or if there is another Centerpoint Team we need to get "INTERCONNECTION" approval from.
Interesting, who did you receive this from Centerpoint? The only email I have is from the Distributed Generation Team that had approved the design and moved it to "Inspection in Progress". Which I took to mean the next step would require it to be installed. However, the Tesla Solar representative I have says they are still waiting for approval even after forwarding him the Centerpoint email twice! Not sure if it's the rep or if there is another Centerpoint Team we need to get "INTERCONNECTION" approval from.
wiltoking
Member
Honestly, I've been more pleased with Centerpoint's straightforwardness and response time than Tesla's. After reaching out to them again they've explained that it is indeed on Tesla to proceed with INSTALL for them to allow for INTERCONNECTION. Centerpoint is even emailing Tesla back directly.
So now I'm reaching back to Tesla to push them to update their asinine system to the correct step.
So now I'm reaching back to Tesla to push them to update their asinine system to the correct step.
Congratulations everyone here for the systems. Houston here and I've had my system for 2 years. In hindsight if I can share anything, it would be to:
1) Don't do 1 PW if you can help it because Telsa will insist that it be a partial backup vs whole house which is a very different wiring setup. In other words, you can't upgrade by adding more PWs later without redoing the wiring. My buddy went down this path and regretted it. He tried to convince Telsa of the upgraded use case so they do a whole-house, but they said no.
2) Net-metering doesn't mean anything in Houston given our weather and how hard we run our ACs during the summers. I've tried to analyze this many ways and yes there are credits in cooler months, but insignificant when you think about the TDU cost. You would have to export significantly if you were to generate enough solar credit to offset the summer months. Just wasn't possible for me.
3) If you have an EV, the plans even sucks more because again of the price per kw. Free nights and weekends is where I'm going very soon. I'm sorta waiting to see what Telsa announcements as a new Texas energy provider, but I've yet to seen the electricity bill with the new MX charging from the grid. My speculation is that it will be a huge bill shock and I'll switch to a free nights/weekends without waiting for Tesla's announcement.
1) Don't do 1 PW if you can help it because Telsa will insist that it be a partial backup vs whole house which is a very different wiring setup. In other words, you can't upgrade by adding more PWs later without redoing the wiring. My buddy went down this path and regretted it. He tried to convince Telsa of the upgraded use case so they do a whole-house, but they said no.
2) Net-metering doesn't mean anything in Houston given our weather and how hard we run our ACs during the summers. I've tried to analyze this many ways and yes there are credits in cooler months, but insignificant when you think about the TDU cost. You would have to export significantly if you were to generate enough solar credit to offset the summer months. Just wasn't possible for me.
3) If you have an EV, the plans even sucks more because again of the price per kw. Free nights and weekends is where I'm going very soon. I'm sorta waiting to see what Telsa announcements as a new Texas energy provider, but I've yet to seen the electricity bill with the new MX charging from the grid. My speculation is that it will be a huge bill shock and I'll switch to a free nights/weekends without waiting for Tesla's announcement.
Both Emails came from a Employee of Centerpoint.
Then I contacted Tesla. Via Text. Tesla sent me a email and text 4 hours later. With my install date.
Thanks for the info. I appreciate it.
I ordered 1 PW. Tesla told me that I will control what I use it for. The amount of many outlets/ breaker’s or area’s of the home. I can use at one time. Will Tesla just ask me what breaker’s I want to back up? They told me no more than 6 breakers for 24-48 hrs backup. They told me if I run my A/C I would only have 4 hrs of backup. They told me I can run everything during the day. While I’m generating solar.
Tell me the truth?
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Totally agree. We have 2 PWs and now we are on free nights plan which works out very well. The only problem is Tesla's App will not charge PWs to 100% when I set the backup to 30% for time-based control. I have to manually adjust that to 50% and then adjust it back down to 30% late afternoon.
wiltoking
Member
Same thing I've been doing, but my Tesla rep takes 24 hours to respond and asks me to keep them updated on my progress... Sigh
Sorry I just read your post. I’m at work.
Yes. You should get a second email from Centerpoint saying you are approved to install.
Just Energy. In reality, it doesn't matter too much as my solar panels and 2 PWs cover 99% of usage outside the free nights.
Thanks for the info. I appreciate it.
I ordered 1 PW. Tesla told me that I will control what I use it for. The amount of many outlets/ breaker’s or area’s of the home. I can use at one time. Will Tesla just ask me what breaker’s I want to back up? They told me no more than 6 breakers for 24-48 hrs backup. They told me if I run my A/C I would only have 4 hrs of backup. They told me I can run everything during the day. While I’m generating solar.
Tell me the truth?
Truth? That depends on your actual usage.
I can only share that my system (see signature) is insufficient for my needs during the summers. I go to sunset with my 2 PWs well below full because I'm consuming everything the sun gives me with little surplus to go to the battery. I get some battery charge, but I found myself with a continuous dependency on the grid which I was trying to move away from.
A buddy of mine that I referred to solar took a different approach. We have similar home sizes (4000 sq+), but he only has 1 PW but instead got more panels. The takeway?
His bills are more expensive. Yes he netmeters more b/c of his larger panels, but his single battery does not provide very much capacity after sunset. Net-metering provides little credit because of the delivery charges. And his single battery does not allow him to do a full house, so yes he has a 'critical load' panel which is the handful of breakers that you mentioned. For him, it was his refrigerator and I think the smaller AC unit. yes he had to work with the installers to figure this out and identify what is critical since he can't support all load. Something to think about. I get the PWs are expensive and hence I didn't get more. I actually banked on adding more later, so wanted my wiring to not make me decide now what is critical. Hell I'm banking on V2H at some point if Telsa follows the Lightning 150. They prob wouldn't to sell more PWs and solar as time passes and they can use all those batteries for cars.
Look at your AC unit's power draw and you may be able to estimate how long it'll work. Tesla said 4 hrs which to me seems like a long time on single 13.5kw capacity battery.. One of the things that I had my installers put in was a "soft start" on the AC units. The idea is 2 AC units starting at the same time would be too much for the load. So this soft-start slowly ramps up the draw to not overload.
Similar size homes do not equate to similar size energy use., ask your neighbor how much their annual usage was pre-solar and compare to yours and I expect that they used a more than you did. More panels should equal more production, but if all of yours are facing due south and his panels are facing northwest and northwest then it likely does not.
I’m at 2800 sqft home. Dual Zone HVAC. One unit. I was thinking like your friend. If I get more panels. That would become more now and in the future as they degrade over time. The system that they will install. Says it will be about 119% of my current usage. Now that I’m hearing more negative views or opinions on Net Metering in our area. I will look into going with a free night plan. Also hoping Tesla starts a plan for retail in my area. Or Texas. I was hoping for V2G to come on the CyberTruck. That is another reason I thought 1 PW would be okay for now. Maybe adding another in the future. To keep the cost of install down now. I went 12 kw 1PW.
My AC unit is at a low enough watt drawto run as Tesla says it will. 4 hrs.
Still I haven’t had the system installed yet. So I don’t know for a fact.
I’m glad you told me about the separate panel that your friend had to get installed. I will probably take the day off. To make sure I get a good understanding of what they are wiring up. I’m fine with a critical load panel. If that is the plan. I just need to decide what areas I should pick other than the fridge.
Thanks for all the info. Keep it coming. If you have more. This helps me and others.
Very true. I should have elaborated more as we’re not apples to apples. I’m in a new construction with a “green” home which is designed to be more efficient and more insultated vs his older home. He did upgrade both of his ACs with the higher SER which helped lower his draw, but he suspects natural insulation leaks with age. Ironically I produce must closer to his system size while mine is technically a smaller system. This is due to being lucky with my single array panel layout on my roof and orientation. Many of these are luck as we compare charts often further highlighting YMMV for all those factors. I technically should use more energy bc I have a pool plus now an EV.
We both agree that net metering got us nowhere given our high consumption and the key is to get the lowest total grid kWh cost. Add in at least one EV and the free nights is almost required. … all based on my use of course.
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