Tesla Solar in Houston & Surrounding Area’s

[DrewHou]

Person street over from me went with sunrun and said any issue they have they’ve had someone come out the very next day to check on it. So guess service is hit or miss with other companies.

That quote you just shared is crazy! At first I saw the payment and was like wow I’d love to have that monthly payment. Then I realized that was for a 25 year loan!!! 67k with one powerwall is insane. I paid Tesla 42k total for 9.2kw + 2 powerwalls. Really confused how they would give you a powerwall on a 25 year loan when Tesla told me the lifespan of a powerwall was about 10-15 years.

 

[Jones1]

Person street over from me went with sunrun and said any issue they have they’ve had someone come out the very next day to check on it. So guess service is hit or miss with other companies.

That quote you just shared is crazy! At first I saw the payment and was like wow I’d love to have that monthly payment. Then I realized that was for a 25 year loan!!! 67k with one powerwall is insane. I paid Tesla 42k total for 9.2kw + 2 powerwalls. Really confused how they would give you a powerwall on a 25 year loan when Tesla told me the lifespan of a powerwall was about 10-15 years.

Yes after I got that quote. I was on a webchat with another solar company. While getting a Tesla Solar Qoute. I told the other Solar. Thanks. But I have to go.
My system cost me $44,500. If I would have gotten a 10kW with PW. I think it was $38,000. That’s the first size. I was looking at. I was shocked the system cost was Double the price of Tesla. So I went down the Micro inverter Rabbit hole. Lol. I showed my wife the numbers. She totally agreed with me. It was worth paying $30,000 more. Before Financing.

 

[plee1024]

Person street over from me went with sunrun and said any issue they have they’ve had someone come out the very next day to check on it. So guess service is hit or miss with other companies.

That quote you just shared is crazy! At first I saw the payment and was like wow I’d love to have that monthly payment. Then I realized that was for a 25 year loan!!! 67k with one powerwall is insane. I paid Tesla 42k total for 9.2kw + 2 powerwalls. Really confused how they would give you a powerwall on a 25 year loan when Tesla told me the lifespan of a powerwall was about 10-15 years.

For me, the whole "grid charging" option should have been an easy issue to enable but took weeks just to find someone at Tesla that knew what to do. I would recommend just keep bugging them till you get it fixed.

 

[DrewHou]

For me, the whole "grid charging" option should have been an easy issue to enable but took weeks just to find someone at Tesla that knew what to do. I would recommend just keep bugging them till you get it fixed.

Yeah I had the same thing with the EV charging setting and finally got them to do something. It’s just tiresome to do every time there’s an issue

 

[DrewHou]

Speaking of bad service… I seem to be having a good run of it.

Had to take my Benz in for oil and brake fluid change yesterday. Which I already hate doing and love my Teslas even more when I have to deal with them. Well today the brakes have a warning and stopped working. So now the car is towed back to the dealership because clearly they forgot to tighten something and all the brake fluid leaked out. Own three cars the oldest being a 2021 all under 10k miles and I’m down to just one at the moment.

I think that’s why when I saw the solar not producing I might have got a bit more upset with Tesla than usual, ready to write them off in full. Universe is testing me this year to say the least.

 

[Jones1]

I tell everyone the Products are Amazing. The Customer Service that can’t be handled with the App. Is Terrible. Any time I want to contact Tesla. I use the app, email and call. Almost daily. Till I get a response.

 

[Jones1]

Still pulling in a little at 7 pm

 

[wiltoking]

This quote was actually for a smaller system than what I currently have. 10kw and one PW.

View attachment 916878
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Yeah they play with the numbers a lot and it's hard to do an apple to apples comparison if you don't know what to look for. While I was waiting last year for Tesla to install, a rep for BlueRaven Solar came by and offered me the system below:

Wish I'd taken a better picture, but off to the right it showed in giant font your expected monthly payment of I think "$50 USD" a month. Which might make you think that's great! But this is for a system that was a THIRD the size of the Tesla, had NO Powerwall, and was only 10k cheaper. If you did the amortization, you'd also see you're paying 50 a month for 25 years and just in interest alone you'd pay it twice over.

 

[wiltoking]

FYI Houstonians, remember to file your Exemption Application for Solar Form with HCAD

 

[DrewHou]

FYI Houstonians, remember to file your Exemption Application for Solar Form with HCAD

Oh what is this? I haven’t been told anything about it. How does this work and how do I file? If you don’t mind educating me a little bit.

 

[wiltoking]

Oh what is this? I haven’t been told anything about it. How does this work and how do I file? If you don’t mind educating me a little bit.

My understanding is that in Texas, Property Tax Code Section 11.27 allows for a 100% exemption on the increase in property value from a solar installation. This year, HCAD.org property search shows an "Extra Feature" for Solar Photovoltaic Panels for my address. So they already know it got installed (probably from the permits). Haven't received my appraisal yet, but I assume the property value will increase, and filing the Exemption Form will nullify that and be taxed less.

No idea how they figure out what your solar installation is "worth". Maybe this is a way to get that info since a copy of the invoice has to be provided with the form. So it could be counterproductive? Still, if you file it gets exempted.

 

[DrewHou]

My understanding is that in Texas, Property Tax Code Section 11.27 allows for a 100% exemption on the increase in property value from a solar installation. This year, HCAD.org property search shows an "Extra Feature" for Solar Photovoltaic Panels for my address. So they already know it got installed (probably from the permits). Haven't received my appraisal yet, but I assume the property value will increase, and filing the Exemption Form will nullify that and be taxed less.

No idea how they figure out what your solar installation is "worth". Maybe this is a way to get that info since a copy of the invoice has to be provided with the form. So it could be counterproductive? Still, if you file it gets exempted.

Thank you so much for that information! I will definitely file my exemption. Taxes are already crazy high so anything to keep it lower helps. I just took a look at my account and it shows on mine as well of 33 units of solar (whatever that means) I have less panels than that so not sure where they get that unit number.

Really appreciate you alerting us because I had no idea and would have been surprised seeing it when the appraisal came in.

 

[ChrisF42]

That’s a good question. I would imagine it will get better as we get into summer more. The longer sunshine hours in mid summer you should be making a lot even well after 7 I bet. My biggest question about summer is how the extreme heat we get down here will impact production.

I'm in Katy, made 47.3kWh yesterday and Aug 2022 I made 1,598.2 kWh. July was better with 1,831.4kWh and May was best with 1,919.6kWh. Should help you get an idea of what decrease we get due to heat. Aug does look like it had cloudy days though and July looks like it only had one day that had substantial clouds.

I noticed the first spring and summer that spring had some really nice cool days with crazy high spikes in production and summer production high was not as great, but the day was longer so I still made a lot.

 

[Jones1]

FYI Houstonians, remember to file your Exemption Application for Solar Form with HCAD

Thanks. I didn’t know it was separate now. I thought it would automatically be covered as exempt. Damn.

 

[DTXMME]

My understanding is that in Texas, Property Tax Code Section 11.27 allows for a 100% exemption on the increase in property value from a solar installation. This year, HCAD.org property search shows an "Extra Feature" for Solar Photovoltaic Panels for my address. So they already know it got installed (probably from the permits). Haven't received my appraisal yet, but I assume the property value will increase, and filing the Exemption Form will nullify that and be taxed less.

No idea how they figure out what your solar installation is "worth". Maybe this is a way to get that info since a copy of the invoice has to be provided with the form. So it could be counterproductive? Still, if you file it gets exempted.

Fascinating. I wonder if there is something like this in DFW. My 2023 appraisal hasn’t come in yet. When did you get solar installed?

 

[wiltoking]

Fascinating. I wonder if there is something like this in DFW. My 2023 appraisal hasn’t come in yet. When did you get solar installed?

It's a TX state law so it's definitely covered in DFW.

 

[DTXMME]

It's a TX state law so it's definitely covered in DFW.

I briefly looked but couldn’t find anything in DFW. What do you think of this form?

https://comptroller.texas.gov/forms/50-123.pdf

 

[wiltoking]

I briefly looked but couldn’t find anything in DFW. What do you think of this form?

https://comptroller.texas.gov/forms/50-123.pdf

That's the generic one, it lets you write in your Appraisal District. I called HCAD here and asked to find their specific form. Might be something you have to call or do in person in DFW.

 

[Jones1]

This year, HCAD.org property search shows an "Extra Feature" for Solar Photovoltaic Panels for my address.

I was able to check HCAD on my phone. Where are you seeing this Feature? Can you screenshot it? I see my address and pending results for my property taxes. I don’t see a list or section that shows Solar panels yet. Thanks.
I’m on my phone. I may need to use desktop view.

 

[DrewHou]

I was able to check HCAD on my phone. Where are you seeing this Feature? Can you screenshot it? I see my address and pending results for my property taxes. I don’t see a list or section that shows Solar panels yet. Thanks.
I’m on my phone. I may need to use desktop view.

I was able to see mine down at the very bottom even on mobile.