Advice needed for solar roof installation

[borski]

Okay I have a 22 kW system and 4 Powerwalls and that’s roughly in line with my costs, plus or minus.

SunRun is extremely reputable and has a great national reputation; that Costco works with them is no small feat, as they choose their suppliers extremely carefully. The panels they’re installing are also relevant; you want to ensure they don’t degrade quickly and are efficient.

Tesla is hot garbage when it comes to support and install. Their panels are… average. Their installation is garbage, on average, and they won’t fix their problems. You may get lucky, but a lot of horror stories abound. But the Powerwalls are the best batteries, imho.

Consider a quote from Sunpower as well; you have a very large system and Sunpower panels are by far the most efficient. You will need fewer panels to achieve the same production; and they’ll install Powerwalls, too. I’d seriously get one from a local Sunpower elite installer; they are the best panels out there, and what I installed. At that size of system, the costs are high enough that it’s worth checking out the higher efficiency options.

 

[Tesla2.0]

Okay I have a 22 kW system and 4 Powerwalls and that’s roughly in line with my costs, plus or minus.

4 Powerwalls? How many days last you for an extended power outage?

 

[hydbob]

4 Powerwalls? How many days last you for an extended power outage?

Just to add some data

 

[LCIDdreams]

Okay I have a 22 kW system and 4 Powerwalls and that’s roughly in line with my costs, plus or minus.

SunRun is extremely reputable and has a great national reputation; that Costco works with them is no small feat, as they choose their suppliers extremely carefully. The panels they’re installing are also relevant; you want to ensure they don’t degrade quickly and are efficient.

Tesla is hot garbage when it comes to support and install. Their panels are… average. Their installation is garbage, on average, and they won’t fix their problems. You may get lucky, but a lot of horror stories abound. But the Powerwalls are the best batteries, imho.

Consider a quote from Sunpower as well; you have a very large system and Sunpower panels are by far the most efficient. You will need fewer panels to achieve the same production; and they’ll install Powerwalls, too. I’d seriously get one from a local Sunpower elite installer; they are the best panels out there, and what I installed. At that size of system, the costs are high enough that it’s worth checking out the higher efficiency options.

I’ll try Sunpower (I got several quotes for my system but did not reach out to them). I wonder if their panel advantage has faded though. Per their website their panels have 55% better efficiency, but looking at the specs their panels, at 400w, are in line with the competitors (my quotes ranged from 390w-405w panels). Their baseline for the “55% better claim” is a 17% efficiency 280w panel- not sure if that reflects reality in 2022.

Interested by @Tesla2.0 Costco pricing. I tried SunRun directly but they weren’t close to being competitive price wise in NY. If Costco membership brings that down significantly it would definitely be worth the cost of a membership.

Currently Tesla has given me the best pricing but they are not offering microinverters as an option (string inverter only), so they are out because of that. Project Solar is only slightly higher, but they are a relatively new company so a bit of an unknown, and then daylight to the rest of the group.

 

[EVCar]

You mean the Federal 26% tax credit rebate?

Here's the itemization:
Component Description 3 13.5 KWH Tesla PowerWall (x3) $37,559.60 1 Tesla Gateway $1,100.00 1 System Design & Engineering $1,250.00 1 Dedicated Backup Loads Panel $1,100.00 1 Prewire for 3rd Battery $600.00 2 200A Dissconnects (APS Requirement) $1,800.00 $43,409.60 $43,409.60 -$11,286.50 -$2,500.00 $29,623.10

Component Description

3 13.5 KWH Tesla PowerWall (x3) $37,559.60

1 Tesla Gateway $1,100.00

1 System Design & Engineering $1,250.00

1 Dedicated Backup Loads Panel $1,100.00

1 Prewire for 3rd Battery $600.00

2 200A Dissconnects (APS Requirement) $1,800.00

Total : $43,409.60

26% Federal Tax Credit -$11,286.50

APS Rebate -$2,500.00

Net Cost: $29,623.10

 

[Boomer AZ]

Here's the itemization:
Component Description 3 13.5 KWH Tesla PowerWall (x3) $37,559.60 1 Tesla Gateway $1,100.00 1 System Design & Engineering $1,250.00 1 Dedicated Backup Loads Panel $1,100.00 1 Prewire for 3rd Battery $600.00 2 200A Dissconnects (APS Requirement) $1,800.00 $43,409.60 $43,409.60 -$11,286.50 -$2,500.00 $29,623.10

Component Description

3 13.5 KWH Tesla PowerWall (x3) $37,559.60

1 Tesla Gateway $1,100.00

1 System Design & Engineering $1,250.00

1 Dedicated Backup Loads Panel $1,100.00

1 Prewire for 3rd Battery $600.00

2 200A Dissconnects (APS Requirement) $1,800.00

Total : $43,409.60

26% Federal Tax Credit -$11,286.50

APS Rebate -$2,500.00

Net Cost: $29,623.10

APS! Oh no! I have APS, they are crazy! They required a huge amount of equipment mounted on the outside of the house plus a meter for the batteries. Plus, took forever to get permission to operate from them.

 

[Steveinarizona]

APS! Oh no! I have APS, they are crazy! They required a huge amount of equipment mounted on the outside of the house plus a meter for the batteries. Plus, took forever to get permission to operate from them.

And APS is fighting net metering and wants to pay far less for energy it gets from you. I wouldn't trust APS nor the Arizona Corporation Commission.

 

[Boomer AZ]

And APS is fighting net metering and wants to pay far less for energy it gets from you. I wouldn't trust APS nor the Arizona Corporation Commission.

At least I have a 10 year contract to sell power at 10 cents/kWh. I buy off peak at 5.4 cents. My batteries supply what I need during peak hours.

 

[EVCar]

Well, I'm stuck with APS unless I move away .
And given all the shenanigans, I'm still mulling over the whole thing.

 

[Boomer AZ]

And given all the shenanigans, I'm still mulling over the whole thing.

My neighbor just used Sun Valley Solar to put in panels and PowerWalls connected to APS.

 

[EVCar]

They put in my solar panels. The quote for PW was from them, too.

 

[Tesla2.0]

Interested by @Tesla2.0 Costco pricing. I tried SunRun directly but they weren’t close to being competitive price wise in NY. If Costco membership brings that down significantly it would definitely be worth the cost of a membership.

Costco/SunRun partnership offers 10% equipment cost rebate in form of Costco Card on top on 26% Federal Tax Credit. In my case is about $2600. Anyway, I have 10 days grace period to void this contract. I need to study thoroughly before I commit to this contract.

 

[Tesla2.0]

Here's the itemization:
Component Description 3 13.5 KWH Tesla PowerWall (x3) $37,559.60 1 Tesla Gateway $1,100.00 1 System Design & Engineering $1,250.00 1 Dedicated Backup Loads Panel $1,100.00 1 Prewire for 3rd Battery $600.00 2 200A Dissconnects (APS Requirement) $1,800.00 $43,409.60 $43,409.60 -$11,286.50 -$2,500.00 $29,623.10

Component Description

3 13.5 KWH Tesla PowerWall (x3) $37,559.60

1 Tesla Gateway $1,100.00

1 System Design & Engineering $1,250.00

1 Dedicated Backup Loads Panel $1,100.00

1 Prewire for 3rd Battery $600.00

2 200A Dissconnects (APS Requirement) $1,800.00

Total : $43,409.60

26% Federal Tax Credit -$11,286.50

APS Rebate -$2,500.00

Net Cost: $29,623.10

They didn’t quite you for solar panels?

 

[EVCar]

They didn’t quite you for solar panels?

They did my solar panels years back.

 

[Tesla2.0]

They did my solar panels years back.

Does installation to Equipment cost 2 to 1 ratio make sense to you? It just bizarre.

 

[EVCar]

Does installation to Equipment cost 2 to 1 ratio make sense to you? It just bizarre.

I don't understand that either. For my solar panels, I think it took them 2 days. Yours is larger, so may be 3-4 days of labor.

 

[hydbob]

What panels and inverters are they putting on?

 

[Tesla2.0]

What panels and inverters are they putting on?

Panel Manufacturer: Hanwha Q-Cells with SnapNRack racking
Model number: Q.PEAK DUO ML-G10+ 410
Quantity: 50

Inverter Manufacturer: SolarEdge Techologies
Model Number: SE6000H-USSN
Quantity: 1
Model Number: SE10000H-USSN
Quantity: 1

Battery Manufacturer: LG Chem
Model number: RESU 10H Prime
Quantity: 1

Equipment - Costco - $26,891
Installation - SunRun - $53,940

 

[SubSailor]

You mean the Federal 26% tax credit rebate?

In my area of Tucson, I was limited by the power company on maximum solar system. I have 9.62kW system with two Tesla powerwalls that was installed in 2020. I tried to purchase 2 more powerwalls this year but Tesla informed me that I could only purchase them if I had or putting in a Tesla solar system. No problem since I only use powerwalls for night use and the two work well until we hit the sack around 10-11pm. (old people) I am not on net metering and my 2021 electrical bill was less than $300. I have a 3k sf home with 3 car garage and 3 HVAC system with one being in the garage. I used Technicians for Sustainability (TFS) as installers and Tesla authorized installers. My 24 panels are LG370 and my total cost was about 30k for solar panels, 2 Tesla Powerwalls, Tesla Home Wall Charger and installation/permits. This was done in late 2019 and early 2020 and included a 30% Federal Tax credit and $1000 AZ state credit. Since I had to do some additional roof work and reinforcement prior, I was able to include those costs in my total for the Federal Tax Credit. I attached single line schematic for info.

 

[Alex]

In my area of Tucson, I was limited by the power company on maximum solar system. I have 9.62kW system...

I'm in Tucson, using TEP, and my system is 32kW - no power walls. Of course that was installed about 5 years ago by Solar City (now Tesla Energy). It was the largest residential system at the time. Which power company do you have?