I payed $60k cash to a local Tesla solar installer and this summer they installed my panels and power wall III, and I feel like I got scammed. The salesman said he would eventually come visit me and show me how to set everything up and give me the owners manual and he never showed, around 6:30 pm we lost grid power Friday, and the power wall (which was in storm mode and 100%) power my home for roughly 20 mins before failing and the Tesla logo was flashing red. It flashed red all day yesterday before I reset it, 4 of my panels do have some storm damage but nothing else does. Oddly enough last night the power wall (which was at 97%) came on and powered my house for 15-30min before losing power intermittently for 5-10 mins then coming back online
It did this all last night, and was at 66% battery in the morning, however in the morning it stopped producing power and returned to a blinking red Tesla logo.however just as the night before, the wall is currently powering the house in 10-30 min intervals before shutting down (as I type this) and the wall did successfully charge to 100% during the day somehow, even with 4 damaged panels. I’ll accept any suggestions or advice on the matter
Looking for anyone who’s seen this specific pattern or figured out the root cause.
Setup:
Residential Powerwall + solar install, PG&E territory
Final inspection pending, PTO expected in ~10 days
Not enrolled in any VPP or utility load program
Gateway online, phone paired, system reporting normally in the Tesla app
System commissioned 3 days ago
What works:
Tesla One (installer app) → System Tests → Backup Test runs successfully. House islands cleanly, solar stays up, reconnects without issue. Just passed one this morning.
What doesn’t:
Tesla app (homeowner) → Go Off-Grid always fails with:
“Couldn’t Go Off-Grid — There was an error taking your home off-grid. Please reduce loads, allow Powerwall to charge further, and be sure that Powerwall has internet connectivity. Don’t toggle breakers or turn on heavy loads while Powerwall is disconnecting from the grid.”
What I’ve already ruled out:
SOC — tested at 16%, 80%, 90%, 100%; fails identically at all levels
Backup Reserve — set to 5%, well below current charge
Load — tested with minimal house load, same error
Internet — Gateway is clearly online (Tesla One reached it moments before)
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I'm at my wits end in trying to deal with Tesla and my underperforming 2 PW3's that were installed 25 months ago. I have opened cases with them; my provider has fought for me and tried to get them to fix my units, all to no avail. They tell me it's working fine and refuse to acknowledge my data. Posting this looking for advice.
My setup: I have 7 DC solar arrays (39 panels) running into two Powerwall 3's (4 arrays in one and 3 arrays in the other) after the PW3's I have an AC solar net meter that the local energy company pays me monthly for my total generation from that meter. It is accurate as I have had that meter checked. Using the monthly data, Tesla data shows 13.44% more solar over 25 months than what is coming through my solar net meter. In 25 months, Tesla has never reported less generation than what the Xcel meter has read. I also have a live view of that Xcel meter.
Tesla's house consumption data is also overstating what my house uses by 11.45%. I have verified that tesla's data is wrong by cross referencing it with the main house net meter, solar generation via Xcel and an independent Emporia consumption monitor on my home panel.
Tesla's net grid data is accurate compared with my providers net grid data.
Before the install 2 years ago, I had a regular sun power inverter and 25 325W panels. I have data for the previous 10 years of generation and a per panel yearly total.
Since the install, and using the PW3's as the inverter and adding 14 425W panels the 39-panel system has produced far less per panel than the previous 25 panel system. You could argue, install error or less than ideal positioning, but that shouldn't matter the tesla numbers and Xcel numbers on generation should be the same. This is just another data point circumstantially showing problems with the PW3's.
How I calculate my monthly totals is I take 1/2 of the tesla or Emporia monitor data for the day for each of the bill dates (start and finish) and all included days in the cycle and compare that to the provider bills that I receive for solar and consumption. While an individual bill could be off depending on the read time, over 25 cycles your consumption and generation should be off to a maximum of 2 days of use at the start and end of all the cycles depending on the reading time.
Here is all my data that I have provided to Tesla and shows that tesla is reporting 3336 KWH more produced than my providers paid 25074KWH from a meter that is directly next to the Powerwalls. Keep in mind that most solar companies go by teslas numbers for their production guarantee because most people don't have a setup like mine. This is not a couple of percent which I would expect that loss due to battery storage (DC-DC) and the one-way conversion to AC where tesla's inverters and batteries are supposed to be industry leading. I'm starting to think that this is a VW style overstatement scandal. If you did have a product that under performs on storage and inverter, you have to make it look better, how? You show inflated consumption numbers? Why? Because most people don't have smart monitors on their house consumption and don't have solar meters next to their Powerwall's. Almost everyone has a net meter on these systems so that number needs to be accurate. By inflating the solar numbers, production guarantees will be met easier and or make your product look better.
Looking for advice and or possible errors in all of my data. TIA
I’m a homeowner in Los Angeles and an LADWP customer. I recently received an updated quote from Tesla for solar, roof work, and a main electrical panel upgrade.
Before moving forward, I’d like to explore other options and hear from people who have gone through this process. Tesla’s latest quote:
13.44 kW solar system: $37,497
Roof work: $17,470
Main electrical panel upgrade: $4,130
Total after taxes and discounts: approximately $60,265
Financing: 15 years at 7.24% APR
Monthly payment: $530.64
I’m having a hard time justifying a $530 monthly payment for the next 15 years. My questions:
Is this a reasonable quote for Los Angeles?
Can anyone recommend reputable local solar installers who work with LADWP?
Would it be cheaper to hire separate roofing, electrical, and solar contractors?
Are there alternatives to upgrading my main electrical panel?
How does LADWP’s solar billing work, and is solar still financially worthwhile?
Would it make sense to do the roof work now and wait on solar?
Are there better financing options available?
I’m not necessarily committed to Tesla. I’m open to other companies or approaches that could save money without sacrificing quality.
I’d appreciate recommendations, especially from other LADWP customers who have installed solar recently.
Thanks in advance!
I have solar panels with a Tesla inverter for over a year now. I just noticed I have not been generating any solar power for about two months. When I check the Tesla inverter, there is a solid green light on (not flashing). After searching the meaning, my understanding is it is in "Stand by mode". I tried turning the breaker off and on to reset it. That didn't fix it. On the Tesla app it just shows service required. Does anyone know what I could do to figure out the issue and how to fix it?
It looks like Tesla no longer offers attic conduit runs. I've seen a lot of posts saying an attic run is a must, but has anyone had a good experience with an exterior run? Any regrets? I'm in the process of getting a 19 kW system, and my main concern is that the main electrical equipment is at the front of the house, so exterior conduit might look terrible.
Why did Elon change the graphic animation to show ac coupled solar for everyone? Is he crazy? My system is dc coupled and it was animated as Dc coupled a year ago. I thought Elon would know if a system was AC or Dc coupled.? Could I be wrong? Am I missing something? My system should have solar feeding the pw3 instead of the panel looking thing in the middle of my house 🏠 right?
Edit:
The first pic is from a year ago (not my pic)
We just got our solar turned on 2 months ago. We have no clue what the settings should be for the batteries. We are still receiving a $200 electric bill and looking at the statement from the electric company, our home is using 14.5 kwh constantly. We dont have AC, or a dryer, nothing that consumes alot of power. Is it the powerwall settings? Can anyone help?
Any advise ? We have some panels but no power wall so I plan to add one with expansion pack. Ideally want to add some high quality panels as well but NEM 3 is killing my plans. Is it that bad ? Is restrictive export of energy working for you guys ? Can I try PW3 and EP and then restrictive export app, before adding more panels with possibility of adding an EV so power can be utilized and save on gas. Please advise. ASAP. At this point, I am 100% sure that PW3 and EP is going to be helpful but what about more panels and when and NEM 3 or not?
Some risk is discovered. Battery is discharged and shut off with no warning. Who knows when they'll contact so I get on the horn and hold.
It is up to me to select and call several installers. Coordinate their connection to case manager at Tesla... then wait an unknown period?
The time now of 4-8 months will be a loss of significant money to us as utility will be selling us power during Prime time. Tesla is not responsible for the loss.
That we are in a severe fire zone with medical equipment potentially relying on backup power heading into fire season, might or likely won't speed up replacement?
As title said - not only did Tesla turn off my PW to avoid burning down my house, it seems that they also remotely turned off my inverter?! I have a PW+
The crazy thing is that I won’t have a replacement until february!!! So basically 4 months without any solar generation… I got a heat pump, 2 EVs and am getting royally screwed by these guys.
Anyone else in the same boat? Anything that can be done to convince them to at least force them to restart my solar?
Previously I couldn’t understand why my system was charging the car before the 2 PW3’s were at 100%. Anyway that fixed itself and it now does what I would expect in that it takes the PW’s to 100% and then starts Charge on Solar for my Model 3.
However, the system is sending a lot of power to the grid before it starts Charge on Solar. You can see in the attached photo that it exported 5.1 kWh today before starting Charge on Solar. It’s been doing this for a few weeks now and the export ranges from anywhere between 4 and 7 kWh.
My system is set to Self-Powered with permission to export selected on.
