David

Jul 20, 2024

Don't Buy Tesla Solar Panels Unitl They Resolve This Known Issue

I bought Tesla solar for my house after a great experience buying a Tesla vehicle, and because I was shopping for solar panels anyway. The purchase was made in late 2023 and the install happened around March. Finally, in April everything went live. I noticed immediately that the wiring seemed off and certain appliances started to trip on the breaker panel. Our fridge would suddenly be turned off, and we'd notice it was due to the breaker Tesla installed. We replaced the breaker at our own expense. Next, we noticed the Tesla app stating the house was using 0 kw for the entire house anytime the air conditioning came on. This obviously makes no sense and it couldn't be true. This resulted in our system reporting more electricity being sold back to the grid than we were actually selling back. I contacted Tesla about this and they claimed that my system was running fine on their end, and they showed no errors in my configuration. I kept telling them they needed to send someone out but they initially refused, unless I paid $300 service call fee. At some point about week later, Tesla then emailed me saying my system shows signs of errors and they need to send someone out. Someone first came out in early June. They claimed the system was running fine, but that I needed a new unit that housed the fan (but that the fan couldn't be replaced alone, they'd have to replace the entire unit--I forgot the name he called it). During that visit, I showed the Tesla technician the app and what it reported when the AC came on. He claimed it was an app issue and if I logged out and deleted the app and reinstalled it, it would be fixed. I did this and it didn't work. He scheduled another technician to come out in late June to replace the unit. When this technician came, he claimed there was an issue with the Tesla system and that he addressed it. He told me that he would call me the next day to check that it was fixed and he did not. The issues remained. By now, I'm getting bills from my electricity company (TEP) with major discrepancies compared to what the Tesla app shows that I'm selling back to the grid and using etc. I then received a very high electricity bill for $274, the same amounts I would receive in the summer here in Arizona if I had no solar panels. At this I was infuriated because I'm paying a similar amount for the solar panels and my expectation was that it would drastically reduce my bills (this being the 3rd month being live). I then went back on the Tesla app and chatted with service for help. I told them the entire story. I asked Tesla to reimburse me for the months that I've been paying for solar panels without them working properly. I explained the new issues to Tesla. 1. The fridge in my house is still randomly tripping off on the panel (this started happening after the solar installation) 2. The app still shows that the home is using 0 kW at times when that is clearly not the case. It usually does this when the Air Conditioner comes on. 3. At night, the system is falsely showing that it receives energy from the sun. It is charging my Tesla vehicle and it should only be charging on solar (above 45%). It charges at night somehow because the system falsely says it is receiving solar energy in the middle of the night. 4. At times it shows the home is using 7.7 kW while no major appliances are on (i.e. the AC, which usually is responsible for driving up the power usage). Then when the AC comes on the kW being used actually drops significantly to 1.2 kW. Tesla told me that I need a Whole Home Cycle, or reboot for the system. The process was emailed to me and I was told to wait 24 hours to see if the problems persisted. The problems persisted. I then asked Tesla again to send someone out and rewire the system, and investigate this properly. I asked also for a refund of months paid, because in essence they've sold me a defective product. Tesla refused, saying they don't reimburse in such instances. I told them they need to either fix the problem, or take the panels off and cancel the purchse and provide a refund. They now have said they're sending more technicians over on 7/24/24 to invetigate the issue. Meanwhile, the system is still faulty. I have no idea of how much energy I'm actually using and what's being sold back to the grid. The system says I'm generating solar in the middle of the night without the sun. This is what I would expect from a very amateur and scammish company, not Tesla. Highly disappointed in the service and the product's functionality. I hope Tesla responds here and gets this addressed. Otherwise, I hope this thread warns and stops people from buying Tesla solar until they fix this very known issue.