Office location: 8500 Parkline Blvd. Suite 100, Orlando FL, 32809
01/09/2025
Dave Bellamy
New Smyrna Beach, FL
Tesla was a joy to work with. Despite all the negative comments on Reddit. I put in my $100 deposit on the Tesla website. My expectations were low, but they got back to me in days with a design -- it wasn’t a bad start, but we'd just expanded the house, so I had to send them the construction drawings. We had a couple of discussions around design on the phone. Then I shopped the price, Tesla was 30% less than the two "well regarded" installers I checked! So I hit "approve." A couple of weeks later, the site inspection happened. A super nice guy explained everything he was doing and showed me where everything would go. All good. They then submitted the permit package and once it was approved, I got an install date about three weeks out. Our project advisor, Eric, was quite responsive. All documents including a county document that had to be notarized were done online. On install day, the lead installer arrived about 7:15am, the delivery truck dropped the 28 panels and two Powerwall IIIs in the driveway at 7:30 by which time the Install team (two electricians and three roof workers) showed up and got right to work. They taped off the area and wore safety harnesses on the roof which isn't required for residential work (glad they are safety conscious). The electricians were funny and loved chatting me up. Discussing how the system works and answering all my questions. The Powerwalls were located even in a better position than the original design. The only change was I had requested a down conduit in the roof, but the attic space didn't permit it. So, an 2" conduit comes over the roof edge, barely noticeable. About 10am, the lead knocked on the door and said we'll be powered down for about an hour. My wife was drying her hair, so I asked them to wait. No problem. About 15 minutes later I let them know it was good to go. Power was out for about 45 minutes. At noon, I talked to the lead installer and said we were going out for about an hour doing errands--did he need anything? No, that would be fine, he'd call if he needed anything. Well about 12:30 my Tesla app said we were off-grid and running on battery!! A few minutes later I was notified that we were back on-grid. We got home a little after 1pm and they were gone. There wasn't a trace that they were there, everything was clean and orderly. The installation is beautiful. PW3 simplifies wiring and installation. Lines are clean. Minimal conduit. The only boxes are the PV disconnect, Gateway 3, and the two Powerwalls. I checked the app to find strong solar production and the Powerwalls charging. We're waiting for the utility to issue permission to operate. In the meantime, we're nearly self-sufficient for our all-electric home and charging our two EVs. All sun powered now! We're ready for the next hurricane or windstorm. We could not be happier.
System size (kW): 11.48
System price: $45,000
Year installed: 2025
Price include the Federal Tax Credit or incentives: Yes