SunPower vs Tesla Solar Panels
Any recommendations why you’d go for one solar panel company over the other? Why am I paying 12k for a power wall? Do I need one? Is there a good way to compare both the systems? This is what I always see - the sales person asks me for my utility bill and says this is what you need, and that comes to $20-30k after federal tax credit. I’d like some input on Blinders who OWN solar panels. #solar #housing
I think there’s no need for a powerwall because you can use the grid as your battery. Sucks now that Tesla forces you to buy it. In California, if you had 3 power outages in a year, you might qualify for a free powerwall Edit: I think Tesla is probably still the best given they don’t do sales gimmicks
True, powerwall backup is overkill in California or US in general unless you have usecase/need for it. Just go for solar panels.
Do the actual math before making these judgements. My usage pattern change with power wall pays for one power wall every 1.5 years. In ca.
I am currently getting Tesla installed and NO Tesla DOES NOT require you to get the battery. OP you should add that only people with either product should comment or you’ll a bunch of bullshit advice. SunPower is considered high end and whole sales process makes you feel that way. They claim better panel efficiency but were 8% less in terms of number of panels. If the diff was 20%+, it would have been worthwhile. Next was cust support, they are billed as concierge service. Sad truth is that they all suck. A friend of mine SunPower and he is not happy with the service personnel. Tesla price difference is almost 30% better. So I went with them. As for batteries, here’s a long explanation. You typically install way more panels than your normal consumption (no dryer, no a/c). So therefore you product a lot more than u can use. The excess goes back to the grid. PGE buys power from you at wholesale which is $0.02. In the evening, your panels are not generating power, so you draw from the grid but PGE charges retail which is $0.15 (7x what you got)!! So your green investment is making PGE greener. Hence I got 3 batteries- Tesla offers a steep discount if you buy with the solar panels - I think around 30-40%. But you are not compelled to buy the batteries.
Amazing answer. What about warranty and stuff? I’ve also heard Tesla panels are outdated. Is that so? And, with the power wall - - does all the excess go to the grid? Can we used the stored energy for evening?
All panel companies offer a production guarantee. If it falls below, then they will fix it. In general, think of your panels like an oven, how often have you called the company. My friends have had solar for 1-2 years from diff companies and never once have they called them. Batteries are exactly for evening consumption and of course if there is grid shut down. And yes if you generate when battery is full it goes to the grid. Also in full disclosure, I’ve been a Tesla car lease customer for last 7 years.
Tesla requires you to buy power wall no, I got lucky since I have contract signed with them before may . I just spoke with them today and they said all new sales will require purchasing power wall
SunPower panels are the best in the industry. Tesla is the cheapest in the industry. The problem is Tesla is slow AF. I’ve been waiting for weeks and haven’t had an initial design that the other companies will do the first day. Poor customer service. And their power generation warranty is very vague and shady. I’ve talked with two people with SunPower and the other with Tesla. The Tesla system is larger, but generates half of the power as SunPower. I don’t know if it’s due to panel quality, inverter performance, suboptimal orientation, dust, but either way it’s one data point. If you want quality and a faster install, go with SunPower and SunRun through Costco. Better quality, better warrantee, and better customer service. But 20-30% more expensive. There’s cheaper options as well between Tesla and SunPower. Solar optimum, LA solar group, Ra Solar. They’re a bit more expensive than Tesla.
What state are you in that gets 20-30k federal tax credit. I was just looking at comparing the two this morning and saw a 26% federal tax credit.
In the post it says that’s the cost AFTER tax credit
Oops clearly I missed the after tax credit