Bought a Tesla, NOT enough Solar to Charge it. 

My wife and I live in Edmonds, WA in an all electric home (2000 sq ft) with 13.2 kWh solar PV system + 2 Powerwall-2 batteries. Installed solar in 2012 and PW2 batteries in 2018. Brought first Tesla (Model S) in 2012 and second one in 2015 (MS85D) and Model 3 in 2018. We have been net producers of energy for last 9 years, which includes charging both Tesla's. I have microinverters because we have shading issues from trees surrounding our home. Last year we generated 350% of our energy needs for home and electric vehicle charging. We have heat pump and heat pump water heater, which provides both heating and cooling and much more energy efficient than conventional air conditioner. We overbuilt our system and I have no regrets about doing that. We are operating as a microgrid for 9+ months of the year, and only use grid energy during winter when we do not get sufficient solar to power our needs. We love the ability to charge our two cars off our roof and would never go back to ICE cars. Haven't been to a gas station in 9 years.

Thank you, this is the best view of the instillation of solar panels that I have seen.

really cool to see the install process..... there are a lot of steps, looks like a quality install for sure.

This has to be one of the best and well film solar videos I've seen

This is a good explanation of the installation process and the calculations that are needed. Like you, I find I love driving my Model Y. I've driven 7800 miles in 7 months, but electricity is much cheaper here in Missouri. I only pay 10.19 cents/KWH for electricity at any time of day. The downside is that I don't get any rebates of incentives of any kind for driving an electric vehicle. Keep making the videos, Ron. I enjoy them.

Did a DIY install of 17 panels in S.D. about 10 yrs ago. Since then, have added two electric cars, so I expanded the system with 6 more panels. The key is use microinverters. They are relaible and allow expansion easily.

Love the video, Ron. Hard to find videos on the process of installing that are not trying to sell you something, so thank you for being honest. Happy New Year and Happy Motoring 😊.

I have a solar and wind generator system. I believe lots of batteries are the key. So on days when there's lots of energy the batteries can store it. Yes my system is stand alone on a boat

Where I live, we have to have the size of the system approved by the electric company before you install it. This is purely based on past usage. I went to them last year and they told me they would only approve a 6 KwH system even though I had an electric car on order and a hot tub on order. They said they can't size a system any bigger based on what might happen in the future. So, I waited a year after getting my EV to actually get my solar system sized correctly. I am now approved for a 10 KwH system and am in the process of having it installed within the next month.

thanks grandpa very informative i'll need this when i buy a house sometime in this lifetime i hope

62 cents a kilowatt, wow. Glad you’re getting solar electricity. Waiting for my new EV now😎

Just had our MY over a year .. 26,385 miles 😳 … We’re on a Quest for Superchargers! Need to get better at posting our trips! …. Good stuff here, thanks for sharing! 👊🏼👍🏼👍🏼

I really like your video. You added a whole new dimension to the concerns prospective new Tesla owners may have about how to best accomplish home charging :-)

Useful info and nice camera work and scripting. Thanks.

A good inverter mini split will save you a lot of KWs. Also I have a "Midea U Inverter Window Air Conditioner 8,000BTU" .with a watt meter I saw a 50% savings to cool the same room as old window unit. it was easy to install and cost $360 plus tax

Living the dream, Tesla and home Solar! Well done you. Battery next install

Thanks for the video Ron. Really liked the installation part. I think you've done what I'm thinking of doing, and under similar situations.

Permits ? I had coffee coming out of my nose I laughed so hard. Oh, California bean counter. Nuff Said

Nice...upgrade and install.. Im happy for you.. Wife does not care if power comes from Solar or utility as long as AC is running.. Happy wife=Good Life..

Grandpa Ron. Is a Bad Ass. ✊🏽 keep up the good work.

After getting an EV and installing a mini-split heat pump for heating and cooling we expanded our solar array from 3.3 kw to 5.2 kw. We do take advantage of free Level 2 charging at our Community Recreation Center about five times a week. That covers all of our weekly town driving. We only charge at home about once week that’s only a partial charge. I do drive the EV more than I thought I would because it is so nice.

I appreciate your honesty in this video. I prefer traditional natural gas and have a V-8 powered Otto Cycle Engine in my car. There is no way I would trade either for solar and/or an electric vehicle. I live in the northern part of the US and solar alone will not hack it - we would freeze in winter. Also, sitting around a charging station when it is -6F outside isn't feasible either. I would rather just pull up to the Mobil gas station and fill it up in under 5 minutes and go for another 450 miles.

Sounds like you miscalculated your needs. Your title made it sound like I should account for a lot more than I am planning on, but in reality, you just ended up using the car (and HVAC) more than you thought. Sounds like you learned a good lesson. For me, in California, a mistake like this would cost me several thousand dollars in permit and installation costs for the additional panels.

Thanks for the education! Great information and I enjoyed watching the install at the end.

Good detailed example. Thanks for the fresh pointers

Good video. I can't believe how much they are charging you for electric! I live between Florida and North Carolina and the rates are about .11 and 12 cents. Thought about solar in North Carolina but the payoff was way too long. My Model Y will be here in February, looking forward to it. Also you will enjoy your Mini Split, when I lived in China that is all that was used. I never heard the term mini split there, just air conditioner. Glad to see they're starting to use them in the States, I understand they're very efficient.

Gotta Love Jevons paradox! Great video, thanks for sharing 👍

My family and i lived successfully for 10 years in the Australian outback powerd by solar. I worked what we needed and test ran it for 12 months in the city before we went bush. It worked out to double and a half of what I thought I needed..worked well. Now I'm back in the city on the grid cause it's still cheaper .

Really good Ron! Proud of you doing the install.

Great filming! Really liked seeing how it was done. Thank you!

Rediscovering the Safety Factor in providing for future generations.

Great video and information, thanks a lot!

An honest appraisal of the realities of solar use and generation in your house and car.

Here in MN electric utilities are required to pay homeowners (like me) the same retail price for the electricity we produce as they charge us. There are only 3 months of the year where we do not get a check from our electrical utility. December, January and February. We will be taking delivery of our Tesla Model Y within the a month. We are so excited to be driving from solar power! Thanks for making this video. You did a nice job! Cheers!

Here in Australia solar is a big thing with 40% of households now gone solar most units are 8 to 12 panels here between $3000 to $5000 installed

I find your videos both informative and entertaining. A couple extra thoughts for anyone considering installing solar panels. (1) The sooner you install the higher the tax credit. We got 30%. It is now 26%. And will continue to go down year after year. (2) Put in a sizeable buffer for future electrical use. Global warming will necessitate more air conditioning. We decided to swap our gas clothes dryer for electric. We have begun to use electric space heaters more often in lieu of the furnace in the winters. Someday we will have two electric vehicles. All of this was planned into our initial install. We are also fortunate to live in a California location where our local community energy company pays a net surplus compensation rate of 6.3 cents per kWh. (3) Added housing value. Our installation came with 25 year warranty on labor and all components. This has got to be a benefit if and when we sell our home in future. p.s. Like you I am a grandpa (11 times) and thoroughly enjoy driving my Tesla Model Y. Keep up the enriching videos...

Happy to add panels in Texas we work on existing systems. All the time Always go with more power than need. My view. You can move things off your propane and natural gas..etc plus charge EV CR solar Texas. Good 📹 video.

Moral of the story.... go bigger then you think by atleast double! I have 6kw inverter 9kw panels and 11kwh battery... summer will cover me easy.... thing is winter when it's about half production at most.

Thanks mate, very interesting video. Cheers from Aus.

thanks for the great info

😅 seriously, I was think In us everything is fast 🤣 but now I realize that. Here in Pakistan I installed 5 kw solar system in 3 hours 😂

Good call on the minisplit heat pumps, that will massively reduce your air conditioning demand, if you get a good quality brand (mitsubishi, fujitsu).

missed that human x factor....after watching dozens of solar install videos i see a common thread, the owner could always use more power.i am reminded of the statement. i have to many panels said no one ever..... Dont be so focused on efficiency that you lose sight of the fact that life changes and everything always wants more.

With 18 kW of panels (and 100 kWh of storage) we could just keep up with the house, the shop, and the Tesla model 3. After my wife's model Y came we had to bump the panel array to 21 kW. (56 to 64 panels). Phoenix can see 110 degrees F day after day in July and August. We rarely run all 9-tons of AC at any one time. 100 kWh of storage can handle all loads all night unless we get two rainy days in a row. (Also a retired engineer) If I could get a permit I'd need five Tesla power walls plus panels to accomplish the same result. Considering the labor, engineering, and optimization put in over the last four years, I have great respect for the best of the legit installers.

California : I am on the low-income 'CARE' program which lowers my rate to .22 cents per kilowatt. If not on CARE , the rate is about .31 cents per k. ! ! ( First level of 3 ) Around 1980 lived in Dunnellon , Florida & the Energy Co-op charged .04 cents per kilowatt !!! It was a Co-op = non-profit owned by those connected . 'They' don't do that here . . . . . I have several panels in my backyard as part of my 'Off-grid' system & several 'power-stations' being charged by those panels. My average Electric bill is around $30.00 since I run most high-power demands from the Off-grid system. I think 'they' are pissed with people like me since my gas usage had an added 'low-usage' compensation charge added on several bills last year. A 'fine' for being conservative ! ( I heat my 1961 vintage un-insulated home with a boxwood heater & a fan for circulation ) My natural gas consumption is less than 3 'units' sometimes resulting in the 'low-usage' charge they add . Sucks to be me . . . huh ? Ha - ha !

Here in Australia, we have a LOT of solar on homes. 6.6kw is considered a minimum nowadays. Recently got a 9.87kw system (470W Jinko N type panels with a 8.2kw Fronius inverter). We considered a battery but at the moment cost is too pricey at the moment. We have an EV commin soon as our family car and plan to switch Hot water from gas to electric maybe later down the track... though gas cooking is preferred in my household. In Australia solar makes a lot of sense. As they say no-one has complained about oversizing a system, though I guess cost will play a big part in this.

Get some backup batteries so you can get energy at night. I’d recommend Tesla PowerWalls but you can only get them if you install Tesla solar.

You may want to add the battery system..it's not expensive. See my favorite video channel here: ru-vid.com

Hi Ron, I just had a solar system (5.44KW) installed which is ground mounted & single 6KW inverter. Just wondering what your system cost if you don’t mind sharing. 13NJ View/Navion member here and appreciate all your RV videos!

It just amazing how the same story is told over and over again. Typically 5000 kWh a year per EV is the minimum. Add the AC competent yeah you really missed. At least you were smart and got Sunpower panels. The Hanwah Q cells were NOT a good choice! The Hanwah will degrade at twice the rate as the Sunpower. You will be adding more panels in a year or two as you watch the production drop faster on your Add On.

Thanks for your video. I'm also retired and just wanna relax and have a good time (before life goes horribly, horribly wrong in the end... hah hah). Here in Galena Park, Texas right next to Houston, I recently got 30 Tesla solar panels and three power walls. I physically disconnected from the electric grid while waiting for permission sell back to the grid. But I don't like the agreement or contract as it seems to give too much authority over my solar power system. It won't feel like its mine anymore. I generate more power by far than I use ( that was my intention), and I'm considering getting and EV that should workout just right to use the extra solar power now going to waste. And I won't have to buy any gasoline when I eventually sell my Corvette and later on my Lincoln SUV when I feel I can trust an EV. Of course I'll have to gas up my motorcycle, hah hah. ⛽

Lol, here in Italy you pay electricity up to 1$ per kwh

SOLAR is for your house. In Europe we don't expect our solar to do 100% we are happy with 50 to 60% but then again we don't have the kind of corrupt monopoly utilities that exist in most places in the USA. If I lived there I would go full on OFF-GRID and tell the corps FU! Topping up an EV at home is fine but you may as well charge at public sites, whenever possible.

You should upgrade your air conditioner to a mini split system with a high seer rating. You'll get much better cooling and it will use about half that of your box unit I saw here.

With California’s time of use charges I’d consider installing a battery backup. You can use it to store electricity from 9 AM to 4 PM and then use the power from it from 4 PM until its drained instead of paying $0.63/kWh. That will save you a huge amount of money.

Great video, really insightful. How was the overall experience with Johnson Solar? I'm in San Diego also, looking to go solar AND battery storage...

Get rid of the inefficient window rattlers and replace mini split heat pumps, a lot more efficient. Also run when you have excess PV capacity to precool the home before you run out of PV production.

Awesome Video!

Grandpa, you should try out the dark mode on your computer, it really helps the eyes for old people like us.

I struggle to believe anyone who lives in sunny area cannot power their EV on solar. Batteries are expensive however absolutely necessary to store energy generated and be large enough to store the energy needs of the EV, most people travel less than 30miles a day. Therefore you only need to generate 10-12kW per day (size of the Tesla Powerwall). If you have a decent size array say 5kW that’s only 2-3hrs of sunshine a day. In Scotland it averages 1100hrs a year of sunshine which dispute being v.north it can still meet this demand! Winter months in Scotland I would agree are not going to support however the other 9 months should be fine.

Even the fooks with 2 much dollars having trouble

We just drove into town and ate in the car while it charges hahaha.

If you use EV-TOU-2 or EV-TOU-5 plan and charge your EV during super off peak time, you can use more kWh than solar generated power which is usually during off peak time, which has higher rate than super off peak. So it’s not exactly 1:1 calculation if you take advantage of time of use.

I got confused at first thinking tesla solar and seeing non-tesla panels :). Curious if tesla gonna install it the same way. I don't like electric conduits going all the way through the roof from one array to another array. When it's gonna be time to replace the roof and shingles, - that electric pipe will be on the way and need to be fully removed. If it's possible I would force those guys to run conduits in the attic.

how many panels in your area; to drive a more traditional range of say 16,000 miles a year?

Enphase rules 👍🏻

Call your utility company and ask if they have a EV rate, if they do get on it right away. The way the EV rate works is generally starting at midnight the EV rate begins you program the car to begin charging at 1205 AM and the EV rate ends at 7 AM. When you fire up the heat before you leave the do so about 530 AM so you’re not using the day rate power this way you unplug and leave the house with a full battery( 80% ) to charge higher than 80 % is much slower and takes more time and uses more power. Best of luck. Food for thought

Word of advise - do your calculations then add 20%. You can always use more

yes mini split heat pump would be a lot better than the window air

What is the total cost of the solar installation, compared with the cost of gas

I didn't read all the comments, but .62 cents a kwh? I thought we were getting beat up in CA at .43 cents. What state are you in?

425watt Q cells !! GREAT CHOICE !!

this is great news

You can use the battery on the tesla to store your solar energy. I am not sure how much it cost to install the system for it but it might be worth to take a look at as the tesla battery can store a lot...

Check out the Aptera, solar-powered car, made in California

geez they could have cleaned the old ones for a beer

Some installers hate micro-inverters they give the impression that they are no good. I don't believe it. I reckon the issue is as follows. For the home owner if one micro inverter out of lets say 12 panels goes bad within 5 years that does not seem a big deal for the installer to change. From the installer POV if they have to do a similar replacement at 40 houses over 5 years for them it is a pain in the ass. I reckon this is why many installers are hostile to micro-inverters.

What about the battery bank to store that energy. If you work you can’t charge your car during the day during peak sun light hours? Are you just getting a discount through your electric provider

For adding 3 panel's i'd just do a basic Grid-tie invert string, can prop them up against a fence even, since you already have net metering from your previous install it wouldn't matter if you pushed power back to grid. Also your kwh rates are absolutely ridiculous, I can see why people are fleeing California in droves.

I pay .08 per kWh. I’m still getting solar though

i live near the arctic circle. not much sun light and pretty cold. not very optimal for solarpanels and evs :D

Interested in your comments on your Model Y which we have as well and use of solar throughout the day. Our situation is different because we are on an hourly rate in IL and ComEd is supposed to pay us for generation at same rate they charge us. We charge the EV in the middle of the night to take advantage of low rates. I only just installed the our roof solar system so not sure of this. My question is why you, with high power cost in afternoon and insufficient generation off the panels, did not consider battery? Is it simply because of cost or are you feeling that current batteries will not be as good as those that will be commercially available in the near future?

Wow your power company is ripping you off with those rates. Both the net metering buy back rate .13 cents on the dollar and .62 cents per kwh at night. SDGE that's San Diego i'm assuming? It's ironic how politicians are pushing for people to go green yet allowing bills like this for the power companies to pass.

You charge it off peak. You will never fully disconnect from grid

How much are you losing from dusty panels? They advise not using any soap to clean them because soap residue blocks uv rays.. distilled or filtered water and a squeegee

Very interesting Video. Ps sell the Tesla & get a push bike LOL.

Im doing at 130% offset

you need a minimum of 10 300W panels to charge for 30 miles range. I was looking to do the same lol

This is why you need batteries (like Tesla powerwall) with solar. Solar without batteries arnt as useful. During blackouts and night time without batteries your solar is useless.

Have you looked into micro-inverters per panel or checking the specs on a MPPT controller?

do what we do in australia have a diesel gen behind the fence to run the EV chargers - green power

Solar panels makes the house look UGLY

Solar panels aren't going to do much here in ny covered with snow or when you get about 10 hours of filter sun light

What are the Wattage of the old and new panels? BTW, good Video. I'm surprised those guys carry those big panels up the ladder so easily.

Perhaps you need a PowerWall (or 2) to store power for night usage.

Simply a question but: WHY No battery? In your case it sure sounds like you bought a bike and found out that you really needed a truck. Too much retirement and too little knowledge on your travelling needs, retirement does not mean your life stops and that you have less time. Retirement means more time to explore and get around to doing those things in life you did not have time to explore when you were a working dude. More Solar is always the way to go PERIOD and by all means get yourself as much battery as you can afford Charge up on Low electricity and use that battery when the power is expensive.

I think I will have same problem next year. Did you need to do plan, permits with the city and get permission to operate from SDGE?

No battery storage system? So you just meter into the grid during the day and pull from it at night?

Ron were you able to claim the 26% federal tax credit on the 2nd install, or only the first?

Get a battery pack rather than more solar to even out the troughs n valleys