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About Tesla Energy
Tesla Energy is Tesla’s clean energy company. It creates solar panels and fully integrated solar and battery backup roof options for customers who want to switch to green energy. The company offers a price-match guarantee to help make solar more affordable for homeowners and businesses. Tesla Energy provides a virtual consultation with an experienced energy advisor to help you decide if solar is the right choice.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Free virtual consultation
- Simple online quote process
- Sleek solar panel design
- 25-year warranty
Cons
- Can’t add on panels after purchase
- Can be a lengthy process
Bottom Line
Tesla Energy produces customized rooftop solar system designs. The panels integrate seamlessly with Powerwall, a battery backup system that provides reliable energy during an outage.
Tesla Energy Reviews
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Just completed the process. I loved that I can take all the actions online. The workflow is easy to understand, clearly documented. Everything was delivered on time. No issues during the process. Option to speak with a project coordinator by requesting a call back. Also very competitive pricing and great looking panels. Battery still too expensive to justify their ROI, especially for us on NetMetering 2.0.
The crew of "Bermuda" Shawn, Luis, Alex, Andrew, CJ, Brock and Curtis we awesome from beginning to end! They all made sure everything was installed, operated and instructed us on how our system works! Thank you again Tesla for hiring the best individuals!
The app only works half the time. They are sending emails to schedule maintenance, but when you try, the app displays an error: "Error Finding Available Appointments". Over the phone, they regularly transfer you to the wrong department/person after explaining the reason for the call. Their system is also down regularly - is this a joke!?
The solar panels on our roof were installed so that the rain finds its way into our kitchen. This started about 3 years ago. They sent a crew to fix the issue five times. Every time they left with the 'fixed' status and every time the rain kept coming into the house. They finally agreed to remove the solar panels from one side of the roof where all the 'fixing' was unsuccessful and redo the roof entirely on that side. The idea was, that after the redo, the panels will go back and continue the work they were designed to do. These panels are still sitting in my backyard and waiting to be installed. The roof work was done 6 months ago. We are still paying the full price that we had a contract for, while the panels are not generating the energy we agreed on. Tesla will 'review' our account and promise a refund for the loss at a much later time. Until that time, we must keep paying the full price. If I could go back in time, I would not want to deal with this company ever again.
The install was professional. It was pleasant seeing highly experienced people have fun and do an exceptional install. They communicated with me as the day went along and respected my home and kept. This Burbank based crew is a great face for Tesla. Thank you guys, much appreciated.
Called to get some information about an inspection that had been done. The customer service rep that I spoke with name was sean, when he was unable to provide me with the information that I needed I asked to speak with a supervisor. He instantly replied with "he's not available." I again asked for a supervisor and he repeated the same thing. I asked him how he knew that and he said because I'm looking at him and he's busy. I told him I would wait to which he replied it will be 48-72 hrs before I can speak with a supervisor. This was one of the worst customer service experiences I have ever had!!! I will recommend to everyone that is considering solar to use ANYONE but Tesla!
I contacted Tesla for Solar system installation in my house. I paid $250 initial fee to start the project. They did a site inspection and marked the place of equipment to be installed, I signed their proposal and agreed to their design and price. Tesla promised they will finish my installation before April time frame that new PG&E pricing will go on effect.
After two weeks with no news from Tesla, I called to follow up, they said the project was cancelled since distance between the gas meter and electrical meter was less than 36 inches, and must be relocated. I checked the neighborhood and found other houses with Tesla Solar installation with much less than 36 inches difference between those panels, took pictures and sent to Tesla adding that Gas meter was installed during the house construction by PG&E technicians and that all construction phases have been inspected by City and County authorities and all is in compliance with Building Safety Codes.
I did not receive any response, and when tried to login into my Tesla account to check for any update, everything was wiped out, only a message in middle of the page: “The project is Cancelled” WITHOUT ANY LINKS TO CUSTOMER SERVICE, SUPPORT TEAM OR TO ANYONE TO CALL. I went to Tesla Showcase store hoping that I can get number to call, that was another useless effort. Tesla’s action caused me to lose the April time frame to go with another company and even they did not had the courtesy of refunding $250 I paid to initiate the project.
I have had Solar panels for seven years. The original company sell out twice and now I have had to deal with Tesla Solar. Customer Service, Communication. Tesla App is TERRIBLE. I needed panels removed for a new roof installation. It took 15 calls, chats and hours of time waiting on the phone to get the panels removed. This process started in November, panels were removed in January. Roof was completed January 26. Now after 13 phone calls/chats and more hours on the phone the panels will be reinstalled in May. I have to continue paying my monthly bill. Representatives were always friendly, polite, and apologetic, the problem was NO FOLLOW THROUGH! This is the worst company I have ever dealt with. I am one frustrated, disappointed and angry customer. PLEASE, do not use Tesla Solar!
I thought about going solar in anticipation of PG&E's current and future price gouging in the bay area. Financing through Tesla was the best option for me. The process for inspection was easy and the installation scheduling was easy (once I replaced the roof since it was an old roof). Tesla Energy helped me find a contractor for roof repair as well! Overall I'm very happy with the experience and they kept me updated and handled all the dealings with the city/county so I didn't have to get too involved with the bureaucracy.
I've had Tesla solar and power walls up and running for about a year (I've been a fan-- also have two Tesla cars). Getting a quote and installation was as expected given what I had heard from other customers (it takes a while and don't expect to be able to call them up with questions). Once it was up, it was easy to monitor how much energy we were capturing and storing, etc. But, this week we had our first winter power outage and it completely FAILED. The system went offline and would not restart. Fortunately, our family was out of town for 2.5 of the 3 days. I could not reconnect via the app (it said it needed Wifi, but guess what?!-- the Wifi doesn't work when there is a power outage).
After returning and throwing out the contents of the refrigerator, dead plants, etc., I ran through the troubleshooting steps on the app (I will be printing these out for the next outage so as not to use my phone battery and the cell signal in the area was very weak given the widespread power outages). When troubleshooting didn't work, I called Tesla customer service (you can find the actual phone number with a search, but not in the troubleshooting app). The attendant tried to reset remotely, but it didn't work. PG&E has now restored power thankfully, as Tesla won't have someone out for 4 days. I am thinking I gave away my generator too soon and that Tesla needs to test these systems before we are relying on them for emergencies and have better emergency response in these critical situations.
After inheriting a solar panel lease through a real estate purchase I had to put a new roof on my house. Tesla re-installed the panels but failed to turn them back on, so they are not generating any power. Project manager does not return messages. Field contractor does not return messages. Tesla corporate does not answer the phone and now I pay $96 a month for the existence of solar panels on my roof that don’t generate any power at all and nobody will even pretend they care. Don’t do business with Tesla. The whole operation is absolute garbage.
The worst company to deal with. My solar system has never worked and no one at Tesla seems to care. I have had so many useless battles to try to get it fixed. You people don't give a damn. Now that I am selling the house no one at Tesla can certify if the system is working or not. Causing problems in the sales process. John
In March 2022 I decided to proceed with solar options for my home. After an extremely bad experience with a smaller veteran owned firm, I decided to cancel them and transition to Tesla in September 2022. The experience and efficiency with their process was soooo much better and simple. They were efficient in working with the utility and city to get permits approved and from there when install was scheduled, the team that arrived was professional and courteous. They explained everything they were doing. From there final inspection from the utility and city was scheduled and the person that handled this was the same way, professional and courteous. If you're thinking about solar you should definitely go with Tesla.
2 power walls were installed almost a month ago, only 1 is working, the other one has no connection at all. No follow up after paid to see if the system is working or not. Very difficult to contact. Project advisor offered no help.
Initially, Inside Tesla Advisor Ali Abraham stated $400 deposits are refundable at anytime. After two rescheduled site assessment appointments, Tesla notified me that my underpayment felt under my tile roof needs to be replaced. An extra expense for roof work of upward of 13k. I told them I can’t afford at this time and requested my $400 deposit. Now, Tesla Customer Support Specialist Vanessa V. stated I am ineligible for a deposit refund. I consulted with Navy JAG and re-engaged with Tesla to demand my $400 deposit refund based a new requirement for an out of scope cost I can’t afford. Well, Tesla Project Advisor Alex and David went radio silent. So much for being fair and having moral responsibility. I don’t recommend Tesla Energy to anyone. I thought maybe because I was planning to buy a Tesla Model Y that I should stick with Tesla.
I agreed to purchase a Tesla Solar & battery system in 9/21, system price was approx. $67k. I have had several issues with install and delivery, the customer service has been shocking for a company with such high ambitions. Tesla have taken approximately 14 visits to install the system so far, at the time of my order I was advised of a two-month turnaround with 1-2 install visits.
Some of the issues that I have encountered are:
• Tesla have wasted my time with multiple scheduled visits with either a Tesla no show, missing equipment or the wrong install teams arriving e.g., Powerwall team required, and solar team or invertor team arrived.• Tesla have offered little or no consultation during deployment process, e.g., which Powerwall devices should be backed up in the event of an outage, or on the physical Powerwall placement, these were installed at the easiest possible place for the installers.
• Rewiring work was performed incorrectly resulting in some appliances tripping and eventually a refrigerator burning out and having to be replaced (I learned this a few months after install).
• Damage to walls was not repaired whilst performing relocation of existing electrical outlets.• Multiple teams have come out to correct an issue with a solar inventor that is not functioning correctly, despite me reaching out multiple times I have not received any evidence to suggest that this issue has been resolved.
I raised a complaint once each issue occurred, pretty much at every step of the installation process, this is documented via email, nobody from Customer Services has addressed these concerns or taken ownership. The issue was raised to the escalations team and advised that a $1k discount was the only offer, if not acceptable Tesla would physically decommission the system, I declined the offer, I had no faith in Tesla’s customer service and received no reassurances, something that is quite important when a product has a 20 yr service warranty, I agreed to the decom and asked Tesla to restore my garage and roof to its previous state post decom to which they agreed to.
I waited 10 months for this decom to take place, I have not had any contact from anybody at Tesla, until last week and it was if the previous conversation never took place. I strongly suggest that Tesla invest in setting up a customer experience/advisory practice, there is clearly a huge gap between delivery and meeting basic customer expectations. I have learned the hard way that Tesla’s enticing solar packages leave you with a much bigger trade off on customer service, this is found quite commonly with Tesla solar installs, please see link to a forum with multiple bad reviews, surprisingly this is a forum I joined in 2014 ago for Tesla vehicle enthusiasts. **
We purchased solar panels from Solar City. Solar City is now Tesla. The panels have not offset our energy bill. We pay less for electric when the panels are off. The panels malfunctioned in August of last year. The only way someone would respond to us is by not paying the monthly bill. We now owe 650, and our roof is damage under one of the panels. We just want them to take them away. I can't blame them for the faulty panels but they purchased the company so they are responsible for their customers.
I would have given zero stars but can't. I originally purchased my solar system through Solar City in 2016 which was soon purchased by Tesla. Last year my roof was damaged by a hailstorm which caused a massive leak and needed replacement. It took 2 weeks for an actual person to contact me from Tesla about having my panels removed so the shingles could be removed and replaced. It was going to have to wait 9 months before they could have someone out to remove the panels, so the roofing company removed the panels and reinstalled them.
I couldn't wait 9 months. I've also had constant problems with them not being able to monitor my system due to fault communication between the inverter and their NEO unit. Now I have to be their service technician to figure out what the problem is. I would never purchase a system from Tesla. Go with a local solar company that can provide customer service without you having to be their service technician.
I installed Tesla rent solar panels in my home 5 years ago. It is a nightmare. Do never get their rental installation. They took 18 months to fix some damaged panels, in the middle time they are taking my money from my account, per contract, but they don't deliver service. You end up paying double electric bill. DO NOT INSTALL SOLAR panels, and Tesla is the worst. Bad customer service, 2 hours waiting on the phone. They lied when they said they are supposed to check the panels and fix it without me even knowing. And you get cursed for 20 years. I don't know how much they pay the people who review here. AMAZON people???? Consumer Affairs lost credibility.
The Tesla installation process was amazing. The onboarding process explaining how the system worked was great. The electrician explained every very well. We are very happy customers. We will be referring Tesla energy to all of our friends and colleagues.
Installation team - solar panels and electrical teams - arrived on time, completed the installation and tested everything, explained how everything works. Cleaned up everything before leaving. Very pleased.
The price that Tesla offered was great and the installation went smoothly, everything else has been a nightmare. No communications from my project advisor during the initial design phase, had to call Tesla numerous times to ask questions. Once installed, it took Tesla four times over seven months to file the application to the utility company correctly. Once utility approval was granted, found out that there was an issue with the system. It's now been four months with several visits from Tesla and they've been unable to fix it. I've had the panels on my roof for over a year now and they've never fully worked. I started a ticket with Tesla's resolution dept only for them to find out the approved utility application had incorrect kW amount, with very little help otherwise so far.
We just had the Tesla solar panels and a Powerwall installation this week after the Tesla employees visited the house twice, a design team planned the system, and the site survey team stating where everything would be mounted, what was needed, and how it would be done. Long story short, they made a mistake on the size of the system and after I voiced a concern, suddenly they "adjusted" the plans to be in the approximate output of what was needed. As we were also paying for a Powerwall, the site surveyor stated after taking pictures of Air Conditioning units, noting appliances, and that we had a pool, the design team recommended 1 Powerwall. They finished installation 3 days ago, and already by watching the Tesla App, I can see that 1 Powerwall is not enough.
I reached out to the design team via chat (the only option by the way and you can't call them) and was told by a rude employee, SETH, that it was not their problem with the Powerwall and even though the system was installed less than 36 hours ago, there was nothing I could do. Now mind you, no final approval from the building department or the power company has been granted yet, and the installation isn't complete because the poles that are mounted to the floor to protect the Powerwall in the garage from a car striking it accidentally was not installed during the installation and another appointment would have to be made (I had to reach out and ask about this missing pole).
I asked for a supervisor to call me and was told that no supervisor would call me back. I was told I have to wait a year and then apply for another Powerwall, but THEY DON'T INSTALL STANDALONE POWERWALL UNITS, and don't know when they will be doing this. So now I have a system which was just installed, cannot supply the needs of the house even overnight with minimal electrical usage, and they won't just come back to install another battery. What kind of a company is this where they say everything will work out fine and less than 36 hours later you find out that it won't? Be careful of using Tesla and if you're interested in solar, make sure you ask all these questions up front or you may get stuck with something that is inadequate.
At the beginning of 2021, when we moved to our current home, we obtained an online quote from Tesla solar. They gave us a preliminary estimate. They collected our electric bills and when spoken to customer support, we were told that the setup we will get should cover all of our utility needs. At the time, our electric bill was averaging $330 a month and that is why we wanted to install solar. We had a different company (Sunpower) in our older home. So, this was not our first solar experience. But, we opted to go with Tesla because they expressed guarantees to giving us optimal setup with the technology they had to cover our energy usage.
Tesla then came for a couple of home inspections and told us the roof was in great condition. They did not say anything about the house orientation, roof slope, or trees around us. They just informed us that we will need 36 panels will give us more than enough energy. We proceeded with the installation and paid a little over $25,000 in full. We received our true up electric bill in August, we were shocked. Our bill was about $3100. Given that we were averaging $330/month and given that we were paying monthly percentage as directed by the energy bill, the bill means that we are pretty much not getting any benefits from solar at all.
Ever since we have been battling with Tesla to resolve this issue. We have spent numerous chats on the app with customer support and talked to them about 6 times, for over an hour each time with no progress on identifying the problem or Tesla initiating any type of solution to support the service we paid fully for. We asked a technician from the energy company to evaluate our system. After examining the meter and other givens, he told us that we have next to no output. He also noted that our usage was actually the bare minimal as well at the time. He speculated that the system Tesla set up is on strings and that there are few inverters, which means when there is shading, there is a system power shut down power. This was the first time we ever heard of a string inverter setup.
We spoke to tesla, who eventually sent out a technician and charged us $200. The technician concluded that the system is fine but confirmed that we have 4 inverters, and the shading will cause an issue. He also said that he felt there were setup issues and promised to talk to supervisor and get back to us. That never happened. We called multiple times and received no call back. We kept calling and when we finally received customer support, they said will not do anything about it because of the shading. The service rep was argumentative and extremely unhelpful.
We called again and got the issue escalated. The person who handled escalation sent a note saying that the shading is the problem and closed the case and would not communicate with us again. So, we hired another company engineer to do an assessment on the setup. The report finding are summarized as such:(1) We have a string setup, panel grouping, which needed micro inverters, because of the shading so as not to lose production. (2) The slope of the house does not provide enough sunlight because of rotation. Tesla should have angled the panels differently to capture more sun. (3) Tesla is used areas of low radiance to place the panels causing less production when there is other available space on the roof that would optimize output.
Tesla never told us about shading or micro inverters. There was no discussion of potential risks from shading. We shared the report with Tesla and did not receive a reply to our email in 3 weeks. We called 2 more times into Tesla support. One time we waited 45 min and then got disconnected/hung-up. We called again and finally got through to someone. They insisted that it is the shading. We said we needed an engineer to look at the setup and evaluate the situation. Tesla is not being helpful.
As obvious from the long and tedious description that Tesla overpromised, did not deliver and is refusing to take responsibility and offer solutions. We literally paid $25,000 for nothing. We are not getting any benefits. The trees around our house have been there for many years. They were there the two times Tesla came for a home inspection. We went with Tesla because we trusted that they have the right engineers and tools to forecast our needs based on the data provided and be able to place the panels and set them up in a way that maximized production. None of that took place. This is a complete disappointment.
In addition to the incompetent service they supplied, the customer service is horrible. We have spent endless hours on the phone and on chat with them. They show no concern or advocacy for their customers of any sort. I would not recommend Tesla solar to anyone. We had SunPower previously and they delivered on their promises, and we have not had a single issue with them for over 6 years.
My Tesla app stopped reporting the usage for solar generation and consumption more than 4 months ago. I opened a ticket with them at that time. 4 months in and they have not done much to resolve my case. Every time they tell me that someone will call me next day, guess what? No call ever till I call them back. They sent a person to my home to fix it twice and both the times they gave a wireless extender saying that the signal is weak. It has not helped at all even with the solution they provided. They have been transferring me from one department to another for the past month and on calls for hours at a stretch. Customer service is so rude that they don't care about wasting customers' time and they are like you are talking to me now and I don't want to talk about why you were on the call for the past 2 hours and I can't help you with the problem as the order is in the system but don't know when it will be served.
Also we got solar along with the home we bought 3 yrs ago and had called to move the system under my name at that time. Guess what? It was still not moved 2 years ago. I called in. They said they moved it at that time. I talked to a representative today to address my current problem and they had not moved the entire system to my name yet!!! 3 years and they still can't fix it. I have no words to how they are conducting their business and deal with customers in a rude way. I had rude customer support from them at least 2 times in the past 4 months. Very disappointed with Tesla. Will not buy anything solar things from them again...
Tesla was great to work with. Always responsive to emails and texts and they were critical in navigating and resolving issues with our local utility. The technicians who came to our house were professional, knowledgeable, and super helpful. They did a great job! The system and the app were well together. I love it and would highly recommend them to anyone interested in getting residential solar!
Installed solar with Solar City 10 years ago. Tesla picked up our service and we remit monthly payments to Tesla. We've been very happy with our decision to have solar on our house. We live in Colorado and get harsh hail storms from time to time. Recently we had to have the roof replaced, due to hail damage. Tesla service (or their subcontractor) scheduled and removed the panels pretty quickly, within 7-14 days. We had the shingles replaced and waited the 30-days they require before we contact them for the reinstallation.
Then contacted Tesla via email that the roof was done and the panels were ready to be reinstalled. Crickets! No email confirming, they received my email, no call...nothing. Email is the only way you can contact them. I dialed the phone number listed on their removal email and it states 'the number is not a working number at Tesla'.
I've sent a few emails regarding the need for reinstall, with no contact back. I've had my panels stacked on my deck since mid-July 2022, 4-months. I'm worried the harsh winds we can get in the front range will blow and damage some of the panels. BTW, I still make my payments and my higher electric bill. I understand there have been workman shortages, but please let me know what's going on! I don't know where to go from here. Tesla, please take care of your obligation.
We had Tesla install solar panels on our roof and a couple power walls in the garage. Everything worked great for a while but it suddenly stopped working. The app only says we are in "Standby" and it has not generated power since. I have reached out to Tesla support at least 3 times, each time we have been told they will let us know when they have someone who can check it out. It's been over a month with zero contact or follow-up. So we have a $50,000 paperweight in our garage and we are back to huge electric bills - in addition to the monthly payment to Tesla.
Had a great install by my Tesla team. Shaun, Michael and Steven were great friendly informative and skilled. I hope anyone going with Tesla gets a team as good as they were! Can be slightly hard to get ahold of Tesla prior to install. That’s the only thing they could work on!
I was soooo excited to get solar-and am a stock holder of Tesla---but wow----HUGE DISAPPONTMENT. BIG FLOP. They took my $250 deposit, after 50 emails, never refunded, never installed----pulled off the job due to their own incompetence, damaged my interior ceiling TWICE, paid for one repair but never paid for the second repair, AND there is no one to even get ahold of!!! Can you give a negative number for customer service? I am soooo disappointed in this company :( :( Janna ** in Tiburon, Ca.
Solar panel and Powerwall installation today went smoothly! Alfred, Sean, Angel and crew were all super professional, courteous, and to task! I couldn’t ask for a better experience! I really appreciate their hard work, and the time they spent going over the system and app.
Tesla Energy Company Information
- Company Name:
- Tesla Energy
- Website:
- www.tesla.com
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