The problem I hear with their solar panel business is customer service. A friend of ours had their panels installed for months but couldn't get Tesla to actually turn them on.

We went with a local company and it it took a couple weeks longer to install than estimated and they were turned on immediately after install. The power company has even changed out the meter now, so we're fully installed and done.

How do you turn solar panels on (or off)? I thought they just generate energy whenever light shines on them - if you don't take it out as electricity, they'll just heat up instead. Is that what you meant?

>How do you turn solar panels on (or off)?

They probably mean there is an issue with getting approval from city/utility company to connect them to the grid.

> heat up instead

Given ~20% efficiency I’d guess they heat up by ~20%

Open circuit, they merely generate a small voltage that blocks carrier drift, and thereby, useful current.

There are breakers and disconnects. The more complicated systems can even control what circuits are powered, and when.

I sold my house and I still have the panels showing in my Tesla account as pending install ... except they installed them two years ago. Repeated emails to them and I still have access. Kinda tempted to try hitting the cancel install button to see what happens.

I live in Phoenix and a lot of people have been turned off on solar in general for their home because a lot of the companies are aggressive and shady. Seems like a missed opportunity for Tesla to have stepped in to be a "reliable" solar company simply by pricing competitively and not going out of business a year after installation.

Tesla's solar business was started by purchasing one of the most aggressive and shady outfits in the business. SolarCity was a mess.

They're aggressive and shady (pun intended?) because of government tax breaks that mess with the natural economics of the market. It's become a cash grab by installers to sign up as many people as they can to move money from state coffers to their bank accounts.

If Tesla could have been reliable in comparison the other solar companies must be pretty bad.

That's one reason I did my own build myself. It's a pretty trivial matter for the average high-IQ HNer to spec, design, and build. The "hardest" part is understanding and adhering to the construction codes, and dealing with inspection bullshit.

Check out W&S in Flagstaff (https://www.solar-electric.com/) (no affiliation) for components.

Is it though? I found that when combined with their battery offering, which triggers additional state incentives, their pricing is quite a bit below the competition. I just have cold feet because of rumors of bad/nonexistent customer service.

Ive found the service fine. It took a couple weeks to get someone out when I had an inverter issue, but they auto-scheduled the service

The problems with the solar panel business probably start with it not being Musks to begin with, rather it was his cousins failing business that he bailed out against Teslas better interests.