Solar installations may be a scam--unless they are Tesla--unless they catch on fire

[Xist]

Two days ago Meet Kevin posted a video about solar scammers and how great and wonderful Tesla was, before further developments.

1. They say they will not put a lien against your home. They do, they just have another name for it.
2. They always say that if you sell your house, they can transfer the contract to the buyer, but nobody wants someone else's system, or do not want to figure out the contract.
3. If you decide you do not like the lease you can prepay, which is a terrible deal.
4. If you move you can bring the system with you--as long as the new house receives at least as much sun exposure as the first house. Otherwise they will deny you.
5. They always try to sell or lease larger systems than people need, while it is easy to add panels later.
6. You can sell excess power to the grid, but it will not pay for the excess panels.
7. You can finance same as cash! He bought panels and when the salesman gave him a "Same as cash" estimate, Kevin then asked "What if I pay in full?" The salesman put down that chart, picked up another one, and gave a cash quote 8-10% lower than the "Same as cash" quote.
8. When you lease, you usually do not receive the tax credits and leases, and the main one is worth 30%.
9. Companies leasing systems offer lifetime maintenance, but they are designed to be maintenance-free, and at least one component has a twenty-five-year warranty.
10. They boast awesome customer service, but once you are an existing customer you receive customer service which receives mixed reviews.
11. They insist that solar systems increase the value of your home, but for leases, the value goes down equal to the cost to remove the system.
12. Tenants will not calculate that the home is worth more because of the panels. They will focus on the rent itself.
13. Lease payments go up 2.9% yearly to account for inflation even though inflation has only been 2.9% or more once since 2007, and has averaged 1.63% for the last twelve years. https://www.thebalance.com/u-s-infla...recast-3306093

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYq0YHsbB9o

All hail Tesla! They introduced three package sizes, small for $7,581, medium for $15,162, and large for $22,743.

Kevin keeps saying to not purchase panels unless your energy bill is over $200 monthly and to remember you do not receive the 30% credit until you file taxes. He shows that renting Tesla panels cost about as much per month as buying and making payments.

Tesla announced that if you lease their panels you can cancel anytime for $1,500 to remove the system, which will be a loss.

All hail Tesla!

Except...

Meet Kevin just posted a video about Walmart suing Tesla. I am not relying on other sources, my phone has recommended two articles that I have not read yet (new job and 10- or 11-hour days), but he showed quotes for all of his data.

Walmart is suing Tesla over solar system fires--twenty-nine solar system fires out of 248 installations.
Tesla inspectors determined that 28/29 had incorrect fire management.
29 had the wrong building plans
25/29 had broken solar panel modules
More than half had faulty connections, increasing resistance and heat.
Tesla employees complained they did not have proper training or equipment.
He showed a $300 thermal iPhone attachment that he used on his own projects that Tesla did not have or at least was not using.
"I'm nervous holding $75,000 worth of Tesla stock!"
Tesla's attorneys sent out a letter three weeks before Walmart sued saying going to court was inevitable.
Kevin keeps saying Tesla needs to do everything they can to keep an organization as large as Walmart happy and to do everything they can to avoid going to court, it is a horrible waste of time and money.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8i0looHbgXk

[oil pan 4]

I thought their solar was a huge ripoff.
Yeah a 3% failure rate is pretty awful.

I'm doing mine for around 70 cents a watt.

[samwichse]

Lawsuit is over installations Solar City did before Tesla merged with them or had their own panel manufacturing.

This is about due diligence in the merger process, really.

[freebeard]

I was on my way to Climate Consensus to post this, but it's a better fit here:

eevBLAB #64 - Tesla Solar City Panels Are CATCHING ON FIRE!

Not as much detail as the Meet Kevin synopsis, but he wonders what Walmart must be thinking about their order for 45 Tesla semis.

I have room for a 3x24-32ft solar collector. I was thinking about a hot air system (plus the roof insulation it would provide). Might it be possible to duct air across the backside of the PV panels for space heating?

[oil pan 4]

If they ordered 45 then only 1.5 of them should catch on fire.

Heat is the enemy of semiconductors like solar panels.
Any experiments involving heat and solar panels should be focused on heat removal.
As the temperature goes up your volts and efficiency goes down.

[NeilBlanchard]

The fires may be a result of improper grounding, in the installation.

My Sunpower panels have a tiny failure rate - about 84 per million. The typical panel sold today is 300-400 per million. Failed panels get replaced under warranty, so there's that.

[oil pan 4]

Improper grounding?
Doubtful.
Just connecting the panels to racks and grounding the rack would be sufficient, it would be against code. There are thousands of diy installs grounded exactly like that and they haven't failed.
Tesla junk is just prone to bursting into flames compared to the competition.

[NeilBlanchard]

That is the only explanation that I have seen reported. How else could a solar panel cause a fire?

[freebeard]

South-facing concave skyscraper cladding? A stack falls over in a warehouse?

[oil pan 4]

Originally Posted by NeilBlanchard

That is the only explanation that I have seen reported. How else could a solar panel cause a fire?

Cells short out burn up the epoxy and plastic backing. Saw this a lot more about 10 years ago with built your own panel kits.
Or get an arc between 2 DC wires with a potential difference of a few hundred volts.
Failure of a panel optimizer.
Water intrusion.