ICE
Oh Well
The state of California has mandated that all new dwellings shall have solar. This will fuel a resurgence of solar projects. I say resurgence on purpose. Years ago when it was an easy sell I inspected two to five solar projects a day. It dropped to three a week and I'm back up to 1.3 per day. Ya I did the math.
Whereas before I dealt with four or five solar companies I'm seeing 1.3 new companies each day. It's a math thing. 1.3 = some of the worst contractors out there. They are entrepreneurs feeding at a rebate trough. The employees are not qualified for the task but they are largely not aware of that.
It's not proper to denigrate the people doing the work.....They are like you and me in their wants and needs so they went out got a job. On the other hand are the contractors. They are just as clueless and they know it.
Solar City (renamed Tesla) is a mystery to me. In the beginning it was all Solar City. There were a few others but most of the jobs that I inspected were Solar City. The work was substandard across the board. To demonstrate how substandard, I point to the fact that the workers would remove all
of the dead-fronts, including the service panel, and then request an inspection. Wide open
energized equipment would sit for days.
I couldn't get anyone to take action about that and it's still happening, just not often with Solar City/Tesla. It's like they went out of business. I see them some months and not others.
It's too bad because after years of bumping their heads they got it right when this happened: https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/SolarCity-Acquires-Zep-Solar-For-158-Million
All of the sudden Solar City had a class act, The hardware is stout, simple and nearly fool proof to install. The fool proof aspect was what the industry needed.
Well alas and alack the one bright spot has dimmed and now the State has screwed us all. Ten---fifteen years from now the air quality will be much improved due to electric cars...But like dad used to say, "all things pass away" and the house fires will swing the pendulum the other way.
Whereas before I dealt with four or five solar companies I'm seeing 1.3 new companies each day. It's a math thing. 1.3 = some of the worst contractors out there. They are entrepreneurs feeding at a rebate trough. The employees are not qualified for the task but they are largely not aware of that.
It's not proper to denigrate the people doing the work.....They are like you and me in their wants and needs so they went out got a job. On the other hand are the contractors. They are just as clueless and they know it.
Solar City (renamed Tesla) is a mystery to me. In the beginning it was all Solar City. There were a few others but most of the jobs that I inspected were Solar City. The work was substandard across the board. To demonstrate how substandard, I point to the fact that the workers would remove all
of the dead-fronts, including the service panel, and then request an inspection. Wide open
energized equipment would sit for days.
I couldn't get anyone to take action about that and it's still happening, just not often with Solar City/Tesla. It's like they went out of business. I see them some months and not others.
It's too bad because after years of bumping their heads they got it right when this happened: https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/SolarCity-Acquires-Zep-Solar-For-158-Million
All of the sudden Solar City had a class act, The hardware is stout, simple and nearly fool proof to install. The fool proof aspect was what the industry needed.
Well alas and alack the one bright spot has dimmed and now the State has screwed us all. Ten---fifteen years from now the air quality will be much improved due to electric cars...But like dad used to say, "all things pass away" and the house fires will swing the pendulum the other way.
Last edited:
