Description:

Pika System using 30 Panasonic 335SA17 panels, Pika Inverter X7602, Pika Harbor 4 (4 module battery system with 11.4kWh capacity)

Other Benefits:

Very flexible in terms of operating modes and works completely offline if needed. Also supports SGIP scheduling for ToU to run off battery when rates are high.

Maintenance Requirements:

Clean panels once or twice a year

My Motivation:

PG&E reliability and wild fires. We have on average 2-5 outages a year around the same time the fall/winter storms hit the bay area. Outages range from 10seconds to a few hours.

Advice:

Battery systems are still in their infancy, make sure you realize the added cost of such a system. Also realize that a PV system does not function if the power is out UNLESS you have a battery system and can run off-grid.

Experience with Installer:

Initially fast and easy to work with, once signed things started to go south. I've spent considerable time on resolving all technical issues and learning about the system since their installers lack any training on it. But to this date, some things are still installed wrong and I have not been able to sign up for the SGIP CA/PG&E tax credit since Ra Solar isn't even in the system. SGIP was promised that they'd help us get signed up for, but even after I spent a considerable amount of time trying to get the CEO of Ra Solar connected with Pika, they STILL haven't done this. See linked diary below for our terrible experience with Ra Solar.

Additional Notes:

For a full log of all the things we went through with the installer, feel free to read the diary linked below.

Open House Info:

If you want to see the system in real life, you can reach out via EnergySage to setup a visit :-)

Links: