Solar panels and the CFE

I put in a 30 panel solar system in May. It produces about 3 times my current need however I plan on switching everything from gas to electric and putting in AC everywhere. When we approached the CFE to get connected with a new meter they refused to approve it. They said the system is way more power than what I need and will blow their local transformer (at this point we had already been running the system for 2 weeks without a problem). They said I had to pay $28,000 pesos to upgrade the transformer. I paid $14,000 and my contractor paid $14,000 even though my contractor thinks this is just corruption at work. Well 3 months later they still hadn't "upgraded the transformer" nor approved the system. My contractor approached them again and indicated that I was going to get my lawyer involved to inquire about the $28,000 peso payment. They quickly agreed to return the money but said they would only approve a 9 panel system (which is what I currently require). A couple of days ago my contractor removed 21 panels and reapplied for approval. The CFE is making it as difficult as possible for people to put in solar systems so if you are considering it make sure your contractor checks everything out with the CFE ahead of time. This was the first time my contractor has had a problem like this. We will slowly add back the 21 panels as I switch things over from gas to electric.

Yep, I had the same problem when I lived in Ajijic.  No problems West of Ajijic.  Had to pay a 2500 p bribe to CFE for a minor upgrade of the incoming service.  I suspect the contractor was complicit in my case.  Win some, lose some.

CFE has to be the absolute worst. Let's hope the new president, who has a degree in climatology, will force the CFE to be way more cooperative with solar systems...

I think your approach is sound.

For over twelve years i had 22X 240 watt solar panels. I recently switched out six of the old panels and added six new 610 watt units.

I now average 30 TO 40+ Kilowatts generated per day depending on the cloud cover. CFE was not informed of my added capacity.

I switched all my appliances to electric as they needed replacing and now use one tank fill a year to supply my BBQ, pizza oven and fireplace insert.

SunFan

My solar contractor is located in Guad and he does work in other parts of the country as well. He told me that he has never had a problem with CFE except at Lakeside.

SunFan wrote:I think your approach is sound.

For over twelve years i had 22X  240 watt solar panels. I recently switched out six of the old panels and added six new 610 watt units.

I now average 30 TO 40+ Kilowatts generated per day depending on the cloud cover. CFE was not informed of my added capacity.

I switched all my appliances to electric as they needed replacing and now use one tank fill a year to supply my BBQ, pizza oven and fireplace insert.

SunFan

That is exactly my plan. If I had more money, I would have considered adding few Tesla Power Walls and go off the grid completely.

https://www.tesla.com/powerwall

Bob
would you share the name of your contractor

Any chance that the system would/could be supported in Mexico?

RickS wrote:Any chance that the system would/could be supported in Mexico?  

That is an excellent question.  My history is that my system failed within the first year.  The installer drug his feet and just said "cloudy days" for 6 months.  My panels were MFD in China and the micro invertors were from the USA, APS Systems, but I suspect MFD in China.  So I called the wholesaler and told him that the installer was not going to investigate the system failure.  I reminded him that he he had recommended the installer to me.  He gave me the number of APS Systems Mexico.  I called and emailed for a week with no response.  So then I emailed or called, APS USA.  The next day the installer calls and sets up an appointment to test the micro invertors.  All good.  Well the only other component left in the system were the panels and production was down more than 60%.  He said he would get back to me, so I said I'm calling the wholesaler now to file a claim on the panels.  The installer said that was not necessary, we will come back tomorrow at 10 AM.  

OK, they came back and all 12 panels were failing. Another two months and finally China agrees to replace the panels.  Lesson learned is that I would choose the dominant solar installer at Lakeside who has the best reputation and I would maintain a parallel communication channel with the supplier from start to finish.  Tailgate warranties are somewhat common here.  YMMV

(EDIT: On a sidebar of all of the solar contractors I have talked with over the years, only one, ever mentioned that there was a chance of panel failure. He had only seen one panel fail out of thousands and that was because a cohete hit it, so you can take that opinion with a grain of salt as I had 12 failures. I later discovered that the manufacturer of the panels, the world's largest, had had an enormous fire in their production facility so they probably had production problems when my panels had been manufacured).

Viajero-Tiempo wrote:Bob
would you share the name of your contractor

I sent you a PM.