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I use the app in landscape mode. When solar starts generating it appears to enlarge the energy sources enough to block the grid energy source icons and the top of the toast messages get cut off. BTW, nice feature!

Yea, I forgot to mention TOU (brain fart). If you have TOU then there is a good reason to use the powerwalls.

If you have 1-1 net metering and no non-bypassable charges then your best financial option is to not use your Powerwalls for anything other than backup power during outages.

I pay online when I'm allowed but sometimes the DMV requires the renewal to be mailed (and they don't tell you that until you enter the data to pay online). And for some reason you can only checkout one item at a time if you use your checking account to pay online. The smog check itself isn't...

Yes, not allowing insurance companies to use their models to justify increasing the rates was one of the problems. Another problem was California wouldn't allow reinsurance to spread out the risk. The FAIR plan rates will always be higher because it a last resort plan and it was never planned...

I don't know how you get away with dealing with them only once every 5 years but I have 4 registered road vehicles that require annual registration, two of which require smog checks every two years; two trailers that require registration every 5 years, and a boat and ATV that require...

I believe so but the problem is that is history and it doesn't matter at this point. I'm assuming the court approved the bankruptcy and as long as PG&E is complying with the terms there isn't anything that can be done about what happened before then unless it is in the terms. But I admit I...

The problem is you would still have to rely on a generator for power during some periods (unless the solar and batteries were huge) and the state wouldn't like that. But it may be a more practical solution.

I definitely disagree with this statement based on my last DMV experience. I spent many hours correcting a mistake on their part.

I'm going through the replacement now as the fluorescent lights die. Yes, people could have changed back to standard bulbs but many wouldn't have. I would have just replaced the CFLs when they died with another CFL if LEDs weren't cost effective yet. What the state should have done is just...

Then we can have the efficiency of the DMV.

I agree with all that, the problem is trying to claw that back. The CPUC let this happen and now were trying to close the barn door after the horse is gone. It's like the parents let the kids run amuck and they broke something. The parents are the ones held responsible.

I agree that would be better than the state running them. I was with SMUD for years and the rates were great compared to PG&E. The problem with the municipalities is they are good in densely populated areas but not in rural areas where there is more infrastructure per capita.

I'm not convinced of that, I've never been impressed when dealing with the state bureaucracy. PG&E is "regulated" through the CPUC and the CPUC let them get to this point in the first place. I'll give an example of my personal dealings. When I built my house I was required to put in a...

You could try to make the investors directly responsible for the costs without customer compensation but it isn't going to happen. And if you did investors would flee the stock and PG&E would likely wind up in bankruptcy again. Perhaps that is better but we would likely wind up just bailing...

I grew up in northern California foothills (Nevada City area) and we never had wildfires like we do now, times have changed. Fires just didn't get as big as they often do now and I don't think PG&E did any more maintenance then than they do now. I'm not a PG&E fan but it is like filling a room...

Yes but where is the money supposed to come from? The CPUC let it get this way in the first place. You could say the stockholders but it isn't going to happen, the costs are too high. Ultimately if something isn't fixed there will be another bankruptcy. I think if something like this wound...

The whole profit being tied to projects creates problems. PG&E wanted to do more underground burial for wildfire prevention and pass the costs onto the customers but the CPUC said no. So now if a wildfire is sparked by wires that would have been buried is PG&E responsible? How can they be if...

Anytime the grid goes down my solar stops producing for 5 minutes. If my Powerwalls are below ~90%-95% and the grid remains down then the solar will start charging the Powerwalls. The solar production starts being curtailed when the Powerwalls around 95% and the house loads aren't sufficient...

I'd support a fixed monthly fee for the privilege of connecting to the grid but it should be based on the cost impact to the grid of your connection, not your income. And my wife and I are retired so we'd be better off with a connection fee based on income. And if that makes it too expensive...

That's interesting. I think my old string system has less than 1 Hz tolerance before it shuts down.

Yes, manufacturer warranties are built into the price but I haven't seen they are trying to make money on the warranty. If anything they are just trying to break even. Aftermarket "warranties" (actually service contracts) are different where there is profit and additional overhead involved and...

I've found out that how graceful the switchover is depends on the load. Under light loads I barely notice. LED lights do a quick flick and I can hear my UPS click. Other than that it is seamless. If my heat pump is running full blast and my well is running everything goes dark for a second...

I had a string inverter fail after two years and it was replaced under its 10 year warranty. It is now out of warranty and over 10 years old so I need to be ready to replace it.

Understand, it isn't a big deal.

I turned on text cursor, changed the color, and increased the size from 1 to 10. It had no effect of the arrows in the app but did change my windows cursor. I also tried changing the mouse pointer size and color with the same results.

It isn't the cursor I'm referring to, it is the arrows that show to/from house, solar, etc. in the home page of the app.

Perhaps just make the arrows a little brighter, they just don't stand out on my screen.

@tomho , you've really done a good job of updating the app. One thing that would be nice (and this is just a nit) is if there was some animation. The arrows on the home screen could pulse or something like that. I realize it is superficial and the information is already there but it does give...

I have a dual fuel system (heat pump/propane furnace). Currently I'm a net solar producer and net effective metering so it is cheaper for me to run my heat pump using the solar I "banked" during the summer even when it is cold out than it is to run the furnace. However the rules are changing...

I'm not an EE but I can envision a kludge project for someone with more money than brains (and you would still need a lot of both). Plug in an AC to DC power transformer to the generator capable of simulating the power output of solar panels and handling the maximum output of the generator...

As mentioned, using a generator to charge the PowerWalls is theoretically possible. But it would need to be connected as a solar generation system with: 1) Its output mimicking the output of a solar generation inverter. 2) Be able to be controlled like a solar inverter and shut down when the...

I have a wood stove that I use when the high is predicted to be below 60F. I have a lot of trees that go down throughout the year (I'm behind cutting them up right now). If I wasn't burning them in my wood stove I'd be burning them in a pile. But even if I completely relied on the wood stove...

I have an Enphase system (IQ7 as I remember), an old string system, and 3 Powerwalls. They all work concurrently (both systems charge the 3 Powerwalls) and when my power goes out they start generating power once my Powerwall capacity has dropped to about 95%.

I haven't researched it but I live in an area with frequent EPSS shutdowns. During periods of high wildfire risk if the power goes out in the afternoon many times it is not restored until the next day when they can inspect the lines by helicopters. I don't know if they use drones in my area...

My understanding is EPSS is only enabled when the risk of wildfire is high. At the very least they wouldn't necessarily need to inspect all the lines before getting the power back on.

My daily solar production drops from an average of 62 kWh in June to 15 kWh in December, with many days close to zero in winter. I would need to significantly upsize my system to get through winter even though I have 3 Powerwalls. I have dual fuel heat pump/propane and a wood stove for heat, a...

With regards to wear and tear I ran the numbers once (I don't remember the exact results) but a powerwall is warrantied for 70% energy retention for 10 years and unlimited cycles for self-consumption/backup mode, and 37.8 MWh aggregate throughput for other uses. 37.8 MWh which equates to about...

Yes, you're gaining ~10 in efficiency by not using your powerwalls. If you're not on TOU rates, get 1 to 1 reimbursement for the power you send to and get back from the grid, and don't have any NBCs then you are financially better off leaving your powerwall reserve at 100%. You'll still have...

By flat rate I assume you mean non time of use. You have a ~10% round trip loss (and some wear) when you consume from the powerwalls and recharge them. If you're on NEM2 or later you have NBCs (non-bypassable charges) when you send power to the grid and draw it back. So it depends on which...

Embers likely got in through the vents or the windows shattered and the house burned from the inside out. A year after I built my house the county started requiring tempered glass on ground floor windows so they wouldn't shatter as easy during a fire. But my local fire department said it...

You know how the utilities run those commercials on how to conserve and silly ways to reduce your consumption? Now they'll be advertising ways to reduce your income to get you into a lower monthly fee bracket.

As I remember adding a Powerwall doesn't change NEM status, only adding solar.

And if it goes out in the late afternoon/evening it stays out until the next morning when they can use the helicopters to do line inspections...

I had to put my home router and DVR on a UPS when I got Powerwalls. Before the Powerwalls they would just boot up after a power was restored after an outage. When I got the Powerwalls the brief power interruption during switchover wasn't enough to trigger a reboot but would put them in limbo...

I think there are always going to be situations where a more "generic" battery is necessary. There will likely be a successor to the Powerwall 2 that will remain compatible with Powerwall 2's.

I suspect the statement is for people that made it in under the wire with NEM2 applications but haven't had their system installed yet.

This statement is interesting for California residents: "I’m a California resident. Will switching my home battery to Powerwall 3 mean I lose my NEM 2.0 status? Yes. Californian utilities administering NEM 2.0 have indicated that any change to the currently approved system design, following...

My generator came set up for bonded neutral but had instructions on how to make it floating neutral. I converted it to floating neutral for use as a backup generator and use a bonding plug when I want to use it as a portable generator.

I'm still using these settings and all solar during partial peak and peak is still being sent to the grid. However, there seems to be some logic now being used to keep me from hitting my reserve. The system still continues to run off the Powerwalls during off peak at night but appears to do...