Hello,
I’m not sure if I am using the correct terminology so please bear with me. I originally had Tesla solar panels installed last year for an 8.19kW solar system, and had two powerwalls added to the system earlier this year. I had spec’d the system originally to account for future upgrades such as an electric water heater, air conditioning, and EV charging.
My main panel is 200A service and was what everything was connected to originally. When the powerwalls were installed, everything was moved into a new sub-panel (Tesla calls this a backup load center). Last month I had electricians out to run new wiring to replace my gas water heater with an electric water heater, and this is where I ran into problems. The electricians told me that I don’t have any additional space inside of the backup load center for new circuits, and that the sub-panel and wiring done by Tesla is rated at 100A, not 200A. They told me that I effectively only have 100A for anything connected to the solar panels or my powerwalls.
The electricians said that if they connected the new circuits inside the main panel, that it would come from the grid only - not from solar or the PWs. Is this correct? For now they combined my garbage disposal and dishwasher onto one breaker to free one up for the water heater. They told me not to run both at the same time and to have Tesla re-split the circuits when they come out to upgrade the panel. That leaves me with a problem when I want to add the additional circuits (ie. AC, EV charging). They advised me to contact Tesla to get the sub-panel rewired for 200A.
I contacted Tesla and haven’t been able to get a straight answer out of them. At first the service reps transferred me to the scheduling team, then the scheduling team transferred me back to CS saying that they needed a case number first. The CS team said they needed to get approval from the field operations team, and that’s where I am now. The response from the field ops team is that I should have my electrician re-calculate loads and install additional circuits inside of the main panel, but they did not answer my question if this would be backed up by the PWs or powered by solar (it seems not). My expectation was that I would be able to have the full house backed up by solar and the powerwalls. Is it because of some limitation of my panels and/or pwalls? The electrician said he could do the rewiring, but estimated it as an 8-10K job. Should I keep pushing Tesla or do I have the wrong understanding of what the system can or should do? My powerwall purchase agreement shows a line item for “main panel upgrade” which the CS rep said was not required or done as part of the design.
Not sure how helpful this is, but attaching a photo of the main panel which has everything disconnected and shows a 100A breaker going to the Tesla gateway. The last photo is the sub-panel that was added when the powerwalls went in.
Thanks in advance!
outside of main panel
inside the main panel
outside of the “backup load center” panel
I’m not sure if I am using the correct terminology so please bear with me. I originally had Tesla solar panels installed last year for an 8.19kW solar system, and had two powerwalls added to the system earlier this year. I had spec’d the system originally to account for future upgrades such as an electric water heater, air conditioning, and EV charging.
My main panel is 200A service and was what everything was connected to originally. When the powerwalls were installed, everything was moved into a new sub-panel (Tesla calls this a backup load center). Last month I had electricians out to run new wiring to replace my gas water heater with an electric water heater, and this is where I ran into problems. The electricians told me that I don’t have any additional space inside of the backup load center for new circuits, and that the sub-panel and wiring done by Tesla is rated at 100A, not 200A. They told me that I effectively only have 100A for anything connected to the solar panels or my powerwalls.
The electricians said that if they connected the new circuits inside the main panel, that it would come from the grid only - not from solar or the PWs. Is this correct? For now they combined my garbage disposal and dishwasher onto one breaker to free one up for the water heater. They told me not to run both at the same time and to have Tesla re-split the circuits when they come out to upgrade the panel. That leaves me with a problem when I want to add the additional circuits (ie. AC, EV charging). They advised me to contact Tesla to get the sub-panel rewired for 200A.
I contacted Tesla and haven’t been able to get a straight answer out of them. At first the service reps transferred me to the scheduling team, then the scheduling team transferred me back to CS saying that they needed a case number first. The CS team said they needed to get approval from the field operations team, and that’s where I am now. The response from the field ops team is that I should have my electrician re-calculate loads and install additional circuits inside of the main panel, but they did not answer my question if this would be backed up by the PWs or powered by solar (it seems not). My expectation was that I would be able to have the full house backed up by solar and the powerwalls. Is it because of some limitation of my panels and/or pwalls? The electrician said he could do the rewiring, but estimated it as an 8-10K job. Should I keep pushing Tesla or do I have the wrong understanding of what the system can or should do? My powerwall purchase agreement shows a line item for “main panel upgrade” which the CS rep said was not required or done as part of the design.
Not sure how helpful this is, but attaching a photo of the main panel which has everything disconnected and shows a 100A breaker going to the Tesla gateway. The last photo is the sub-panel that was added when the powerwalls went in.
Thanks in advance!
outside of main panel
inside the main panel
outside of the “backup load center” panel