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Hello, we had 4 powerwall 2s and 16kw solar array installed the week of Dec 17th 2021. System has two Tesla 7.6 inverters and a gateway 2, along with a myriad of disconnects.

The solar/inverters and powerwall/gateways were installed on separate days due to rain.

On the final day, the powerwall installers tried to test the full system but the inverters never sent power to the system, despite the installers telling us all week about the new “self consumption” mode that is available to us. The inverters and powerwalls are powered on and every breaker and disconnect we’re left in the “on” position.

They left and said the solar installers would need to come back to diagnose why no solar power was being generated. They left the system on.

That was two weeks ago. In that time the powerwalls have dropped from 22% to 6% charge.

I have tried everything to attempt to get the solar to generate power, reset breakers, gone off-grid, but nothing.

I finally got ahold of Tesla support where I was informed that because I have the “older powerwall 2” and not a plus that I did not have self-consumption mode (note that the gateway indicates “self-consumption” in the web interface)

The rep also told me that there was no way to “test” they system before inspection, which can’t be true.

I also asked if the powerwalls being at 6% and dropping will affect the capacity of cycle life and the response was “They are u see warranty”.

Is there anyone out there who could help me figure out how to either test on my own, or generate action at Tesla to have them send someone out to demonstrate a working system because right now I’ve got 4 powerwalls that are going to drain to zero, no way to charge them, and a solar array that has never been demonstrated to work, and Tesla who won’t send someone out.
 
If you turn off the rocker switches on the Powerwalls, the vampire drain will be minimized. If the system has not been inspected by the City, then I would not turn anything on. If you were just waiting for PTO, you could do more.

In theory, you could go into the installer setup and reconfigure the Powerwalls for standalone operation (ie. no solar) and then it should charge from the grid in Backup mode. However, I don't recommend doing that. I would just keep hounding Tesla to get someone out.
 
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I agree with what miimura said above. One thing you could do is let Tesla know that the system needs to be demonstrated working prior to inspection (which could even be the day of) or you'll ask the inspector to fail it due to it being inoperable. Not sure the inspector would do that but they might.
 
Hello, we had 4 powerwall 2s and 16kw solar array installed the week of Dec 17th 2021. System has two Tesla 7.6 inverters and a gateway 2, along with a myriad of disconnects.

The solar/inverters and powerwall/gateways were installed on separate days due to rain.

On the final day, the powerwall installers tried to test the full system but the inverters never sent power to the system, despite the installers telling us all week about the new “self consumption” mode that is available to us. The inverters and powerwalls are powered on and every breaker and disconnect we’re left in the “on” position.

They left and said the solar installers would need to come back to diagnose why no solar power was being generated. They left the system on.

That was two weeks ago. In that time the powerwalls have dropped from 22% to 6% charge.

I have tried everything to attempt to get the solar to generate power, reset breakers, gone off-grid, but nothing.

I finally got ahold of Tesla support where I was informed that because I have the “older powerwall 2” and not a plus that I did not have self-consumption mode (note that the gateway indicates “self-consumption” in the web interface)

The rep also told me that there was no way to “test” they system before inspection, which can’t be true.

I also asked if the powerwalls being at 6% and dropping will affect the capacity of cycle life and the response was “They are u see warranty”.

Is there anyone out there who could help me figure out how to either test on my own, or generate action at Tesla to have them send someone out to demonstrate a working system because right now I’ve got 4 powerwalls that are going to drain to zero, no way to charge them, and a solar array that has never been demonstrated to work, and Tesla who won’t send someone out.

I would also second turning off the powerwalls at the rocker switch. I wouldnt worry too much about damage to them, as once they get low, they turn off automatically and only turn on briefly once an hour to check for sun:


(screenshot of relevant info from website above)

Screen Shot 2021-12-28 at 8.09.01 PM.png


As far as "older powerwall 2" I wouldnt worry too much about that, as the difference between powerwall 2 and powerwall + is the inverter on top of the powerwall. If you have separate inverter(s) you wouldnt have powerwall+ anyway. You will be in the situation where the rest of us were pre this "self consumption" setting with powerwall +, which is "not supposed to run it before PTO except to test".

With that being said, the system should be able to work pre PTO, at least to test it. Assuming that "tesla" is the installer, its reasonable for them to show you the system is functional.

It doesnt sound right to me that there is no way to even test an PW2 system. It sounds to me like the inverters are not on, or not configured, or the gateway needs to be reset or something. I would try calling phone support back, and telling them you are not planning to run the system in self consumption mode but you have not even seen it power on, and need to see that before you pay for it, and can they please help you with that.
 
Did you get a city inspection scheduled yet? I remember they told me that my roof would not get commissioned until city inspection and on the morning of city inspection the tesla tech showed up 2 hours ahead, pulled all panel covers off, put big red stickers everywhere and turned everything on, he then showed me the inverter output on his phone before the inspector arrived. You may want to turn off the PWs as others suggested and wait for inspection.