I use the term Black Start from my old Power Generation Station engineering days....it refers to a Power Plant's ability (or lack thereof) to initiate operation without grid power.
My Tesla generation system has been in operation for a year now, during which we've had 29 grid power interruptions. Two of those were noticeable without referring to the app, the second of which was within the last hour.
This time, after the noticeable power interruption, the Powerwalls took over but solar production ceased. The app periodically showed .2 or .3 kw Solar, but mostly zero. After about 15 minutes, the app informed me that grid reconnection was underway. This was a process I had not seen previously - in the past I've been looking at the app when grid power resumed, and the red X simply disappeared. Of course, in the past solar production was not interrupted either. That reconnection process took another 10 minutes or so, long enough for me to check my grid operator's app which assured me that my grid power was on. I guess the Gateway was booting up, and solar production resumed.
I think this may have been the lack of Black Start capability I've heard about. If grid power had not resumed, my system may not have resumed solar generation, and after battery depletion we would have lost power to the house. Can anyone with knowledge about this confirm? Please keep in mind that in my Power Engineering career I was a piping engineer, not an electrical engineer..... thanks
Edit:
My Powerwalls were at 96% SOC and accepting about 11kw when the grid power went out. It just occurred to me that the high SOC may have resulted in a similar reaction by the Gateway.
My Tesla generation system has been in operation for a year now, during which we've had 29 grid power interruptions. Two of those were noticeable without referring to the app, the second of which was within the last hour.
This time, after the noticeable power interruption, the Powerwalls took over but solar production ceased. The app periodically showed .2 or .3 kw Solar, but mostly zero. After about 15 minutes, the app informed me that grid reconnection was underway. This was a process I had not seen previously - in the past I've been looking at the app when grid power resumed, and the red X simply disappeared. Of course, in the past solar production was not interrupted either. That reconnection process took another 10 minutes or so, long enough for me to check my grid operator's app which assured me that my grid power was on. I guess the Gateway was booting up, and solar production resumed.
I think this may have been the lack of Black Start capability I've heard about. If grid power had not resumed, my system may not have resumed solar generation, and after battery depletion we would have lost power to the house. Can anyone with knowledge about this confirm? Please keep in mind that in my Power Engineering career I was a piping engineer, not an electrical engineer..... thanks
Edit:
My Powerwalls were at 96% SOC and accepting about 11kw when the grid power went out. It just occurred to me that the high SOC may have resulted in a similar reaction by the Gateway.
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