Got a call my install is scheduled for March

[NathanielHrnblwr]

So it seems they got the permit recently as the scheduler called to schedule install. Opted for the HPWC go be removed from the critical loads so now it joins the 2 A/C units that could not be backed up. I'll probably install these side by side for more visual satisfaction. Now who wants to help clean out the garage?

Question - I have two SolarEdge inverters. Does anyone recall the frequency setting required to turn off SE inverters when the PW is +90% charged? I have a number of UPS's in the house that I have to test and perhaps replace if they don't switch off battery power when the PW is supplying power and the solar is disabled. I believe the SE doesn't require a high frequency about 60 but I could be mistaken.

 

[E Dizzle]

So it seems they got the permit recently as the scheduler called to schedule install. Opted for the HPWC go be removed from the critical loads so now it joins the 2 A/C units that could not be backed up. I'll probably install these side by side for more visual satisfaction. Now who wants to help clean out the garage?

Question - I have two SolarEdge inverters. Does anyone recall the frequency setting required to turn off SE inverters when the PW is +90% charged? I have a number of UPS's in the house that I have to test and perhaps replace if they don't switch off battery power when the PW is supplying power and the solar is disabled. I believe the SE doesn't require a high frequency about 60 but I could be mistaken.

Just curious how long it took from ordering to get to this point? Also what setup did you order, small, medium, large, with powerwall? I'm looking at getting a medium 7.6kw with 2 powerwalls in March and would love any info or advice.

 

[gpez]

So it seems they got the permit recently as the scheduler called to schedule install. Opted for the HPWC go be removed from the critical loads so now it joins the 2 A/C units that could not be backed up. I'll probably install these side by side for more visual satisfaction. Now who wants to help clean out the garage?

Question - I have two SolarEdge inverters. Does anyone recall the frequency setting required to turn off SE inverters when the PW is +90% charged? I have a number of UPS's in the house that I have to test and perhaps replace if they don't switch off battery power when the PW is supplying power and the solar is disabled. I believe the SE doesn't require a high frequency about 60 but I could be mistaken.

The model of your inverter is important to answer this question, mind sharing?

 

[NathanielHrnblwr]

Just curious how long it took from ordering to get to this point? Also what setup did you order, small, medium, large, with powerwall? I'm looking at getting a medium 7.6kw with 2 powerwalls in March and would love any info or advice.

I ordered in early November. 2 Powerwalls. Already had solar.

The model of your inverter is important to answer this question, mind sharing?

Yes, this is likely helpful to have lol. SE3800H and SE6000A. Both are UL1741 compliant and the data sheets seem to suggest they work up to 60.5 but perhaps I am looking at the wrong field.

 

[JPP]

I ordered in early November. 2 Powerwalls. Already had solar.



Yes, this is likely helpful to have lol. SE3800H and SE6000A. Both are UL1741 compliant and the data sheets seem to suggest they work up to 60.5 but perhaps I am looking at the wrong field.

I have 4 SolarEdge inverters (modern versions) on a 16kW/64 panel PV system (vintage 2013), which will/should switch off at 60.5Hz per UL/IEEE standards). FWIW my Powerwalls are just newly installed (...and sort of working--a bunch of complex install issues), and out of the box they are set for 65Hz. This wreaks havoc with 'ordinary' UPS like APC or CyberPower (which want to see frequency below 62Hz). I have asked Tesla Powerwall Support to remotely reprogram my PWs to 61Hz (...not done yet).

 

[gpez]

Yes, this is likely helpful to have lol. SE3800H and SE6000A. Both are UL1741 compliant and the data sheets seem to suggest they work up to 60.5 but perhaps I am looking at the wrong field.

SE3800H - 60.5hz (https://www.solaredge.com/sites/default/files/se_hd_wave_inverter_installation_guide_na.pdf page 78)
SE6000A - 60.5hz (https://www.solaredge.com/sites/default/files/se-single-and-three-phase-inverter-user-manual-na.pdf page 119)

These are defaults so of course it is always best to check with your installer to ensure that they were not changed as different jurisdictions have different rules.

 

[NathanielHrnblwr]

On another note - what options are there for payment? They stated ACH, Check or PayPal. Any way to use Apple Pay? One can use Apple Pay to reserve but unsure for final payment.

 

[jjrandorin]

On another note - what options are there for payment? They stated ACH, Check or PayPal. Any way to use Apple Pay? One can use Apple Pay to reserve but unsure for final payment.

AFAIK, its what you said (ach check or paypal), but you can pay via a credit card via paypal. Not sure if you can pay with apple pay via paypal. If you call in, I believe they still process via paypal if you are trying to pay via credit card or something.

 

[JPP]

AFAIK, its what you said (ach check or paypal), but you can pay via a credit card via paypal. Not sure if you can pay with apple pay via paypal. If you call in, I believe they still process via paypal if you are trying to pay via credit card or something.

Here is the paragraph from my invoice last week:

Your Powerwall installation has completed, and your payment is due. Attached please find a copy of your invoice for payment purposes.



We accept payment by check or by credit card (Visa, MasterCard, Discover or American Express):

• Credit card: Payments can be made online through PayPal. You can also pay via phone at 877-973-7652 between 7:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Mountain Standard Time.
• Check: Provide your payment by mail to the address on the invoice.

 

[jjrandorin]

Here is the paragraph from my invoice last week:

Your Powerwall installation has completed, and your payment is due. Attached please find a copy of your invoice for payment purposes.



We accept payment by check or by credit card (Visa, MasterCard, Discover or American Express):

• Credit card: Payments can be made online through PayPal. You can also pay via phone at 877-973-7652 between 7:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Mountain Standard Time.
• Check: Provide your payment by mail to the address on the invoice.

That matches what I got when I paid for mine a week to 10 days ago. I believe if you call in, they also still process it via paypal on their side. I tried to call and ask and the person said they would have to check with the invoicing department but the" thought that was the case". I decided to just do it through credit card via paypal and pay it off so I could get the extra 1% cash back on my costco card.

 

[Ulmo]

I have 4 SolarEdge inverters (modern versions) on a 16kW/64 panel PV system (vintage 2013), which will/should switch off at 60.5Hz per UL/IEEE standards). FWIW my Powerwalls are just newly installed (...and sort of working--a bunch of complex install issues), and out of the box they are set for 65Hz. This wreaks havoc with 'ordinary' UPS like APC or CyberPower (which want to see frequency below 62Hz). I have asked Tesla Powerwall Support to remotely reprogram my PWs to 61Hz (...not done yet).

My older prior-standard SolarEdge inverter has a ramp down feature: the amount of solar passed into the microgrid (and then to the PowerWalls and/or utility) decreases proportionally to how much higher the frequency is, in a settable range. I believe the new law is very ridiculously black and white about a cutoff point with absolutely no ramping required, but when I read that law, it said nothing forbidding a graceful ramp-down feature in between the 60.00Hz and whatever the new cutoff frequency is: is it really all the way down at 60.5Hz? Wow. That would mean the SolerEdges could be set to ramp down solar distribution in a range more like 60.1Hz to 60.4Hz (such as 100% solar at 60.1Hz down to 0% solar at 60.4Hz in a nice even proportional way, well before the black and white sudden shutoff law takes effect; thus, 60.2Hz would be 100%-((60.2-60.1)/(60.4-60.1))=67% of the solar hitting the solar panels would be pushed into the microgrid, and 60.25Hz would be 100%-(60.25-60.1)/(60.4-60.1)=50% of the power, and so on, in a nice graceful way). That feature is available in my SolarEdge. I don't know if current SolarEdge software allows user programming, or if they took user programming away from inverter owners.

I could go program my previous-standard SolarEdge to do that, but without proactive specs from Tesla about what my particular PowerWalls and my local utility are going to do, I see no need to change any of it, until I have real information about what they are going to actually do. I looked it up and everything, but Tesla and PG&E have been very irresponsible.

 

[JPP]

My older prior-standard SolarEdge inverter has a ramp down feature: the amount of solar passed into the microgrid (and then to the PowerWalls and/or utility) decreases proportionally to how much higher the frequency is, in a settable range. I believe the new law is very ridiculously black and white about a cutoff point with absolutely no ramping required, but when I read that law, it said nothing forbidding a graceful ramp-down feature in between the 60.00Hz and whatever the new cutoff frequency is: is it really all the way down at 60.5Hz? Wow. That would mean the SolerEdges could be set to ramp down solar distribution in a range more like 60.1Hz to 60.4Hz (such as 100% solar at 60.1Hz down to 0% solar at 60.4Hz in a nice even proportional way, well before the black and white sudden shutoff law takes effect; thus, 60.2Hz would be 100%-((60.2-60.1)/(60.4-60.1))=67% of the solar hitting the solar panels would be pushed into the microgrid, and 60.25Hz would be 100%-(60.25-60.1)/(60.4-60.1)=50% of the power, and so on, in a nice graceful way). That feature is available in my SolarEdge. I don't know if current SolarEdge software allows user programming, or if they took user programming away from inverter owners.

I could go program my previous-standard SolarEdge to do that, but without proactive specs from Tesla about what my particular PowerWalls and my local utility are going to do, I see no need to change any of it, until I have real information about what they are going to actually do. I looked it up and everything, but Tesla and PG&E have been very irresponsible.

Well, I know just enough to be dangerous. I have vintage 2013 SoalrEdge SE3800A inverters. AFAIK they are made to an older UL/IEEE standard. I am not aware of graceful ramp down/ramp up. I am not aware of any 'programming' that I/someone can do on the inverters. I do know that when I did a test 'grid disconnect' with Powerwalls at 100% and solar cranking, the Powerwalls ramped the Hz up to 65 and all 4 inverters had a red light and an error message relating to 'out of spec' frequency'. Maybe my inverters are just 'binary', off or on but no ramping. I have been told that what is supposed to happen is that the Powerwalls discharge a bit (like from 100% to 95%), then set the Hz back to 60, and then the SolarEdge inverters come back on line (after resynchronizing their frequency). from all of my reading, it does not take a bump of 5 Hz to have my inverters shut off, but anything above about 61.5-62.0 Hz clobbers my UPS and keeps them of line.