Got our PTO- Woohoo!

[gpez]

It turns out it was the Gateway breaker that did it. My old main breaker is now after the system so it wouldn't work. According to my juicebox I'm running at 65.27. I also noticed I'm only running on PW, the solar has not come back on.

Yeah that's super high! Anything much higher than 62hz and you'll start to see more and more things misbehave. @jjrandorin's advice on how to bring this to Tesla's attention is quite good.

 

[Laketime]

It wont come back on until your powerwalls get to somewhere between 90-97%. The frequency shift is actually to turn off the solar because "there is no grid" to backfeed to, which is what happens in a power outage situation.

Thing is, many home electronics dont like frequency that high.

Tesla is aware of the issue and should be able to help you if you call tesla energy support. I suggest saying something to them like"

"Hello, I noticed when my system is off grid, it shifts the frequency to 65 hz. which causes my battery backup devices to alarm, my microwave to behave strangely and my lights to flicker. I understand that in cases like this, you can lower the frequency to something that still shuts off the solar but doesnt affect my equipment. Can you please lower the frequency for me?"

They may ask "which brand backup devices do you have. I have cyberpower ones which were impacted by this, so you could tell them you have cyberpower ones (even if you dont). They likely will only lower the frequency down to 62hz or even 62.5 hz but thats still much better than 65hz which many things cant tolerate.

Anyway, they will have to escalate it for you (the tier 1 person on the phone wont be able to lower the frequency) and it may take 7-10 days or so, but they will let you know when its done and you can test again.

I'll buzz Tesla tomorrow. Thanks for your help.

Does anyone know if we can see the levels of all PWs on the system? I just see a 3x and a percentage but it doesn't break down walls. When I did a system check I was on PW for 7 min and my average draw was between 1.2-1.5KW and they dropped 3% (99-96%). Seemed like a big drop for very little use.

 

[jjrandorin]

I'll buzz Tesla tomorrow. Thanks for your help.

Does anyone know if we can see the levels of all PWs on the system? I just see a 3x and a percentage but it doesn't break down walls. When I did a system check I was on PW for 7 min and my average draw was between 1.2-1.5KW and they dropped 3% (99-96%). Seemed like a big drop for very little use.

They all report as one, at least in the tesla app. I am not aware of what is available from the API, as I havent done anything with that, but several here have.

Regarding the drop you saw, because of rounding, that could have been 99.1% down to 96.9% (for example). If I was you, I would have tested just a bit longer if you had solar generation anyway, to see in the app that your solar re-started... unless you checked that during your test.

 

[gpez]

You can query each one via the cloud API, I believe. The local API just aggregates them together AFAIK. They should all be in sync as they're technically wired together in parallel.

If you were drawing 1.5kw for 7 minutes you pulled 175 watt-hours I'd expect 3x Powerwalls to drain by about 0.5% (175 watt-hours out of about 35kwh counting reserve). May be worth checking in to. @jjrandorin is correct about rounding but remember too the app displays the % remaining not including the 10% reserve so 100% app = 100% charge and 0% app = 5% charge.

 

[SMAlset]

I'll buzz Tesla tomorrow. Thanks for your help.

Does anyone know if we can see the levels of all PWs on the system? I just see a 3x and a percentage but it doesn't break down walls. When I did a system check I was on PW for 7 min and my average draw was between 1.2-1.5KW and they dropped 3% (99-96%). Seemed like a big drop for very little use.

Not for the PWs, we’ve asked them that question too. You can however ask Tesla, as your installer, to set up an account with Solar Edge to view production of the solar panels. It gives you some visibility. Once you have PTO they can do it. There’s a thread on here about doing so which shows what it looks like. The view you will get of your PWs is a linear one (not custom like shown on your roof — only Tesla I guess has the ability to customize the view and apparently doesn’t, they wouldn’t share the layout with us when we asked), but it does show each solar panels output so you can tell if you have any outliers.

 

[power.saver]

0% app = 10% charge

0% app = 5% charge

 

[solarAddict]

I'm in MA and worked with certified installer.
I had system installed on 12/3. Passed inspection next day. Got two new meters installed today ans SolarEdge account had been setup today too. No PTO yet.

 

[Laketime]

You can query each one via the cloud API, I believe. The local API just aggregates them together AFAIK. They should all be in sync as they're technically wired together in parallel.

If you were drawing 1.5kw for 7 minutes you pulled 175 watt-hours I'd expect 3x Powerwalls to drain by about 0.5% (175 watt-hours out of about 35kwh counting reserve). May be worth checking in to. @jjrandorin is correct about rounding but remember too the app displays the % remaining not including the 10% reserve so 100% app = 100% charge and 0% app = 10% charge.

I'll keep an eye on it for now. I have noticed while waiting for PTO the walls dropped 2% in charge per day. The installers left everything on except for the inverters so I'm guessing there was some parasitic losses. Thanks for the replys.

Not for the PWs, we’ve asked them that question too. You can however ask Tesla, as your installer, to set up an account with Solar Edge to view production of the solar panels. It gives you some visibility. Once you have PTO they can do it. There’s a thread on here about doing so which shows what it looks like. The view you will get of your PWs is a linear one (not custom like shown on your roof — only Tesla I guess has the ability to customize the view and apparently doesn’t, they wouldn’t share the layout with us when we asked), but it does show each solar panels output so you can tell if you have any outliers.

I will do that, I do like to delve deeper into the tech side of things.

 

[gpez]

0% app = 5% charge

Doh - you're correct. Fixed!

 

[solarAddict]

I'm in MA and worked with certified installer.
I had system installed on 12/3. Passed inspection next day. Got two new meters installed today ans SolarEdge account had been setup today too. No PTO yet.

Update: got the PTO this morning.

Amazing how things could be different from state to state.

 

[adspguy]

Update: got the PTO this morning.

Amazing how things could be different from state to state.

I’m in MA too. Is eversource your utility? They put in my net metering meters a month ago and still no PTO for me.

 

[Laketime]

I’m in MA too. Is eversource your utility? They put in my net metering meters a month ago and still no PTO for me.

It may be a little late to the game but I'd call their solar dept (or whatever they call it there) and real nicely ask to have the PTO expedited. Say your power has been going in and out with this storm we just had and you know these things take time but maybe someone can look at it. You never know- I got my PTO yesterday after only 7 days from submission but only after I made the same call.

 

[solarAddict]

I’m in MA too. Is eversource your utility? They put in my net metering meters a month ago and still no PTO for me.

I'm with National Grid. When I had an inspection and asked project supervisor about expected "time to PTO" he said NG is much better now and it should be done in 2 weeks or less (that's what happened) and he mentioned that Eversource takes months to do the same

I would call them and ask for that - esp after the storm we had yesterday you have a case... btw we had brief power outage (not us , per se ) and I only new that from the backup log.