It sounds like you are in agreement with all my posts. Let me know which part you disagree with, if any.
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How come power changeover was not seamless during power outage blip?
- Thread starter h2ofun
- Start date
I believe you two are saying two different things, and are engaged in a debate that has very little meaning (the meaning of the word "seamless" and "blip")"
To answer your other question, I believe it would be somewhere around 93-97%. I believe the charge rate slows down there, and it would also depend on the size of the PV (how much power was being put into the powerwalls when the power went out).
The question you are actually asking is, "Do we know at what percentage of Powerwall the system will cut off the PV by raising the frequency?" Thats only partially relevant in the discussion of cutover being "able to be noticed by the average person" or not. The other part that is relevant is the powerwall mode of operation at the time.
A person saying they had a five second engagement, when the PW's are sold to change over without noticing, is interesting. The Why questions sure seem to apply. IMO, should not matter what state the system is in. Either you have to reset or turn back on things or not. I have to reset and turn things back on when my generator engages.
In that instance, my guess (I dont know because I wasnt there) is that what is likely more accurate is "it FELT like 5 seconds". It also could have been 5 seconds if the power cut wasnt clean, because all of these systems have specific "ride through" type settings where if the power cut isnt clean they will try to sync with the grid.
If the loss in power is not "clean" then it also can be noticed. I believe the ride through settings are mandatory, but dont know that for a fact. As far as your statement of "either you have to turn things back on or not" the answer to that is "sometimes you will or sometimes you wont" so I dont know how you want to handle that information. There is no 100% state of always having to reset things, or not having to reset things.
You have likely already done this, but why dont you go try turning off the breaker to your gateway system that runs your home, sometime when the state of charge of your powerwall is <90% and some combination of PV only or PV +Powerwalls is powering your home?
charlesj
Active Member
Would that also apply if PW is already supplying power at some quantity? Or, only if PW is not supplying power at all. Or in both cases.
Now, unless some type of setting or connection can be changed, I guess I do not care. Meaning, it is whatever it will be. As I started this thread, I had always assumed no matter what the conditions, if power went out, the batteries would stop me from having my computers shut down and I have to go around the house resetting clocks. Guess I just learned it may not always be that way. Right now I am just trying to get my inverter replaced so 2/3 of my panels are not dead.
Now, unless some type of setting or connection can be changed, I guess I do not care. Meaning, it is whatever it will be. As I started this thread, I had always assumed no matter what the conditions, if power went out, the batteries would stop me from having my computers shut down and I have to go around the house resetting clocks. Guess I just learned it may not always be that way. Right now I am just trying to get my inverter replaced so 2/3 of my panels are not dead.
That makes sense. It was mentioned up thread, but this is why many of us have sensitive electronics (TVs, computers) on small UPS devices. You really only need a few seconds at most of UPS, just enough to cover possible switching, and in general, you want them on things that you want to stay up no matter what.
For most, thats things like the cable modem / router, a computer, a NAS type device if you have one (network storage), a main TV or AV system etc). The eaton ones tolerate frequency shifts up to 70Hz so have been identified as good UPS for this purpose. Its better to get tesla to lower the frequency from 65hz to something lower that still turns off your PV, but thats not the discussion in this thread.
So you dont have to hunt for it, here is one of the eaton units on amazon:
Thanks
I did ask Tesla to lower both of my GW's to 62hz. I sent them my inverter info when requested. So, is there any way to see what things are set at?
jrweiss98020
Tessa's Tesla
I tend to disagree. The spec for computer power supplies says they only have to tolerate overfreqs to 63 Hz. It is better to get a UPS that will take over if the freq gets above 63, rather than risking damage to the computer power supply.
jrweiss98020
Tessa's Tesla
I don't know what the actual risk is from 65 Hz, but it does seem like a UPS that allows for 65 Hz is no more risky than having nothing at all as either way the computer will be exposed to the higher frequency. And, assuming most PW customers (who are not on this forum) do not have a UPS for all their electronics, it seem like the lack of complaints I've seen about damaged electronics suggests a low risk.
Certainly if you are getting a new UPS, there is an argument for getting one that takes over at 63 Hz. The down-side is that during an extended outage, the UPS might need to take over for longer periods of time.
Of course, the real solution is to call Tesla and get them to lower the cutoff frequency as that largely makes the issue moot.
true, but if power does not change over quick enough, and things go down, is that not where the UPS has its real value?
Of course, but I'm not clear how that relates to my point.... When you are off-grid with full PWs, your electronics will be exposed to 65 Hz when you have no UPS or a UPS that allows 65 Hz. So the addition of that UPS makes you no worse off.
You didn’t list anything you specifically disagree with....
Also, your belief of the cutoff being “somewhere around 93-97%“ would be incorrect. I have tested with pw soc at 91% and PV was still reset.
Unfortunately, Tesla does not allow the user to set the max soc in backup mode—which is something that should be easy to implement. Clearly, not enough thought has been put into these details at tesla. Not surprising though.
So, how can I check that Tesla changed my stuff to 62hz? If they did, does this not solve the issue?
use a device like a killawatt meter during outage or flip the breaker & see if the ups start beeping or not.
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Electrph
Member
agree kilawatt or similar that shows hz is a good way to see how YOUR system behaves off grid as PW approaches "capacity" .. mine had a behavior i had not read about on these boards.
My system would begin "flirting" w/ a higher freq above 60hz .. not smoothly raising it but raising for moment then back down . each time raising a bit more .. until inverter shut down pv when system starting "poking" into around around 62-63hz
It would 1st do this at about 80% state of charge .. then when state lowered a bit and pv back on would allow to get to 90-92% then go through same process
My system would begin "flirting" w/ a higher freq above 60hz .. not smoothly raising it but raising for moment then back down . each time raising a bit more .. until inverter shut down pv when system starting "poking" into around around 62-63hz
It would 1st do this at about 80% state of charge .. then when state lowered a bit and pv back on would allow to get to 90-92% then go through same process
I disagreed with the bickering about "seamless" and "blip" which was not adding anything to this discussion.
Also, in my house, with my setup, the information I provided is "correct" for me. If my powerwalls are 90% and I flip the breaker my PV does not go off. That isnt relevant for your setup, but its relevant for mine, so for me, its "correct".
In addition to buying equipment, which will confirm the actual frequency, you can also just access the local API - /api/meters/aggregates - when the system is isolated from the grid and PWs are full to see what it is reporting as the frequency.
(Another way to check the frequency if you have a microwave/oven/alarm clock that operates based on frequency is to time it using your phone for ~10-15 minutes and see how fast it is after that time - it isn't exactly the most accurate measure, but it can tell 62 Hz from 65 Hz.)
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