-
Want to remove ads? Register an account and login to see fewer ads, and become a Supporting Member to remove almost all ads.
Installed two PW2s today
- Thread starter Pcjackson06
- Start date
Sorry no. I hope your RMA happens quickly without any further drama. On the other hand, you would have had to wait for city-inspection and PTO, so doesn't make much difference in time. The important part is physically getting the PWs.
My gateway setup had issues updating from 1.7.0-GF, but that was resolved and the setup now works as expected.
Electricfan
Active Member
How long did it take - the whole process? I just started, confirmed my proposal for two PW2s yesterday. And a dumb question - if the sun doesn't shine for a week, will they charge up from the grid at night when power is cheap, or do they exclusively charge from solar?
SoundDaTrumpet
Member
Not a dumb question. There are two strict configuration of PWs. (a) Solar and (b) Non-solar. If you have attached solar, PWs is charged by renewables/solar. If you are non-solar, you are allowed to charge from grid. No other options between... yeah against logic. There's a storm watch feature is triggered by Tesla to allow charging from grid when a storm is predicted on the horizon... so not "exclusively charge from solar."
The special option on the app for aggregate program / demand response only applies to non-solar. They still can't export solar to the grid thought (again against logic). PW system can be told by the utility when to absorb excess grid power (excess solar) so the utility doesn't have to pay neighboring states to take power. <-- what the Tesla Energy phone support said.
Last edited:
When you say 'can't export solar', are you talking about California or something? Because we have net metering in Virginia, and we export everything, of course, that's not needed for the house at that second. And I expect to do the same after the PWs are installed (next week, btw). Everything not needed to run the house or charge the PWs goes back to the grid.
Or am I missing something here? Thanks!
SoundDaTrumpet
Member
Axe that part about 'can't export solar.' (This is California and not Hawaii.) Sorry, I meant the PWs are not currently setup to discharge to the grid. The stored energy is intended for self-consumption.
Well this is unfortunate. I was planning on charging the PWs off of the grid at night to be sure to cover the morning shoulder.
Is there a way to trick the PW into charging off of the grid when you have solar as well?
There isn't, but it'd also take quite a bit of power usage for the savings to offset the 30% tax credit you'd have to forgo if you did this. I also suspect that this restriction may be lifted after the five year vesting period for the tax credit. Powerwalls in other countries already can charge from the grid when installed with solar.
That person's carrier is Telestra which is Australia.
Australia looks like it uses ~230V 50Hz which would be incompatible with the USA split-phase 120V/240V 60Hz, The software in the PowerWall seems region-locked, so the video is basically irrelevant.
Good point.
Considering this, I wonder if I should get fewe
Dang. Let me know if you figure out a way to bypass the restriction.
Electricfan
Active Member
This is a picture from Neurio page that monitors my solar generation (yellow) and my house consumption (blue). If you look, you can see the solar production is "wasted" because the sun shines when my house isn't using the power. I'm hoping the powerwall will solve this - store the energy and discharge during this peak time and cover my usage when the sun isn't shining. Really looking forward to the PW install. But if it doesn't work, its going to be a costly error... (took this screen grab just now, so this is "live") with no PW installed yet.
Last edited:
Your solar production is certainly not being wasted in the current configuration. During times when your solar generation exceeds house load, the difference (yellow-blue) is being fed back to the electric grid. It is at least helping someone else, and hopefully you are getting credit for that net generation at the same rate that your power company would charge you for it. So you are already using the grid as an infinite-capacity battery. If that is working for you, then the PW will allow a bit more time shifting as you describe, but its cost benefit would be maximized on a time-of-use plan (which you should already be on if you have solar).
Electricfan
Active Member
You are correct, my neighbors are paying full price for power I generate so at least the solar is put to use and the utility is making a profit selling power they don't generate. But no, I do not get any credit. My plan from TXU used to pay me 7 cents/kWh for exported power but they just cancelled that at the beginning of the year, hence my "wasted" comment. (they do still have plans that will pay me, but not with the time of use schedule I want). I always wanted batteries though. I love the idea of it backing up my house power in the event of an outage. If I can juggle it so it won't discharge at night so I have battery power in the morning before the sun comes up it'll be perfect. I'm really excited.
The Powerwalls will do great for you in self-consumption mode. You can set a backup reserve percentage below which the Powerwalls will not discharge unless there's a power outage. You just set the percentage to the level that will get you through the night until the sun comes up again. In self-consumption mode, they'll charge off of the solar power that your house isn't using.
Electricfan
Active Member
Powerwalls installed today. Ordered 5-13-19, installed and operational 5-31-19. Fantastic.
Similar threads
