Low battery charge while awaiting PTO...

[sorka]

Just passed inspection. I'm doing a system test off grid to charge my batteries a bit because they're only at 18" and the darn system won't charge the batteries off grid. I'm not going to sit around for 5 weeks waiting for PTO with the batteries sitting that low, so I turned off the main service disconnect and am off grid for my "system test".

 

[dancudds]

What power mode are you running? Check in Customize...

 

[kardiff_kris]

What power mode are you running? Check in Customize...

Outside of storm watch powerwalls (in the US) should never be able to charge off the grid though right? If he didn't have a previous solar setup (which had an existing PTO) then the panels would be off with nothing feeding into the powerwalls, letting the powerwalls drain. So OP is doing an off grid test since he doesn't have PTO yet and topping off the batteries. To me sounds like the system is functioning exactly as designed.

 

[dancudds]

Outside of storm watch powerwalls (in the US) should never be able to charge off the grid though right? If he didn't have a previous solar setup (which had an existing PTO) then the panels would be off with nothing feeding into the powerwalls, letting the powerwalls drain. So OP is doing an off grid test since he doesn't have PTO yet and topping off the batteries. To me sounds like the system is functioning exactly as designed.

Ah yes I misunderstood the OP. You don't have to be off-grid to charge your PWs but you do need solar. Of course you're not supposed to turn on solar until you get a PTO so...

 

[sorka]

Outside of storm watch powerwalls (in the US) should never be able to charge off the grid though right? If he didn't have a previous solar setup (which had an existing PTO) then the panels would be off with nothing feeding into the powerwalls, letting the powerwalls drain. So OP is doing an off grid test since he doesn't have PTO yet and topping off the batteries. To me sounds like the system is functioning exactly as designed.

Yes. Very pleased so far.

 

[sorka]

Ah yes I misunderstood the OP. You don't have to be off-grid to charge your PWs but you do need solar. Of course you're not supposed to turn on solar until you get a PTO so...

...which is why the main service breaker is turned off..hence off-grid

 

[jboy210]

Outside of storm watch powerwalls (in the US) should never be able to charge off the grid though right? If he didn't have a previous solar setup (which had an existing PTO) then the panels would be off with nothing feeding into the powerwalls, letting the powerwalls drain. So OP is doing an off grid test since he doesn't have PTO yet and topping off the batteries. To me sounds like the system is functioning exactly as designed.

Exactly correct. The only time a system with solar charges the batteries from the grid is when Storm Watch is triggered. In fact, my batteries are charging right now off the grid because Storm Watch was just activated.

 

[SMAlset]

@sorka many of us waiting for PTO have been concerned and asked about our batteries getting low and still having vampire drain each day with them being on. The advice from everyone here who received PTO already has been to just turn off the switch on the PWs.

 

[sorka]

@sorka many of us waiting for PTO have been concerned and asked about our batteries getting low and still having vampire drain each day with them being on. The advice from everyone here who received PTO already has been to just turn off the switch on the PWs.

The installer told me not to turn the switch off. They also said that I don't need pto to keep the pws on as a backup source.

 

[BrettS]

The installer told me not to turn the switch off. They also said that I don't need pto to keep the pws on as a backup source.

It looks like you have your system set for self powered. (I can tell because in your first screen you have an option for “Performance”. If you had the system configured for Backup Only then the option would say “Impact” instead). You may want to change it to Backup Only until you get PTO, otherwise as soon as you turn the inverters off and go back on grid the system will use your powerwalls to power your house until they drain down to their reserve percentage. If your goal is to just charge the powerwalls, then Backup Only would be better because they will only discharge in the event of a power failure.

On the other hand, if you are wanting to try to reduce your power bill before you get PTO, then leaving them in Self Powered may be OK. You can go off grid during the day to charge the powerwalls (and save power during the day) and then run off of the powerwalls for some of the evening, at least until they hit their reserve percentage to save some power during the night as well.

 

[sorka]

Interesting. A very slight charge from the grid with no storm watch.

 

[jboy210]

Interesting. A very slight charge from the grid with no storm watch.

That happens every once in a while. On my system, I see it most often when I flip between screens on the App. If I just sit on this screen for a long time, I don't see it.