New Powerwall Advanced Options [Toggles for charging from and discharging to grid from powerwalls]

[holeydonut]

Wow... I tried the chat that Mr. Skeptical posted... the agent said Tesla has an internal policy to disallow any system > 2x Powerwall 2 to export stored energy from the batteries to the grid (regardless of generation source). He insisted this is regardless if there is a NEM2-MT interconnection or if PG&E has expressly allowed the homeowner system to have ESS exports over 10 kW. He said if I have a problem with this Tesla policy, I should contact PG&E.

But I called the normal Powerwall support, and this time referenced this TMC thread (sorry ya'll). For the first time, they acknowledged that the experiences others have may not be correct and now they're looking into why some systems have the features while others don't. (sorry ya'll).

However, this agent was more helpful. They actually took the time to review my PG&E interconnection agreement instead of feeding me some malarkey about Powerwall+ or requiring PG&E to call them. I even sent them a copy of my insurance dec page showing I satisfied PG&E's request to have insurance for the exports from my batteries. They've finally escalated my case to Tier 2.

So we'll see what happens... but I'm not holding my breath. I do think it's cool that skepticcyclist has the exact little advanced control I am seeking. so tantalizing.

 

[SaveOurPlanet]

I had charging from grid option for a while already, now I see export options as well right after app 4.9.0 update.

 

[skepticcyclist]

I had charging from grid option for a while already, now I see export options as well right after app 4.9.0 update.

I just now updated from 4.8.1 to 4.9 and still the same for me

 

[SaveOurPlanet]

I just now updated from 4.8.1 to 4.9 and still the same for me

I take it back, I updated my iPhone 30 minutes ago and the export option showed up, went to my iPad to check and it has the export option as well, then I realized the iPad is still on the previous app version. May be it is just a database refresh on Tesla end during the last hour?

 

[swedge]

I had charging from grid option for a while already, now I see export options as well right after app 4.9.0 update.

Save,

Bingo! Thank you for posting this!

Same situation here, and the fix worked. I updated from 4.8.1 to 4.9.0 and now have options for both Grid Charging and Energy Exports (Solar/Everything).

I did have to log out, then update, then log back in. I first tried without logging out, and it did not update.

SW

 

[swedge]

I just now updated from 4.8.1 to 4.9 and still the same for me

skeptic,

Try log-out, kill the app, re-launch the app, sign in.. That is the dance it took for me. First, make sure you app is 4.9.0.

Good luck! Clearly Tesla has managed to confuse itself on these new features, so random results are to be expected, sigh.

My next trick is to see what just how smart this Export Everything is. More Fun with Kilowatts! ;-)

SW

 

[skepticcyclist]

skeptic,

Try log-out, kill the app, re-launch the app, sign in.. That is the dance it took for me. First, make sure you app is 4.9.0.

Good luck! Clearly Tesla has managed to confuse itself on these new features, so random results are to be expected, sigh.

My next trick is to see what just how smart this Export Everything is. More Fun with Kilowatts! ;-)

SW

I did that. I logged out. Swiped the APP off, then logged back in. Didn't work. Maybe I should uninstall it and reinstall it?

 

[swedge]

May be it is just a database refresh on Tesla end during the last hour?

Or maybe logging in with 4.9 corrected the error in the database... We could ask Tesla, but... uh, never mind.

SW

 

[yblaser]

The energy export option just showed up for me as well after forcing close the app and restarting. Android 4.8.1

 

[skepticcyclist]

The energy export option just showed up for me as well after forcing close the app and restarting. Android 4.8.1

I have energy exports. I had that before the update. I'm trying to get the advanced options to appear

 

[yblaser]

I have energy exports. I had that before the update. I'm trying to get the advanced options to appear

Oh, sorry I got lost with everybody posting. For clarification I had the advanced grid charging since around when this thread started and the energy exports just appeared today after restarting the app.

 

[skepticcyclist]

Oh, sorry I got lost with everybody posting. For clarification I had the advanced grid charging since around when this thread started and the energy exports just appeared today after restarting the app.

Yeah. It is a bit confusing keeping up with who has which options

 

[swedge]

I have energy exports. I had that before the update. I'm trying to get the advanced options to appear

Interesting. On mine, the only thing below Advanced Options is Grid Charging, the one thing you want.

There was discussion that some utility in So. Cal. is not allowing grid charging. Or at least Tesla told someone this. I think they told you that you could have Grid Charging, so maybe that is not your problem.

SW

 

[getakey]

I'm the opposite of Skeptic, but I don't need Export. I'm NEM zero on annual true up now. Do not need to export more

 

[skepticcyclist]

Interesting. On mine, the only thing below Advanced Options is Grid Charging, the one thing you want.

There was discussion that some utility in So. Cal. is not allowing grid charging. Or at least Tesla told someone this. I think they told you that you could have Grid Charging, so maybe that is not your problem.

SW

They said they did activate it on their end and can see it on their end, but can't figure out why it isn't appearing on my end. One rep said it was a known issue with some people and the Dev team is working on a fix (take that with a grain of salt.) He said he did reach out to the team and he will email me back after they figure out what the issue is.

 

[skepticcyclist]

I wonder if my iPad which is still running version 3 is causing the issue? I know it messed up my Time-Based Control for a while. It kept randomly switching it over to Balanced Mode even when I wasn't on the APP (I prefer balanced mode BTW.)

Maybe I should sign out of the Tesla APP on my iPad when I get home

 

[Tim-in-CA]

Still no export option for me even after going through the dance. That's OK for now as I export more than enough. I'm using Grid charging right now as there was very little solar today in SoCal. Wanted to get my PWs back up to at least 80% before 4-9pm max SCE rate kicks in. With Grid Charge, the max power (solar + grid) that can be pumped into the PWs is 3.3kW. If solar generation kicks up (temporary sun light level increase) and (Solar-household) is greater than 3.3, grid charge goes to zero. Kinda bummed as my recollection on how Stormwatch worked was that the max power was pulled from the grid during those times to charge the PWs.

 

[h2ofun]

On with Chat again. They said it is activated on their end. Don't know why it isn't showing up on my APP

ETA; That guy on chat talked to the dev team and he told me that there is a software issue they are aware of that prevents some from seeing these advanced settings. They are working on it.

Tesla has been working on mine for weeks now. SW team says fine., Support team tells them nope, does not work. Sounds like you maybe the same as me

 

[cwied]

Both my total max solar and the 2 PWs are both around 10 kW. No idea what is regulating the output but I am pretty sure its the Tesla Gateway as PG&E can only tell you what size system they will support. They cannot control your PW outside of emergency Rule 21 shutdowns which I don't think they have ever used to my knowledge.

There is a setting visible through the Tesla API called "min_site_meter_power_ac" that matches my output while exporting everything. I have a 6.3 kW PV system and my setting is -7.4. I'm not sure whether this value can be provisioned through the installer wizard or is set on the backend, but it definitely seems to be scaled to the PV size. Note that there is also a "max_site_meter_power_ac" setting, which might imply that the Powerwall software could peak shave as well.

 

[swedge]

If solar generation kicks up (temporary sun light level increase) and (Solar-household) is greater than 3.3, grid charge goes to zero.

Tim,

Really? That is weird. You are connected to the grid, so any excess solar should just be exported. I'll have to try switching on grid charging during solar production and see what mine does. Generally I've grid charged at night, off-peak, so might not have seen what you describe.

I just don't understand why they would want charging to decrease when solar increases. Unless some engineer thought "Grid Charging" meant "Grid Only Charging", i.e. no solar charging. Which would be a strange idea.

I have noticed that my PW is slowing down it's charging when it reaches 95%. Sometimes it just stops at 95% for a few hours and then trickle charges, .2k W maybe after solar starts in the morning, up to 100%. Perhaps high charge rates heat it up and it needs cool off before topping up, who knows. Is it possible this is what you saw?

Would sure be nice if Tesla supplied proper documentation on these things.

SW