Norcal heat wave

[Redhill_qik]

same here (state wide i assume?).... us lil piggies that made our house of bricks are prob feelin better

There are 3,515 little piggies that are continuing to give back to the grid. That's 14% of the 25,000 eligible Powerwall sites. There are a few more houses in the "fleet" tonight (3,514 vs 3,464) compared to yesterday, but the discharge rate is lower here at the start at 23,801kW vs 24,711kW. With all of the talk here, I'm surprised that the drop off isn't higher.

I have my reserve set to 30% for now which is up from 5% last night. Somewhat worried about rolling blackouts, but my block isn't in the current list.

 

[cwied]

It’s these multiple days/nights of high temps that kill the batteries ability to recharge from the sun (which we have plenty of cloudless days now) when you need to use the AC. Our AC system is old so when we replace next year we should be in a better position.

In these conditions it’s actually better for the grid if you draw from it to power your AC during the day (when solar is plentiful) so you can charge the Powerwalls fully. This allows you to discharge to the grid (or at least avoid drawing from it) in the evening. That’s the principle of the VPP program. That’s why they’re willing to pay for the service.

 

[dailo]

I set mine to 80% to see how things were holding up, but looks like they are shedding a lot of load so I'll probably drop it more since unlikely I'll be impacted from the rolling outages.

 

[sorka]

I'd be far more inclined to allow a down to 5% or even 0% if they'd just charge it back up to 15% from the grid after the event is over rather than waiting for the sun the next day.

 

[Redhill_qik]

In these conditions it’s actually better for the grid if you draw from it to power your AC during the day (when solar is plentiful) so you can charge the Powerwalls fully. This allows you to discharge to the grid (or at least avoid drawing from it) in the evening. That’s the principle of the VPP program. That’s why they’re willing to pay for the service.

That's what I was doing. I raised my reserve this morning from 5% to 90% to force all of the solar to recharge the Powerwalls while the house was powered from the grid. Yes, yes, electrons don't know where they came from or where they should go to, but tell that to the software control algorithm and the IRS. Got to 100% a little after 3:00pm same as yesterday.

 

[h2ofun]

That's what I was doing. I raised my reserve this morning from 5% to 90% to force all of the solar to recharge the Powerwalls while the house was powered from the grid. Yes, yes, electrons don't know where they came from or where they should go to, but tell that to the software control algorithm and the IRS. Got to 100% a little after 3:00pm same as yesterday.

Could you not do the same by turning on grid charging of the batteries? I might do this in the morning.

 

[SMAlset]

Headed out to get take out and got notification our PWs were providing power to our home then got PG&E autocall about outage to our street area. Said 5 hours. Need to get home to turn up AC more because still kicked in even at 80F. Crap.

 

[jjrandorin]

You have 3 powerwalls but that isn't enough to run your air conditioning?

"Enough to start" and "Enough to run it as long as you need to, to cool your home" are not the same thing.

I have 2 powerwalls, they start my ACs (plural, my home has 2 AC units) just fine. Each one of my AC units runs at 4 kWh. Combined with my regular home load of between 1.2 and 1.6kWh, that means if both my ACs run for an hour that would be somewhere around 10kWh, or the majority of 1 powerwall 2 capacity gone, in an hour.

 

[jjrandorin]

Headed out to get take out and got notification our PWs were providing power to our home then got PG&E autocall about outage to our street area. Said 5 hours. Need to get home to turn up AC more because still kicked in even at 80F. Crap.

Im surprised you dont have nest or ecobee thermostats. I have nest ones but turned off all the "smart learning" stuff. If I was buying again now I would probably get the best ecobee, but both are great for allowing you to access them via an app.

 

[sorka]

So it looks like there's a good chance all these events will push my allowed export over the limit on my B&W bill. Is PG&E somehow tracking these events for each household? I imagine not. I'm guessing the PG&E is buying the power from Tesla in aggregate and that Tesla pays us. At the same time, we still get credit for exporting at peak but that is partly offset by the baseline subtracted by Tesla.

Any thoughts?

 

[Redhill_qik]

Could you not do the same by turning on grid charging of the batteries? I might do this in the morning.

You get a "nasty" warning about consulting your tax professional when toggle the button and then decided to skip it. Turning the option on would ensure that I get the Powerwalls fully charged, but that is already happening and I think that it would increase the overall amount of NBCs for the day. The NBCs are a wash on an annual basis for me as I am a net generator and my MDCs exceed the NBCs.

Maybe it would have been better for the grid to charge the batteries in the morning when excess solar was available and then use my solar to cover most of my house load during the rest of the day, but that IRS/ITC warning.......

 

[phonetele226]

No mini splits? That's crazy. At least allow them to be installed where they won't be considered an eye-sore - either behind the house or marked by shrubbery or another type of visual screen. The HOA we're moving into allows mini splits, but they have to be below a certain decibel level at the property lines.

What is a mini split ? Never heard that term before.

 

[Redhill_qik]

So it looks like there's a good chance all these events will push my allowed export over the limit on my B&W bill. Is PG&E somehow tracking these events for each household? I imagine not. I'm guessing the PG&E is buying the power from Tesla in aggregate and that Tesla pays us. At the same time, we still get credit for exporting at peak but that is partly offset by the baseline subtracted by Tesla.

Any thoughts?

Have you been charging the Powerwalls from the grid? I can't think of how you would be having a problem otherwise.

 

[sunwarriors]

same here (state wide i assume?).... us lil piggies that made our house of bricks are prob feelin better

Even we got this in San Diego. Don't see much outages in SDG&E land.

 

[sunwarriors]

You have 3 powerwalls but that isn't enough to run your air conditioning?

I think in extreme heat conditions, almost no amount of consumer PWs is enough. ACs drain batteries insanely fast and someone can run it for a while, but if it's still 85+ or what at night like it was on Sunday/Monday I think it was, there is no sun to recharge them and if the grid is down, you're pretty much out of luck. Time to fire up the genny and make some pollution I suppose.

 

[jjrandorin]

What is a mini split ? Never heard that term before.

What is a Mini-Split? - FUJITSU GENERAL United States & Canada

What is a Mini-Split? - FUJITSU GENERAL United States & Canada.

www.fujitsugeneral.com

 

[Big Earl]

What is a mini split ? Never heard that term before.

You’ve probably seen them. They’re wall or ceiling mounted heat pump units. They are separate indoor and outdoor units (split) and smaller than a central system (mini). You can put several indoor units on one outdoor unit if you want to condition multiple spaces. They’re becoming very popular because they’re very efficient, relatively easy to install and give you temperature control over each room.

12 Best Mini Split Air Conditioners In 2022 [Buying Guide] - Unclutterer

If you need a device that provides both cooling and heating and takes very little space, check out our best mini split air conditioners.

unclutterer.com

 

[SMAlset]

Maybe the coolest place to sleep would be in our cars on Camp Mode. Glad we both charged our cars last night to 80% at SC.

 

[charlesj]

same here (state wide i assume?).... us lil piggies that made our house of bricks are prob feelin better

Not here. My outside temperature is down to 70F right now, first time in a few days.

 

[SMAlset]

"Enough to start" and "Enough to run it as long as you need to, to cool your home" are not the same thing.

I have 2 powerwalls, they start my ACs (plural, my home has 2 AC units) just fine. Each one of my AC units runs at 4 kWh. Combined with my regular home load of between 1.2 and 1.6kWh, that means if both my ACs run for an hour that would be somewhere around 10kWh, or the majority of 1 powerwall 2 capacity gone, in an hour.

Yes (we’re the ones with 3PWs). I think after this event there will be a better understanding of how much of an energy hog on PWs AC can be. Assume losing power for extended periods might be worse during the winter when heating would kick on and little solar would be reaching the panels. One of the reasons I’m glad we have a gas furnace and range and not dependent on electric for that.