[NYS] Orange & Rockland - Using Solar+PowerWall 2 to Charge Model S?

[Jim Holder]

Hi All,

1) Would it be possible to set up a system at home where solar panels charge the Tesla PowerWall 2 by day and the PowerWall then charges the Model S with it’s stored energy by night? Seems like a reasonable (and potentially popular) use-case, but I don’t see anything online definitive about this.

2) How many solar panels (and what watt) will be required to fill a PowerWall 2 daily, And is there a preferred brand or kit for a DIY JOB?

Thanks!

 

[Shygar]

One powerwall 2 holds 13.5 kWh, so you would need multiple powerwalls if you need to completely fill your Model S. I purposefully did not want my (future) Model 3 to charge from the powerwall, so I made sure my wall connector breaker is not backed up by the powerwall. But you could just as easily backup that breaker. Also note that I think each powerwall has 30 amps of power max, so if you charge with higher amperage, you would need multiple powerwalls.

I have a 7.5kW solar setup on a south facing roof and it fills up my one powerwall in about 2 hours. Max charging rate from solar is 5kW into each powerwall. I am thinking this setup would be more expensive than just using a cheap nightly rate from your power company, but you may have another reason for doing it. You would have to work out the numbers.

 

[Jim Holder]

Thank you

 

[NYEVDriver]

Hi All,

1) Would it be possible to set up a system at home where solar panels charge the Tesla PowerWall 2 by day and the PowerWall then charges the Model S with it’s stored energy by night? Seems like a reasonable (and potentially popular) use-case, but I don’t see anything online definitive about this.

2) How many solar panels (and what watt) will be required to fill a PowerWall 2 daily, And is there a preferred brand or kit for a DIY JOB?

Thanks!

I agree with @Shygar. We are actually in the process of installing (2) Powerwall 2's in our home and we have a 9kW Solar system (Orange and Rockland just approved the interconnection and we are waiting for an installation date from Tesla). Since we have (2) Tesla' we were also thinking about the cost of charging both cars but it made no sense to get more than (2) Powerwalls since we are on Time-of-Use (charged .24/kW/hour during the day & .09/kW/hour at night and all weekend). The benefit to us is that we can now use the energy we generate during the day at night. With time-of-use the energy we generate during the day just adds to a credit that is paid back to us once a year at a wholesale rate and we are charged a retail rate for the energy we use at night. We went with (2) Powerwalls because we can generate over 40kWh per day from spring to late summer. Since each Powerwall has a use capacity 13kW we can fill (2) without issue.

 

[NuevaMX18]

Hi! We are looking to install solar panels in Rockland County. We have a model 3 and Model x that we have been either supercharging or charging at chargepoint stations at my husband's office-- both options are free. This is an older thread so just wondering how your systems are doing and if you're happy with them. Tesla designed a 6.1 kW system which would give us 74% usage offset. Debating on Powerwall due to cost. Any insight would be appreciated!

I agree with @Shygar. We are actually in the process of installing (2) Powerwall 2's in our home and we have a 9kW Solar system (Orange and Rockland just approved the interconnection and we are waiting for an installation date from Tesla). Since we have (2) Tesla' we were also thinking about the cost of charging both cars but it made no sense to get more than (2) Powerwalls since we are on Time-of-Use (charged .24/kW/hour during the day & .09/kW/hour at night and all weekend). The benefit to us is that we can now use the energy we generate during the day at night. With time-of-use the energy we generate during the day just adds to a credit that is paid back to us once a year at a wholesale rate and we are charged a retail rate for the energy we use at night. We went with (2) Powerwalls because we can generate over 40kWh per day from spring to late summer. Since each Powerwall has a use capacity 13kW we can fill (2) without issue.

 

[nyprepper]

I'm in Orange County and have O&R service. I have had a 6.5kw array and 2 PW's up and running for about a month. I love the system (very happy, absolutely no regrets) but production has been dismal in the first 30 days. Granted, it is November and the weather has been horrible for the most part (including 3 days of zero production due to snow). In the last 30 days I have only generated about 160KWH (approx 20% offset). It is going to have to improve dramatically in the spring and summer months to reach Tesla's annual projections. I bought a Sno Brum and 24 foot extension pole off Amazon to better address the snow situation moving forward.