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I just had a 34KW Solar system with 3 PW+ and 5 PW2 installed. I can't export power to the grid until I get PTO which could be up to 90 days. Once my PW's are full, is there a way to have the excess power charge our Teslas, automatically adjusting the power to the car based on the amount of solar that is being over produced in real time? We have 2 Gen 3 HPWC if that helps.
There is no feature to do that currently from tesla, at least not while your system is on the grid. You can take yourself off grid if you have enough generation to go daily with being off grid.
The most recent thread on this discussion is here:
Given the number of Powerwalls that you have, I would just charge during the day. I don't know if the pre-PTO mode allows you to enable "self consumption", it it does then that will simplify thing.
I generally charge during the day and I sometimes adjust the charging rate to just be under or over the current production. I don't know about having to pull a little from my batteries if if I'm slightly over or letting energy flow to the grid if I'm slightly under (I obviously of have PTO). In your case you either will draw from the grid or battery or curtail solar.
I've been using the chargehq.net solution for 2-3 months and if I understand your question, does what you want fairly flawlessly. It's mentioned in the link above.
I've been using the chargehq.net solution for 2-3 months and if I understand your question, does what you want fairly flawlessly. It's mentioned in the link above.
I'm not sure this would work pre-PTO because the system will curtail solar production when the Powerwalls fill up. ChargeHQ may not see excess production that it can use when this happens.
I'm not sure this would work pre-PTO because the system will curtail solar production when the Powerwalls fill up. ChargeHQ may not see excess production that it can use when this happens.
Thanks, I tried using ChargeHQ just now but when I try to create an account it says "invalid entry" and doesn't specify where the invalid entry is. I've tried it several times and I keep getting the same message (on the Android App).
It does sound like it will do what I want it to though.
I had the same problem. It's not really set up to work outside of Australia yet. Apparently the iOS app works but the Android app isn't operational yet.
I use the web app onky since i dont have an iOD device and it works fine.
I had the same problem. It's not really set up to work outside of Australia yet. Apparently the iOS app works but the Android app isn't operational yet.
I use the web app onky since i dont have an iOD device and it works fine.
Good to hear these positive experiences with ChargeHQ! We'll need more technology like this since Tesla doesn't seem keen on enabling it within their App/ecosystem. And we're all better off the less of the PoCo grid that we use.
Good to hear these positive experiences with ChargeHQ! We'll need more technology like this since Tesla doesn't seem keen on enabling it within their App/ecosystem. And we're all better off the less of the PoCo grid that we use.
Totally agree with @holeydonut, Tesla has everything they need to make this happen especially with Powerwall installs. I used to manually mess around with this or just set the car for a really low charge rate, not real effective. ChargeHQ does a nice job of polling the PW to see what is happening and adjusts the charge rate accordingly. It also gives you a Charge Now option if you really need to use the grid.
I was able to create an account with ChargeHQ on my Android after about the 10th try over several days.
Does anyone notice any issues with their Tesla not going to sleep (and saving power)? I read in another thread it polls the car every minute, which I would think we keep it from sleeping. Is "vampire drain" worse when using the Charge HQ app?
I was able to create an account with ChargeHQ on my Android after about the 10th try over several days.
Does anyone notice any issues with their Tesla not going to sleep (and saving power)? I read in another thread it polls the car every minute, which I would think we keep it from sleeping. Is "vampire drain" worse when using the Charge HQ app?
I have a 2018 Model X, and it still seems to be able to sleep even with Charge HQ managing the car. We're currently out of town, and it managed to sleep the full 24 hours a few days ago (there was no surplus solar, so it didn't charge).
Does anyone notice any issues with their Tesla not going to sleep (and saving power)? I read in another thread it polls the car every minute, which I would think we keep it from sleeping. Is "vampire drain" worse when using the Charge HQ app?
No. It sleeps for me. Some of the time it says "Tesla is sleeping, do you want to wake it up?" When you try to make an adjustment to the charging parameters.
I installed this yesterday. worked on the first go. this is exactly what I was waiting for Tesla to do. They've really fallen asleep with PW/Tesla integration after releasing the off grid charging option.
You can absolutely do this with no 3rd party software, including if you're pre-PTO (when it makes the most sense). I'm doing it now. You do have to take your system off-grid, but you can return it to the grid whenever. I believe this is a new feature. I've been messing around with it for a few days to understand the behavior. Here's what I've got.
For your car to charge off of excess solar, the following must be:
1. System is off-grid.
Solar+Powerwall is off-grid.
In this image, home is using 100% of solar - half of home use is charging the car with excess solar. (Not charging the powerwall)
You can go on/off grid whenever you'd like, assuming the grid is operational.
2. The Backup Reserve % is at or less than your current powerwall % charge.
Solar/Powerwall -> Settings -> Powerwall
Adjust the backup percentage.
Set self powered mode.
I just have mine set to 0%. During pre-PTO I'd rather run my batteries down to 0% for a few hours in the middle of the night than draw from the grid.
I didn't actually experiment with this behavior, but I assume if the reserve is set higher than your powerwall's current charge that it won't charge the car until it fills up the powerwall to the reserve level.
3. The 'Save for Home Use' is at or below your powerwall % charge.
In the app, under your solar/powerwall page -> Settings -> EV Charging
I set the slider to Save 95% (max) for Home Use (or whatever you desire).
95% threshold set on the powerwall charge % before giving excess solar to the plugged in vehicle.
Note: Save for Home Use has a 10%-95% range (and Share with Vehicle has 90%-5% range).
4. Tesla Plugged in.
Vehicle charging with excess solar. Notice current amperage 16/40 amps, limit set to 22/40.
If you were plugged in and you had previously told the car to stop charging, you'll have to start charging again.
This pretty much works exactly how you would want it to so that you maximize your solar usage without curtailing production due to full powerwalls by using your car as an extra battery if you don't want to / can't push to the grid. It helps that you don't have to sit there and monitor it / make adjustments throughout the day, or give some other system the keys to the kingdom to achieve this same result.
Notes:
- The slider under 'EV Charging' might seem that this will devote 5% of the solar generation to the vehicles, and 95% to the home/powerwall, but rather this is a powerwall state of charge threshold when it will stop charging the powerwall and pour all excess solar to the vehicle.
- My experimenting was done using a regular wall connector. I'm not sure if the communication going on here needs a Tesla charger, or if it's in the car itself. I imagine it would work just fine with HPWC.
- This worked with my 2015 Model S and 2018 Model 3.
- I only experimented with "Self powered mode". Not sure if it works in other modes.
Behavior Notes:
- If your current powerwall % charge is currently above your EV Charging set threshold, the car will begin charging using all excess solar + discharging the powerwall down to the set threshold, up to the amperage limit you have set on the vehicle.
- If your powerwall % charge is exactly at the EV Charging set threshold, it will only charge with excess solar. The car's charging amperage will adjust up or down to match the excess solar, up to the amperage limit you have set.
- If your powerwall % charge is below the EV Charging set threshold, the car will cease charging. It will automatically begin charging again after the conditions have been met. Your car will not charge even if you signal for the car to charge from the app. It will refuse, and say there's an error if you check the car. The charge port will be red.
- If you signal the car to stop charging, the car will not begin charging again automatically unless you signal the car to charge again or unplug/plug in the car.
- I did not experiment with scheduled charging, but I suspect the car will abide by any schedule set like it otherwise normally would.
- If your car stops charging, is unplugged, or the charge amperage is limited while charging from excess solar, the excess solar will feed back to the powerwall until it curtails solar production.
Grid Notes:
- When you take your system off-grid, I observed that the powerwall adjusts the frequency of the electricity to your home from the standard 60hz to 59.6-59.7hz (see images below).
- I suspect the car uses the home frequency and/or voltage (but probably just frequency) to adjust its own amperage draw automatically - as detected on your home circuit, as set by the powerwall to your home. This would explain why the option is only available while off-grid. This would also suggest that you do not need app connectivity/internet, and the vehicle that's charging does not need to be bundled with the same Tesla account for this feature.
- If your powerwall batteries deplete while off-grid, the system will automatically reconnect to the grid.
- It sounds like OP has a huge system split into two or more parts. I can only speculate on the behavior of his setup. I have whole-home backup with 3 powerwalls (2 of which are PW+) and a 16.8kW solar panel system.
Grafana Monitoring Dashboard for Tesla Solar and Powerwall Systems
jasonacox.github.io
Shows this beautiful sunny day - data from today (also in MD here). The home usage increase at 15:15 was me initiating charging the car when the powerwall was at 96.8%, and EV Charging 'Save for Home Use' was at 95%, so it charged full power (40a@240v/10kW) to draw the powerwall down to the threshold set 95%, and then started tapering the EV charge level. You would mostly expect the home usage and the solar generation to be equal, but I was tinkering with things.
Shows the changes in home frequency/voltage which I believe is what triggers the car to adjust its charging amperage. Also, shows when I was on/off grid and how that also affected frequency/voltage.
Shows car charging data. I had charged for just a few minutes earlier in the day, and that's not really relevant to this experiment.
Other ideas if your car batteries are full / you know they will fill on sunny days pre-PTO:
- Run your HVAC(s) on full blast
- Crank up your electric water heater to 150 (bonus if it's a HPWH -> cools your basement down)
- Charge your electric riding mower
- Laundry day
OMG!!! this seems to work ‘straight out of the box’! Need time to learn and tweak settings re battery / EV priority… but appears immediately operational pretty much as intended! If this is the case, it is utterly FANTASTIC. Wow …at last! Thanks so much - will tell everyone.
OMG!!! this seems to work ‘straight out of the box’! Need time to learn and tweak settings re battery / EV priority… but appears immediately operational pretty much as intended! If this is the case, it is utterly FANTASTIC. Wow …at last! Thanks so much - will tell everyone.
System is off-grid.
