Post Irma and My Roadster

[GT10]

Hello to all ~

Irma hit hard, but thankfully spared us from total disaster. My home is still standing and no water got into it. I am not at my residence and probably won't be able to get in for maybe as long as a week (or two.) There is no power as of right now, and no word on when it will be restored. I have a few concerns:

1. One fear was my Roadster not getting any power. I had it charging on Standard the whole time, up until we lost power Sunday morning (yesterday.) I got good news that it will probably be ok without charging for at least a few weeks, but I'm still worried because it's very hot in my garage so it will probably need more energy to stay cool.

2. I want to safeguard myself even more in the future with a generator and a way to keep power going during outages. I ordered a portable house generator but not sure if it's the right one or if that would be enough to keep power going to the Roadster. I think I read somewhere that Tesla has a solar powered generator for this purpose.

Thanks for any feedback.

 

[S-2000 Roadster]

Maybe I'm being paranoid, but if there is a future disaster then a solar powered generator might get damaged in the storm. I'm assuming that the solar cells for significant power generation would be large enough that they'd need to be installed permanently, like on your roof where they might get torn off in a storm. A smaller, portable set of solar cells might not generate very many kilowatts of power. Then again, maybe a slow charge from a portable generator would be better than nothing.

I searched online for "Tesla solar powered generators" and found Tesla Maker and Tesla Generators, but they appear to be independent companies. Do you have any links to the solar generators that you're considering?

 

[GT10]

You do have a point regarding any generator getting damaged in a storm. As far as the generator I saw, I don't remember which publication I saw it in. I wish I had kept a link to the site or page. It was a white generator that seemed to be able to be installed on the side of the house.

 

[ModelX]

I wonder if you are thinking Tesla' powerwall. Not a generator, but a big battery.

 

[GT10]

I wonder if you are thinking Tesla' powerwall. Not a generator, but a big battery.

Yes! That's probably it! I was wondering if it's worth getting. Do you know much about it?

 

[Roadster]

Info on tesla.com here (excerpt below). There's a calculator you can use to estimate cost. More importantly, glad to here you're okay and best of luck. We're all pulling for you!

Reliable Power Day and Night
Powerwall provides backup power during utility outages, natural disasters and even the Zombie Apocalypse (you know it’s coming). Compact, stackable and with a built-in inverter, Powerwall also comes ready to integrate seamlessly with Tesla solar, enabling you to self-power your home and even go off-grid, if you like. No need to wait for the upcoming Solar Roof to buy one.

 

[Galve2000]

@GT10:

any idea when you are expecting to get power back in yr neighborhood? My parents have a condo at Hammock Bay down near Marco Island and we haven't been able to get much info with regards to the damage in the development so far.

 

[GT10]

Info on tesla.com here (excerpt below). There's a calculator you can use to estimate cost. More importantly, glad to here you're okay and best of luck. We're all pulling for you!

Reliable Power Day and Night
Powerwall provides backup power during utility outages, natural disasters and even the Zombie Apocalypse (you know it’s coming). Compact, stackable and with a built-in inverter, Powerwall also comes ready to integrate seamlessly with Tesla solar, enabling you to self-power your home and even go off-grid, if you like. No need to wait for the upcoming Solar Roof to buy one.

Thank you so much! Yes, that's it. I want to look into getting one for sure, especially after having no power after this hurricane. And thank you for your well wishes. I am concerned about my Roadster not getting power during the next few weeks, if it is going to take that long.

 

[GT10]

@GT10:

any idea when you are expecting to get power back in yr neighborhood? My parents have a condo at Hammock Bay down near Marco Island and we haven't been able to get much info with regards to the damage in the development so far.

Not sure at this point exactly what is happening. I know they are working on it all, as quickly as possible. I am in NJ and relying on friends to report back to me, but their power is limited and they are not able to answer me very well. Kind of helpless at the moment but I have to be thankful that I didn't have a total loss of everything. Now it's just a waiting game. I will be prepared much better next time. I do want to look into the Powerwall.

 

[Cyclone]

Thank you so much! Yes, that's it. I want to look into getting one for sure, especially after having no power after this hurricane. And thank you for your well wishes. I am concerned about my Roadster not getting power during the next few weeks, if it is going to take that long.

I can guarantee you that the PowerWall won't last a couple weeks. Now, how long it would last powering your home on battery is hard to say, but it is likely would still take a power outage in an extended blackout like this.

 

[GT10]

Info on tesla.com here (excerpt below). There's a calculator you can use to estimate cost. More importantly, glad to here you're okay and best of luck. We're all pulling for you!

Reliable Power Day and Night
Powerwall provides backup power during utility outages, natural disasters and even the Zombie Apocalypse (you know it’s coming). Compact, stackable and with a built-in inverter, Powerwall also comes ready to integrate seamlessly with Tesla solar, enabling you to self-power your home and even go off-grid, if you like. No need to wait for the upcoming Solar Roof to buy one.

Thank you for this information! It's what I was looking for. I'm going to get one.

 

[iwannam3]

One problem with a backup generator is the fuel gets old and bad. Both gasoline and diesel have limited shelf life. Propane is good forever. If you have an ICE, put the fuel stored for the generator into the ICE every 3 to 4 months and get fresh fuel for storage for the generator. Fuel stabilizer like Stabil are supposed to increase shelf life, but in a hot place like FL light fractions of the fuel are going to volatilize and go away. Polymerization is also a problem that is worse with heat. Old gasoline literally makes varnish, plugging everything up. Don't store fuel in the generator tank, run it completely dry so no fuel is sitting in the carb going bad.

 

[idoco]

We don't have a Powerwall but do have ~40kWh of lead acid batteries as backup (about 6 Powerwall equivalents or half the size of the avg Tesla battery pack) with 10kW of solar panels on the roof. This provides electrical backup for our house when the power is down.

Based on my experience, including a week when we were out of power from hurricane Sandy, here are my conclusions. With just powering critical circuits (fridge, well, septic, TV/internet, air handler, motors on propane furnace, and a few small appliances) this setup can go indefinitely with normal sunlight. Without sunlight (snow cover, cloudy days) then two days before batteries discharge.

Notice there is no AC or electric heat on the critical circuit list. They would eat up the battery pack and solar production in no time. Same thing with charging a car. Anything more than a trickle charge would be a huge drain on the system.

 

[sethr]

Not all generators will supply power compatible with charging, but an additional unit to "clean up" the power can be had. If you get a generator, you should test to see if it needs that. Also, if you have natural gas in your area, I'd suggest getting one that runs on NG, and the "bad fuel" problem is solved.

 

[gregd]

Also, if you have natural gas in your area, I'd suggest getting one that runs on NG, and the "bad fuel" problem is solved.

Or Propane. Are natural gas outages a risk, i.e. is NG frequently turned off during/after a disaster? In earthquake areas, it's one of the first things to get disabled, due to the risk from damaged pipes, both in the streets and in damaged houses. What about hurricanes?

 

[sethr]

According to my local gas company, they use a "mechanical system" to maintain pressure. Don't know what that means, but it works - we have had a few wide-spread multi-day outages in my area, but the gas never stopped flowing. Propane would no doubt be better in places prone to earthquakes. The only disadvantage to propane is the tank has to be kept filled, possibly a problem in areas of severe winters. Also, natural gas has a higher energy content than propane, so it's a bit more efficient.

 

[gregd]

According to my local gas company, they use a "mechanical system" to maintain pressure. Don't know what that means, but it works - we have had a few wide-spread multi-day outages in my area, but the gas never stopped flowing. Propane would no doubt be better in places prone to earthquakes. The only disadvantage to propane is the tank has to be kept filled, possibly a problem in areas of severe winters. Also, natural gas has a higher energy content than propane, so it's a bit more efficient.

Ah, excellent. One other advantage of natural gas over propane is in areas that flood. The propane tanks tend to float off their moorings, and if the shutoff valves don't work properly, all that propane (which is heavier than air!) is discharged. Very Bad Things usually happen after that. Natural gas is slightly lighter than air, I believe, so it dissipates a bit easier.

 

[Cyclone]

Ah, excellent. One other advantage of natural gas over propane is in areas that flood. The propane tanks tend to float off their moorings, and if the shutoff valves don't work properly, all that propane (which is heavier than air!) is discharged. Very Bad Things usually happen after that. Natural gas is slightly lighter than air, I believe, so it dissipates a bit easier.

Interesting. Our Fort Lauderdale home has propane gas from AmeriGas for the water heater and stove. A few times it has gone out and they come out to relight everyone's pilot lights.

 

[NigelM]

Just noting that I've been successful in 110v charging my Roadster off generator power in previous storms. This time around I have my solar PV system installed with 4x Sunny Boy inverters and each inverter has Secure Power Supply so throws off about 1500watts through each outlet; now that would take a week to fully charge the car but comes in useful for top-ups and limited driving.

That said, I haven't been able to take Roadster out until today due to flooded roads.

 

[GT10]

Thanks for all the comments. I need to get informed about all of this so that I can make the best decision about generators, Powerwalls, etc.