Powerwall 2 in Florida

[JRoque]

When factoring the cost of PW2, correct me if I'm wrong, the PW2 should be eligible for the 30% tax rebate, and no sales tax in FL.

This is not entirely clear to me, either. As far as I can see, if your PW is your inverter, ie: your solar panels are connected to it, then PW will qualify. I've read docs that say a certain percentage of the batteries must be charged from solar before it qualifies. That's sort of a gray area because you can setup your PW to use only solar to charge the batteries, qualify for the tax credit but later change the configuration to anything you want. Because of this, I believe PW will always qualify when it's part of a solar system.

Yes, a single PW will run a 1500 sq/ft home. It will power all in the home except for the typical central AC units we use here in FL. The PW total energy is 13.5kW but you can only draw 7kW peak, 5kW continuous. That means that hard-starting devices like AC (and some pool pumps) might not start or cause a fault. A typical central AC unit draws about 1.2kW per ton - this varies with AC efficiency (EER). If your central AC is 3 tons then 3 * ~1.2 = ~3.6kW consumption. However, motors use a lot more power when they're starting so those 3.6kW can peak to 10kW (or more) during start up.

Alternatives are:
- Install 2 PWs (~14kW peak start power)
- During an outage, use a smaller, portal or "ductless" AC unit for the bedrooms at night.
- Switch your AC units to higher efficiency, inverter based ones. Inverter-based ACs draw much less peak power.

Still, total capacity for a single PW is 13.5kW. If your home uses 1kW every hour, your PW battery will last 13 hours. That's where solar comes in, as in the scenarios above. Check your utility bill to see how much power you use typically. FPL online shows this by the hour.

JR

 

[miimura]

In order to qualify for the 30% ITC, the battery has to be charged from renewable energy - usually solar. It doesn't matter when the solar was installed. See other threads for details.

 

[kc_moses]

Thanks @miimura I read some where here that is the PW2 installation is done together with the solar panels, it would be straight forward and get the 30% ITC. But if the PW2 is done later on, there would be more paperwork involve. I think this is where the installer come in and they should be able to advise how to submit the paperwork.

@JRoque I did look at my electric bill and pay attention to the total kwh of usage. I have a 4.7 kwh solar system and my usage is just right and 1 PW2 should be enough unless we have multiple days of cloudy days that the PW2 won't be charge. I may add more panels to my solar array next year to make it a 6 kwh system.

 

[kc_moses]

Anyone able to get a hold on Tesla to find out any PW2 status? It has been 10 months since I put my $500 deposit.

 

[Steve1081]

I signed up for the PW2; but, I am thinking of going ahead with Solar anyway and adding a PW2 for backup eventually. I am in North Palm Beach. Who do you all recommend for a solar install?

Thanks!

 

[Karma]

We are scheduled for installation of a 16.9 kWh system with two (2) PW2 for backup, at the end of the month. It's been a long wait due to design changes, but the day is finally quickly approaching.

 

[DiamondHands]

We are scheduled for installation of a 16.9 kWh system with two (2) PW2 for backup, at the end of the month. It's been a long wait due to design changes, but the day is finally quickly approaching.

Looking forward to more updates and photos of your solar progress- cheers.

 

[Brando]

try an internet search - something like " Florida solar market "

"Florida, “the sunshine state,” ranks third in the nation for rooftop solar potential, but all the way down at 12th for cumulative solar capacity installed. Florida's solar policies lag behind many other states in the nation: it has no renewable portfolio standard and does not allow power purchase agreements, two policies that have ..." see below link
Florida Solar | SEIA

Floridians need to watch public utility commissions more closely.

Atomic Reactor scams continue?
May 17, 2016 - Faced with $50 million in cleanup costs this year, FPL says it will halt construction plans for new nuclear units at its Turkey Point site but wants its customers to continue to pay for them. ... Florida Power & Light has put its Turkey Point nuclear expansion plans on the back burner — for at least four years.

Good Luck Florida. you need to fight your utilities for fair treatment, right?

 

[dlyle65535]

Just signed up for a 2 PW + 9.3KW PV system in Central Florida. My sales rep assured me the the PW availability issues are all worked out (whew!) and that all remaining customers will have theirs by the end of March followed by new orders on a 4-6 month cadence (as expected).

Is that consistent with ground truth?

-David...

 

[kc_moses]

I signed up for the PW2; but, I am thinking of going ahead with Solar anyway and adding a PW2 for backup eventually. I am in North Palm Beach. Who do you all recommend for a solar install?

Thanks!

Try Urban Solar Group. I have used them, they do make the whole experience easy since they deal with permit application etc. I do have a bit of after sales support issue that my email go unanswered for a long time. However, my system is up and running just fine, it survive hurricane Irma, so the installation job on the roof is good.

 

[kc_moses]

Just signed up for a 2 PW + 9.3KW PV system in Central Florida. My sales rep assured me the the PW availability issues are all worked out (whew!) and that all remaining customers will have theirs by the end of March followed by new orders on a 4-6 month cadence (as expected).

Is that consistent with ground truth?

-David...

When I talk to the Tesla employee in December, he told me it would be in my area around Feb/March. I called him 2 weeks ago and left him a voice mail to follow up. He called and left me a voicemail, told me the PW2 market will come to Miami area in 3-5 months. I have my PW2 reserved since Feb 2017!

If I don't get the PW2 install by this summer, I will just cancel it. I live in Lake Worth, and the city just changed their electricity rate so now Lake Worth is a bit cheaper than FPL, the Powerwall 2 investment just doesn't seem make much sense anymore.

 

[dlyle65535]

have my PW2 reserved since Feb 2017!

Woah, that's a long wait! I fully expect to have an argument about the meaning of the word 'installed'. Hope you get yours soon.

-D...

 

[kc_moses]

Since you're getting your PV and PW2 at the same time, may be the solar company some how can give you priority, or Tesla would give those customers a priority? From what I read, it takes about 3 months to install the PW2, first the site location survey, then engineering, then permit, then inspection.

Solar companies probably don't make much profit from PW2 installation, so customers who get the PV+PW2 installation probably get more attention.

 

[dlyle65535]

Solar companies probably don't make much profit from PW2 installation, so customers who get the PV+PW2 installation probably get more attention.

You may be on to something. They moved my site survey up from next week to next day (today). At least that part went well.

-D...

 

[kc_moses]

You may be on to something. They moved my site survey up from next week to next day (today). At least that part went well.

-D...

Really? Did they do the survey on the PW Installation location as well? Are you going to put the PW2 in the garage? I was told that the location of the PW2 is depend on where the Solar box is..... whatever that mean. Do report back on your progress!

 

[MorrisonHiker]

Really? Did they do the survey on the PW Installation location as well? Are you going to put the PW2 in the garage? I was told that the location of the PW2 is depend on where the Solar box is..... whatever that mean. Do report back on your progress!

During our site survey, the only restrictions on Powerwall 2 installation that they mentioned were that:

1. It can't be installed on an interior wall where there is a living space on the other side of the wall. This required a change in our plans but fortunately we had another wall available.
2. It can't be installed above a certain height. We have a portable workbench but will probably have to store it along another wall since it wouldn't fit until wall-mounted Powerwalls.
3. If installing multiple PW2s, they can't be stacked more than 3 deep. This wasn't an issue for us since we won't be stacking ours.

Our Powerwall 2s will be installed on the far side of the garage, on the complete opposite side of the house from where the gateway and inverters will be installed. I don't know the exact distance but it's probably at least 100 linear feet, considering the bends around the house.

 

[Karma]

We had our installation on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week in Pinellas County, Florida. 16.9 kWh with 2 PW2. It was scheduled for both days, however Tesla sent an amazing crew: 7 guys to install the pv panels on the roof, main electrician and 2 additional electricians to help with installing the conduit and brackets for the PW2's. Initially the batteries were to go inside the garage, but there was better space on an exterior wall. They worked hard and finished the installation of the panels in 1 day, with the main electrician the only person returning on Wednesday to finish the system test.

I seriously can't say enough good things about these guys. They were not the typical "roofer" or electrician. All had relocated with SC/Tesla from the northeast. High level of attention to detail and safety.

Now the wait for Duke to instal the net-meter.

 

[Steve1081]

Karma, Looks awesome! I am so glad to hear you had a good experience with the installers. Can you run everything in your house off the powerwall and solar setup? For how long in the event of an outage? What size AC do you have?

Tesla Energy called me last night; but, it turns out they were just working an old leads list that I had filled out on SolarCity's website before the merger. They matched up my lead to my powerwall reservation and said they would be back to me in a few months when they get to my reservation (I just made it a few weeks ago).

They did tell me that they do not currently have a solar installer in South Florida, but, that they have been doing solar in Orlando and Tampa areas (Obviously, based on Karma's install). He said a few months they are hoping to have South Florida ready to go for solar.

Tesla's online configurator says I will need 3 powerwalls... That is getting a little expensive; but, I just hate to have to rely on a generator for backup.

 

[dlyle65535]

Karma, Looks awesome! I am so glad to hear you had a good experience with the installers.

Yeah, +1 on that, what a fantastic install. Glad to hear there's a good crew in the area. Hope I get them.

-D...

 

[Karma]

Steve, we have two ac handlers and a 4000 sf home. I spent a ton of time working the numbers with my Tesla sales person and finally settled on the 16.9 kWh system with the 2 PW2's as being sufficient for the following reasons: a) having at least 1 PW2 keeps your PV system generating when there is an outage in the grid. Without the battery, your interconnection agreement with the power utility requires that you shut it down for safety reasons (this was not acceptable to me); b) although we currently use about 45 kWh/day, most of it is at night, which will come from the batteries. During the day, the panels will recharge the batteries and supply the house, then last, go back into the grid. During a storm event with no power, the panels will continue to charge the batteries at night and provide the house with power during the day. God help us all if we run into a situation/storm event where the sky is so dark that the panels fail to perform when the grid goes down! Having been through my share of hurricanes in Florida, my experience has been that once the storm passes, the heat and the sun come out - the panels will provide the electrons during the day, and we'll use the PW2's at night (we'll have to conserve and probably shut down one of the ac unit). Maybe someday, when the cost of the PW2's come down, we'll get a third for additional back up.