I started this thread more than a year ago after my Powerwall 2 arrived July 2017, but its installation was delayed due to uncertainties about Tesla’s support for use with a generator. It is still not installed more than a year later.
A number of months were spent with our installer negotiating an acceptable wiring configuration with Tesla to combine our house, solar and the generator with the Powewall, but that was worked out, in theory at least, some time ago. The progress since then has been intermittent, for a variety of reasons, but 2 months ago our installer sent his team out and they got everything wired up according to plan.
Aug 6th was to be the big day that we would turn it all on and run the configuration software. I was very excited. I already had Ethernet running to the gateway location for monitoring solar production and we added a small switch to add in the Tesla Gateway. That is where the recent trouble started.
The Gateway needed to update firmware and was having connection problems with the server. We called tech support and they said that since I lived in a rural area, (true) the network connection was not fast enough to support the download. I called BS. I said that I have an “over 20Mbps” service, and they said, well that is what you pay for, but not what you get. I said I test it regularly at 23-24Mbps and manage to watch 4K every night on my Apple TV. That seemed to work, but the next thing was, “Are you connected directly to the modem, or are there any switches or hubs involved”. Yes, there are, I said, both by the modem in the garage at by the Gateway. We were then told, no switches or hubs allowed, that is why it does not work; our download is very fussy about these things. So, I rewired the garage and eliminated the local switch to provide a direct connection from the Gateway to the modem, but with no improvement in the results. Then it was, well your Ethernet cable must be bad. So, we had someone drive an hour to bring a new spool of Cat5 and ran a new direct run from the modem. Both the installer and I can add the RJ-45 connectors and we both had Ethernet cable testers. The new cable worked with our laptop, but still no luck with the gateway firmware download.
I was convinced all along that this “support” from Tesla was BS, but it sort of became a game to see how quickly we could knock down their latest excuse and get them back on the line. Otherwise, it was, well we told you it would not work that way. We didn’t know how else to move forward.
One more call to tech support and this time we were told that this was a known problem with the 1.0.0 software in the year-old gateway and we would have to have a Tesla tech come out to the house and do a firmware “sideload”. Can’t we do it, my installer asked. No, we can’t trust anyone with our firmware, was the answer back. They said that they would send someone out as soon as possible to update the firmware, but 5 weeks later, nothing, despite my installer calling his area rep on multiple occasions.
The real irony of all this is that during the recent Ferguson Fire, which was on three sides of our community, we were evacuated for 11 days and no grid power to the house. Because the final Powerwall install was in progress, the generator was disconnected. Without the generator or the solar/Powerwall in operation all of the food in our refrigerators and freezers went bad and that added a few more thousands of dollars to the cost of this seemingly never-ending installation.
I have had a lot of money tied up in this installation for more than a year now with nothing to show for it. Any clues how I can get this process moving forward? Thanks for letting me vent. Maybe someone will notice.
