Powerwall charge rates...

[rjdunn]

Ok, I thought I understood the charge rate of the Powerwall but I guess not

New Powerwall, just learning how it works. Had it in backup mode yesterday and it maxed at the 1.7 kW that I’ve seen mentioned here in the forums. However, today running in self-powered mode, it appears (based on the app) to be charging faster. The sun is not bright this morning so I don’t know how high it will go, but I saw it registering as high as 2.2 kW so far. Is the charge rate different in Backup vs Self-Powered?

-Joel

 

[cwied]

The charge rate for self-powered when you're above the backup reserve maxes at 5 kW per Powerwall. However, it only uses excess solar for charging (that is, the solar power that's left over after satisfying the house load).

As far as I can tell, any time you're charging for backup, whether in backup mode or below the reserve, the Powerwalls will only charge at a maximum of 1.7 kW. In all other modes, the limit is 5 kW.

 

[rjdunn]

Cool, thx, cwied...

That makes sense...

It’s cloudy here today (thx, Tropical Storm Chris) so my solar is sorta limping along, but every now and then, the clouds part and it goes up. My solar is only 4.35 kW, but it sounds like on a good day it will charge pretty fast.

So, where is this stuff documented? I’m happy to RTFM, if I can find the FM ;-)

-Joel

 

[cwied]

Unfortunately Tesla’s attitude towards their users seems to be “don’t worry your pretty little head about it.” They don’t seem to want to share this level of detail. Maybe it’s because they want to be able to change it in the future without worrying about users counting on the behavior.