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Powerwall Location Options
- Thread starter BIC1
- Start date
Interestingly, my installer charges a flat fee for Powerwalls ($12,500 for the first one), didn't even come out to look at my house before installing. My install turned out pretty easy, but guess it balances out with the hard installs in the long run. Nonetheless, it took three guys, two full days so far, and they're coming back for another half day or so.
aesculus
Still Trying to Figure This All Out
A pretty easy install is two guys for 4 hours, maybe 6 at the most, including a lunch break.
JPP
Active Member
Photographic data point;
Existing vintage 2013 SolarCity (now Tesla) 16kW PV with 4 inverters--new PWs and associated hardware.
Oh, and don't assume an easy install. With the current 'fast track' streamlined planning, there is no preliminary site visit. They got a lot of photos from me. They had my original plans, calcs & permits from SolarCity. But I have a complicated electrical system with 400A service and my meter and main disconnect 50 feet away from the garage, attached to a detached office. PWs only backing up the 2 subpanels (out of a total of 4) you see here. My first install team arrived (one local electrician, 1 from Reno), took more than an hour to figure out the 'as built' conditions, and realized that there was no way that they could finish the job. 2nd team (new crew) came a few days later (1 local, 1 from Vermont), and, again, a 1 hour orientation. Full day of work--still not done. Same team came back a few days later--system basically complete but some issues with the Neurio on the meter that is supposed to monitor full house load (is not communicating with the Gateway). So 3 days...not so easy. YMMV.
Existing vintage 2013 SolarCity (now Tesla) 16kW PV with 4 inverters--new PWs and associated hardware.
Oh, and don't assume an easy install. With the current 'fast track' streamlined planning, there is no preliminary site visit. They got a lot of photos from me. They had my original plans, calcs & permits from SolarCity. But I have a complicated electrical system with 400A service and my meter and main disconnect 50 feet away from the garage, attached to a detached office. PWs only backing up the 2 subpanels (out of a total of 4) you see here. My first install team arrived (one local electrician, 1 from Reno), took more than an hour to figure out the 'as built' conditions, and realized that there was no way that they could finish the job. 2nd team (new crew) came a few days later (1 local, 1 from Vermont), and, again, a 1 hour orientation. Full day of work--still not done. Same team came back a few days later--system basically complete but some issues with the Neurio on the meter that is supposed to monitor full house load (is not communicating with the Gateway). So 3 days...not so easy. YMMV.
JPP
Active Member
Watts_Up
Well-Known Member
JPP
Active Member
I would had preferred raising a little bi the Powerwall from the floor, to allow easy cleaning of the floor or future painting.
May be I would but some piece of wood around the base to act as a bumper to avoid any damage when cleaning the floor.
FWIW I usually just vacuum the floor and use a crevice tool at the bottom of the Powerwalls. Today I wet mopped the floor. No damage--all good. BTW the concrete floor is coated with this:
Polycuramine® Garage Floor Coating Kit
The prep is a bit of a PITA (clean and acid etch concrete, allow to dry, test residual moisture content). The 2-part mix cooks off very fast and is really hard. Hot car tires don't faze it a bit. It is slippery when wet--but I don't like the look of the granules you can sprinkle on.
Husband did the Rustoleum EpoxyShield coating on ours with the decorative chips a number of years ago. Lots of prep work before rolling out and agree about the PITA part but doing a floor coating does make the garage floor look nice and easy to clean. He then added their top coat treatment, clear, that incorporated something like sand granules (their "Anti-Skid Additive") in it to give it a bit of surface tension for when the floor is wet. Stays nice and shiny but safer underfoot. Can't say I really notice those granules. We weren't sure about adding the chips to our epoxy coating but in the end did. That Rustoleum Polycuramine product wasn't out when we did our garage. Have to say that our garage floor still looks great. Doing the proper deep cleaning is really the key to having it last and not flake or peel.
BTW if anyone is motivated to epoxy your garage floor and want to add the chips to it, casting them can leave an uneven look to them. I took a paper cut and punched some holes in the bottom of it for the chips to pass through and we used it like a salt & pepper shaker to create a much more even application.
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We were able to install our 4 PowerWalls inside our garage without any exposed conduit, by having the cabling run through the wall and connect to the equipment outside on the other side of the wall.
Is there an allowance to have the powerwalls not right next to the meter? Our meter is in a bedroom in the basement and I have been trying to get Tesla to look at installing the powerwalls in our utility room about 30-40 feet from the meter instead. Over the last three months, the only responses have been that the install team will look at it when they show.
In most climates, indoors is somewhat superior. The main downside to the exterior is that you will spend more energy keeping them warm so they can effectively charge and discharge. If you have a lot of PV this isn't an issue as much or at all. If your PV is undersized it can be a very big deal especially in a winter outage when your PV resource is low. Waiting an hour in the morning to warm up the Powerwalls before they can operate might be 20% of your solar day.
For $1-1,500 its worth having them inside IMO
For $1-1,500 its worth having them inside IMO
Does anyone know if Tesla will install the Powerwalls and inverters on the opposite side of the garage that the electrical panel is on? My main electrical panel is on the left side of the garage, but I would like the Powerwalls and inverters to be on the right side, as there is more room on that side, with virtually nothing on the opposite wall.
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.You will want to let them know thats where you want it before hand (that wall). They will already have a wall designated in your plan somewhere (if you are at that stage). You also likely need to be ok with surface run conduit., and also might need at least one extra box on the side with the panel currently.
Thank you for the quick response jjrandorin. I am OK with a surface run of conduit, might bring some flare to my boring garage. I got my initial design today, it just shows the layout of the solar panels, and mentions the powerwalls and additional equipment will be installed near your power meter. On installation date the Tesla crew will discuss exact location based on preference and feasibility.
I would recommend speaking with your energy advisor (email, etc) and letting them know what you want, somewhere on that wall in the garage, and send them the two pictures inside the garage if they were not part of the survey pics you sent in.
"Exact" location would be "where on this wall", but since you want it on the opposite garage wall I would just make sure its in your file somewhere that you asked for that. I am not an expert, but I believe it would be fairly simple for them to surface run conduit to the other side of the garage. What I dont know is, which devices, if any, will still need to be on the wall with the panel.
bkp_duke
Well-Known Member
Yes, they will. Mine are on the opposite side of a 3-car garage.
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