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Powerwall Location Options
- Thread starter BIC1
- Start date
Silly question, we have a really stupid outdoor space (side yard that is blocked by this large concrete drainage device (don't ask us, all the home in our community have them). Anyways.... it's just a dirt side yard. Would they wall mount in that location? or does there need to be a concrete pad below them?
Alternatively any risk in having the powerwalls in a publicly accessible location? Like is there anything people could really mess with? For what its worth the breaker box is publicly accessible (well after cutting the padlock, but you get the idea).
Alternatively any risk in having the powerwalls in a publicly accessible location? Like is there anything people could really mess with? For what its worth the breaker box is publicly accessible (well after cutting the padlock, but you get the idea).
I’m not quite sure I understand the description of your yard, but just having dirt on the side yard won’t be a problem. The powerwalls can be mounted on the wall above the ground, but they can’t be stacked that way, so that would likely only work if you were getting one or two powerwalls (or had a lot of wall space). If they are mounted so they are sitting on the ground they can be stacked so up to three powerwalls can go against each other. There does need to be a pad under them if they are mounted so they are sitting on the ground, but tesla will bring a plastic pad that they can be mounted on.
There is also a concern about getting the powerwalls to that location. You say that the yard is blocked by a large concrete drainage device. Would they be able to wheel the powerwalls to that location on a hand truck? Each powerwall weighs in the neighborhood of 300lbs, so they likely won’t want to lift them over anything. But as long as the area is accessible I don’t think there would be any problem with them mounting them there.
As far as them being accessible, I mean if someone really wanted to damage them or cause problems I’m sure that they could. Additionally they do have a switch that can be used to turn them off, but I’m not sure it’s much more risk than having your electrical panel exposed on the outside of your house. They are quite heavy and will be screwed to the side of your house, so it wouldn’t be easy for someone to physically remove them and steal them or anything like that.
Agree with all this advice, and also consider the light on the right side is somewhat bright on the side of them. You may not want this to shine into a sleeping room if you appreciate dark.
I would like more information on this plastic pad. From what I have seen the available plastic air conditioning pads aren't really up to handling the weight of 3 Powerwall's. Curious what your experience is? I have suspected this is a good alternative to a poured concrete slab, but haven't seen anyone doing it yet.
So our lot is a rectangle with the house sitting not perfectly in the middle resulting in a "skinny" and a "fatter" sideyards. Both side yards have gates to the front yard, the skinny side also has a door from the garage. Both sides have these large concrete earth filled rectangles (maybe 4 ft wide, 8feet long, and 4 ft tall) that the gutters dump into (again all the houses in this neighborhood have these, no idea what they are really). On the skinny side that concrete thing takes up the width of the sideyard so it effectively leaves us with the space from the gate to the front yard to the concrete thing (since it blocks access to the backyard). Currently we just store our trash cans and a few other outdoor tolerated odds and ends. I'm hoping there is room for the powerwalls there but not certain. Our garage is a true 2 car garage with almost no extra room outside of the garage door tracks, so in an indoor installation would really eat into the space.
Never seen anything like what @kardiff_kris is describing that I can recall. Been in San Diego but still drawing a blank. Love to see a photo. Sounds like an unfortunate issue to possibly work around.
I don’t have a lot of experience really, but I know that when Tesla was doing my install, on install day I was debating between having the powerwalls installed outside or in my garage. At one point I asked my installers if they were installed outside if they would need pads and they gestured to a couple large plastic pads that were in the back of their truck and said that they brought them. In the end I decided to have the powerwalls installed in the garage, but it’s certainly my understanding that if they had been installed outside they would have used those plastic pads. They also had some bags of stones near the pads, so I believe that they would have put them on a bed of stones.
If you can post some pictures that would definitely help us try to determine if you might have room for the powerwalls there. I’m still having a hard time picturing it just with the description.
For those asking for photos:
From the backyard to front yard. Circuit breakers are just past the fence, the older solar city stuff inside the garage (where the door in the photo leads to) on the same wall but just inside versus being outside.
Where ideally i'd like the powerwalls to go (don't mind the scuba tanks, obviously be moved)
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Wow, yeah, pictures definitely help... that was not at all like I was picturing.
So the potential issues I see would be wall space and clearance in front of the powerwalls. The powerwalls need a minimum of 38” of wall space. Two inches of space on the left, six inches of space on the right, and then 30” for the powerwall itself. It’s a little hard to tell there, but do you have 38” between your drainage thing and that door?
Code may also require a certain amount of space in front of the powerwall as well. I know that in my jurisdiction, at least, I need at least 3 feet of open space in front of any electrical panel. I’m not sure if the powerwall counts as an electrical panel or if you would have that same three foot space requirement, but there maybe some limitation there.
Assuming neither of those are issues then I don’t think there would be a problem.
So the potential issues I see would be wall space and clearance in front of the powerwalls. The powerwalls need a minimum of 38” of wall space. Two inches of space on the left, six inches of space on the right, and then 30” for the powerwall itself. It’s a little hard to tell there, but do you have 38” between your drainage thing and that door?
Code may also require a certain amount of space in front of the powerwall as well. I know that in my jurisdiction, at least, I need at least 3 feet of open space in front of any electrical panel. I’m not sure if the powerwall counts as an electrical panel or if you would have that same three foot space requirement, but there maybe some limitation there.
Assuming neither of those are issues then I don’t think there would be a problem.
It's 58" from the concrete to the door and 50" from wall to the narrowest part of the fence, but it's just a dirt floor which is my concern.
And yeah I had never seen anything like that concrete thing before either, but after talking to the neighbors they were just part of the builders construction plans. I am assuming it something to mitigate water runoff/drainage. Just with the gutter outlet and the fact it has aerator pipe (i'm guessing) coming up out of it.
Beyond that door is the front yard space & the circuit breakers. The landscaping there is just mulch, so it could be there I suppose. Ideally want it not visible to the public.
Its 58" from the concrete to the stucco trim around the door, and 50" from the wall of the house to the narrowest section of the fence. It's just hard pack dirt there (with the exception of a small concrete patch right in front of the door).
Yes they can and did on our house. However make sure it is specifically understood this is your intent — even if you have to diagram the layout for them of what you would like to see. We sent in photos but there was some apparent miscommunication when we saw our plans. Had told them ideally we wanted the equipment on the other side of the garage and I think they thought maybe we were only talking about the 3 PWs being on that far wall. The electrician originally thought this was going to be a one day job and we were expecting and had been told likely 2. It was longer, and a more complicated install for them. They were always professional throughout. The roof install was a breeze in comparison.
The team really preferred to place the Gateway2 on the outer most interior wall of the garage that was opposite our MSP. Less conduit and wiring to run and no real angles to negotiate when done thru wall. Due to the extra run of 2” PVC to the Gateway2 and I think 1” metal conduit, it ran us an extra $1600 for the materials/labor. I know 2” schedule 80 isn’t cheap. They ran all the conduit overhead on the garage ceiling giving it an industrial look, this instead of trying to negotiate a run on the wall just above the garage door. I think it looks better overhead so happy with that layout. They did run all these layout ideas by us when they were planning how to tackle it.
They needed to relocate our patio heater control box and NEMA 14-50 to make room for the two interior load centers. The drywall guy just finished up with the drywall repairs; nice job. We have our house painter coming to paint our exterior wall that had the MPU and will likely have him paint the interior garage walls and conduit too. Wednesday we’re schedule for City inspection, fingers crossed.
Not showing the 14-50 relocation yet and not painted but this should give you an idea of the overhead conduit run.
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Oh no. Please tell me that’s an old picture and you aren’t planing to leave the protective plastic on your powerwalls indefinitely like @jboy210. I don’t know if I can handle another set of powerwalls with plastic on them randomly appearing in forum pictures from time to time
Oh no. Please tell me that’s an old picture and you aren’t planing to leave the protective plastic on your powerwalls indefinitely like @jboy210. I don’t know if I can handle another set of powerwalls with plastic on them randomly appearing in forum pictures from time to time
Blinders! Blinders!
Waiting for final and maybe PTO as our painter will touch up the paint and I’m thinking paint the conduit at least up to ceiling...still thinking about this. Then the wraps come off and the sunshine gets captured LOL.
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