Powerwall Software 1.46

[woferry]

Nope, it happens pretty silently. If the update occurs while the sun is up you might see an unexpected dip in your solar curve since the system goes offline for a bit during the update. But even that isn't guaranteed, when my system updated to 1.45.2 mid-day there wasn't even a blip in the chart. I'm still on 1.45.2, though since I don't have any Tesla vehicles I don't really care when 1.46 hits.

 

[Cirrus MS100D]

OK - I've got one to stump everybody:

We have 2x Powerwalls, a 2017 Model S, and a HPWC connected/backed up to the Powerwalls on Powerwall firmware 1.46.0

For whatever reason, *WE* are seeing the "Vehicle Charging During Power Outage" on our app?! I assumed us Model S folks would be left behind for a while as the new 3/Y folks got all the new fancy features, but here we are.

Our Model S has been basically dormant since early April, haven't even charged it since mid-March since it's at ~70% right now. Weird.

 

[cwied]

OK - I've got one to stump everybody:

We have 2x Powerwalls, a 2017 Model S, and a HPWC connected/backed up to the Powerwalls on Powerwall firmware 1.46.0

For whatever reason, *WE* are seeing the "Vehicle Charging During Power Outage" on our app?! I assumed us Model S folks would be left behind for a while as the new 3/Y folks got all the new fancy features, but here we are.

Our Model S has been basically dormant since early April, haven't even charged it since mid-March since it's at ~70% right now. Weird.

I don't think they're rolling out based on car ownership, it's purely whether the Powerwall is ready for it. I have a Model X, and I got the feature right after the 1.46 upgrade. It'll be interesting to see whether a car on a different Tesla account will communicate with the Powerwall to adjust charging current.

 

[alexguichet]

For whatever reason, *WE* are seeing the "Vehicle Charging During Power Outage" on our app?! I assumed us Model S folks would be left behind for a while as the new 3/Y folks got all the new fancy features, but here we are.

The setting appears for you to configure in your customize menu, no matter the vehicles you own. What if you don't own a Tesla vehicle, but you have a friend with one come to charge during a (probably hypothetical) multi-day outage? They should still be able to charge just fine, using your threshold settings.

 

[Mr. Ed]

Tesla Rocks! We have a 2017 Model X and a 2019 Chevy Bolt. We also have 5.2 KW solar with a solar water heater and two Powerwall 2's that backup the whole house. In the past my plan was to charge the cars up before any tropical storm was due in the area. With this update, I do not see this as the best plan. With this update, if the grid goes down I can make use of the power that would normally be wasted if I make more electricity than I can use and the the Powerwalls can store. Because I have an adapter that allows me to charge my Bolt from the Wall Connector I will be able to power the Tesla and the Bolt with the extra power I normally generate on a sunny day. So I look at this update as a way to not only keep the cars from draining the Powerwalls, but as a way to get the most from my solar in an outage. What other company keeps improving what you buy after it is bought and paid for free?

 

[Sonus]

What other company keeps improving what you buy after it is bought and paid for free?

Apple, Google, Sonos, Amazon, Samsung, Philips, Ecobee, LG.... Should I continue??

 

[dortor4ev]

I’m not sure if non-tesla’s will use “extra solar” - I believe the plan is to modulate the car’s charging demand based on what hte powerwall “sees” as excess solar - I’m not sure how this could possibly work with non-tesla car’s - and the powerwalls are not communicating with the EVSE - so the only way I see this working is to have the powerwall gateway (which is the only device with the knowledge of how much excess solar power there is) to communicate with the Tesla vehicles and have them ramp their charging demand up/down based on current conditions...

I don’t see how this possibly works with a Bolt or any non-Tesla EV - there is no way for the powerwall system to turn their charging on/off or change the demand to match production - it’s just not possible.

 

[dortor4ev]

think it through - you have your non-Tesla EV plugged into your EVSE - and this EVSE is powered via solar/battery - you’re off grid, and the EV is charging - you have your threshhold set to 75% to stop charging the non-Tesla EV - boom you hit 75% and the powerwall gateway knows this - how does it tell your non-Tesla EV to stop charging? there is _NO_ communication channel for it to send that message to the EVSE or the EV-vehicle - it will keep drawing power...

 

[Sonus]

It can be integrated into the charger, most chargers today can start and stop a charge based on time, some of them can limit charge speed dynamically. All is missing is a public API to the gateway and you are set.

 

[dortor4ev]

It can be integrated into the charger, most chargers today can start and stop a charge based on time, some of them can limit charge speed dynamically. All is missing is a public API to the gateway and you are set.

I understand it _COULD_ be done - but the fact is not even Tesla HPWC's have this integration - to my knowledge there is _NO_ charger on the market with this integration - certainly not anything anyone already has installed - the _ONLY_ way today to exert this type of control over an EV charging session is via the Tesla's command/control protocol via the Tesla cloud - which the Powerwall and Tesla cars can communicate over...but until there is new charging hardware and a published hardware/software interface there is no mechanism to control EV charging for non-Tesla vehicles.

 

[Sonus]

I understand it _COULD_ be done - but the fact is not even Tesla HPWC's have this integration - to my knowledge there is _NO_ charger on the market with this integration - certainly not anything anyone already has installed - the _ONLY_ way today to exert this type of control over an EV charging session is via the Tesla's command/control protocol via the Tesla cloud - which the Powerwall and Tesla cars can communicate over...but until there is new charging hardware and a published hardware/software interface there is no mechanism to control EV charging for non-Tesla vehicles.

Yes, not yet but not that hard to impl.

I would like to see that feature all the time not just when there is a power outage, why can't I set my car to charge just form solar all the time, keep it plugged in and let it charge just from excess solar, no solar no charge.

 

[darhall993]

Yes, not yet but not that hard to impl.

I would like to see that feature all the time not just when there is a power outage, why can't I set my car to charge just form solar all the time, keep it plugged in and let it charge just from excess solar, no solar no charge.

Sonus makes a great point. Managing the car charging during a power outage is a nice feature, but also having the Powerwall/GW manage excess solar during normal operations with the Grid-on would be the total solution. That is the feature I want most.

 

[dortor4ev]

the bottom line is this is a great feature - and is a step in the right direction - and if you own a Tesla EV great integration is possible and for some use cases has already been delivered - BUT the current state of the world is this "feature" provides zero integration with non-Tesla EV's and EVSE's so this feature will not keep your Bolt/eGolf/Taycan/MiniSE/iPace/Smart/e500/i3/Leaf from draining your Powerwall batteries or charge them off of excess solar…there is _NO_ integration for non-Tesla vehicles at this time - in fact these non-Tesla EV's won't even be able to respect the "no charge below this % threshold" since the Powerwall gateway has no way to "tell" the cars to stop charging…so for now this is a Tesla _ONLY_ feature - I'll look forward to the future when this is no longer the case.

 

[TheDon]

I am even newer to PW and Solar. Tesla is supposed to install the end of May 2020.

When the PWs (getting 2) are installed, will I get this version of software (or greater) when they turn it over? What type of questions should I expect from the installers?

Thanks..
DonC

 

[dortor4ev]

It can be integrated…

yes it can be integrated - anything is possible - it's only software after all - but to be clear it is _NOT_ integrated at this time beyond the Tesla Ecosystem. So let's not confuse what's possible (anything) in the future, with what has actually been delivered at this time. Tesla's only at this time, and I know of no announced timeline for anything beyond that.

 

[Cirrus MS100D]

Yeah, sorry but I have to disagree with the folks saying it doesn’t have anything to do with the car - it absolutely has EVERYTHING to do with the car and nothing (currently) to do with the charger or the Powerwall - It’s doing what some folks have already done via the Powerwall and vehicle APIs.

The FAQ page still lists North America S/X as “coming soon” and TBF, I haven’t actually cut power yet to see if it works as intended.

 

[bemyax]

zappi - smart EV charger - made in Britain | myenergi The Zappi is mostly off-topic for this conversation, but charging from excess solar isn't really new. And the video has some peppy background music. (Okay, carry on.)

 

[jjrandorin]

I am even newer to PW and Solar. Tesla is supposed to install the end of May 2020.

When the PWs (getting 2) are installed, will I get this version of software (or greater) when they turn it over? What type of questions should I expect from the installers?

Thanks..
DonC

None really... installers will want to put your powerwall online so you want to think about wireless / wired or if no other option, cellular. If you have all 3 available, they can activate all 3, and the system will fall back from wired, to wireless, to cellular if the other 2 are not available.

I selected wired (ethernet) from the gateway to an access point I put by the powerwalls for that purpose, but its up to you.

Other than that, you dont get to pick firmware, just like tesla cars, you will "get it when you get it". They will run a firmware update on install but it will only update to whatever is queued for your serial number.. just like the cars.

My powerwalls are also still on 1.45.2 even though for the other updates, i have been near the front / beginning of the rollout, and I have a model 3 on my account as well, so theoretically I am in the sweetspot for the feature.

You need to be thinking more along the lines of physical items In my opinion... where are they going to put the powerwalls, how you want the conduit run, getting a good handle on labeling your breaker circuits so you know exactly what is what in the new setup, etc. Firmware version is definitely not on the "list of things to be concerned about" when it comes to install.

 

[MakeUSGreat]

I have 3 Tesla’s and would love to have my option to use my vehicles battery as a power wall in a emergency.

 

[miimura]

zappi - smart EV charger - made in Britain | myenergi The Zappi is mostly off-topic for this conversation, but charging from excess solar isn't really new. And the video has some peppy background music. (Okay, carry on.)

Your point is well taken, but a little off target. AFAIK, Zappi is not available in North America.
I don't know of a commercial solution like that which is available in North America.
You can theoretically do it with the Slave function on a Gen2 Tesla Wall Connector as discussed in this thread:
New Wall Connector load sharing protocol