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Powerwall Stormwatch
- Thread starter Brovane
- Start date
Actually, Colorado users reported that Blizzard Warning did not activate Storm Watch. Given that Blizzard = Heavy Snow + High Wind and High Wind Warning triggers Storm Watch, Elon acknowledged on Twitter that this should be fixed.
Clouds, not so much.
That was us.
We confirmed it when the next storm came through.
I have thought the same thing with the cloud cover being so heavy in the mornings. Finally got some good sunlight in Lake Forest today. The flip side, not having to use the HVAC to cool down the house.
Storm watch charges above 100 percent. This can cause frequency issues for folks because the powerwall will be so full it does not want the Pv to come on. So don't be alarmed if it's sunny and the Pv doesn't come on for a few hours when you are offgrid after storm watch.
Okay, so:
We now have heavy thunderstorm warnings and I’m seeing Storm Watch for the first time (activated).
Based on everything I’ve seen here I would assume my PWs would now charge to above 100% but: they are at 99% and no power is going to the batteries. (Not from solar or grid.)
What’s the point of SW? I would assume it would take all power it could until it gets to the (fake) 110%.
Or am I missing something here?
We just fell off SW... I wonder do you have to be in SW for X hours before it will charge? Doesn’t make sense, how would it know when bad weather is arriving.
We now have heavy thunderstorm warnings and I’m seeing Storm Watch for the first time (activated).
Based on everything I’ve seen here I would assume my PWs would now charge to above 100% but: they are at 99% and no power is going to the batteries. (Not from solar or grid.)
What’s the point of SW? I would assume it would take all power it could until it gets to the (fake) 110%.
Or am I missing something here?
We just fell off SW... I wonder do you have to be in SW for X hours before it will charge? Doesn’t make sense, how would it know when bad weather is arriving.
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The benefit of Storm Watch is that it can charge your batteries from the grid before or during a storm. It's great when it activates at night or during a blizzard or thunderstorm before the grid goes down. If your batteries are already charged, then there's no need for it to activate.
I don't know why yours didn't charge from 99% to 100% but since they were already almost fully charged, it wouldn't have made much difference if they had.
BTW, I've never seen my Powerwalls charge over 100%. The next time they are charged to 100% by Storm Watch, I'll check the API and see what it reports.
Huh. Thanks, David. I would assume it would charge immediately and all the way to the max of 110 if 100 is really 90% as has been reported. (Approximate calculations
.) As you say it may think at 99% that there’s no quick need and only ‘overcharge’ if SW is on for a long time.
And the situation is definitely different for TOU cases like yours where the level is a lot lower during the day, etc. We’re never lower than 97% since the PWs are only for backup.
No, unfortunately it's just on or off. That would be a nice feature though. It appears that you can turn it off if it is activated during a peak to stop charging and then turn it back on after the peak to resume charging.
Darwin
Member
A Stormwatch grid draw during peak hours would result in a huge demand charge with my utility demand rates as well. If you have a SmartThings or Hubitat Home Automation hub, you can schedule Stormwatch to be off during your utility peak periods with this app:
Tesla Powerwall Manager app for SmartThings (and Hubitat) Hubs - DarwinsDen.com
woferry
Member
I don't have any first-hand knowledge as I've just left Storm Watch disabled, but others have said on here that if it isn't enabled when the event starts, enabling it later does not result in grid charging (the event is just missed). So that would seem to be a minus for toggling it on and off during the day, turning it off once Storm Watch starts (as it sounded like in that case turning it back on later would resume grid charging, unless I misunderstood) would seem to be the better approach if you actually want Storm Watch to do anything. But it would involve catching things pretty quickly once grid charging started to minimize the charges.
I would not hold my breath for that. Tesla seems to have a strategy of picking only the low-hanging fruit. They'll probably take a while before they get to convenience issues like this. Given how unoptimally their cost-saving algorithm works, they don't seem to be too worried about saving their users every possible penny.
aesculus
Still Trying to Figure This All Out
I just went through 2 of these in the last 10 days and toggled mine off and on to work around peak charging. Responded within a few minutes each time. On 1.47 FW.
aesculus
Still Trying to Figure This All Out
On the weekend especially (EVA) I turn it off during peak and then I will turn it back on again after peek passes tonight. It probably won't discharge past 80% today. PG&E will then charge it back up again for me at off peak rates. Then tomorrow I will repeat (unless I lose power).
RKCRLR
Active Member
Interesting. I'm not that far from you but I'm not in Storm Watch mode. Must be on the other side of the line.
aesculus
Still Trying to Figure This All Out
It's weird. I don't get their logic in some cases and certainly don't understand their maps. I guess they have to draw a line somewhere.
On the map front: Look at this webpage. The main map shows a very defined area within the Sacramento Valley for RFW. But the smaller map you can click into to get a neighborhood forecast for, is different. It appears that the smaller map is what is driving the location of Storm Watch vs the bigger, upper map area. And if you go to the SF NWS site you get another view again.
Sacramento, CA
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