Powerwall Temporary Operation without Gateway

[mokonack]

Are Powerwalls able to function/provide backup power without a connected gateway?

I am having my Gateway 2 relocated from an interior garage wall to the exterior side of the same wall, and ideally would like my Powerwalls to continue providing power while the electrician disconnects, moves, and reconnects the Gateway box itself. Currently the Powerwall breakers are connected directly inside my load panel, so can remain connected during the move. Obviously the system can function when the grid itself is disconnected, but I'm not clear if the Powerwalls require control from the Gateway to continue discharging.

I suppose I could test this myself by first doing a grid disconnect so they start discharging then flipping the main breaker in my panel to electrically isolate the gateway entirely, but I was wondering if anyone else had done this before or knew specifically how the Powerwalls are controlled in this situation.

 

[power.saver]

No, PW will not function without the Gateway on and connected.

 

[Matt-FL]

The gateway is essentially the 'controller' and tells the powerwalls when to provide power to the house. They Powerwalls go through the gateway breakers before providing power to your house. So, no, they will not work independently.

 

[mokonack]

The gateway is essentially the 'controller' and tells the powerwalls when to provide power to the house. They Powerwalls go through the gateway breakers before providing power to your house. So, no, they will not work independently.

What do you mean by "gateway breaker?" There isn't anything physically between the Powerwall and the home loads. Though presumably you mean without a signal over the gateway communication cable they shutdown for safety. I'll have to consider if there is an alternative way to minimize downtime.

 

[jjrandorin]

Powerwalls dont work without the Tesla gateway (unless perhaps you were building some sort of custom BMS system which It doesnt sound like).

 

[Matt-FL]

My Tesla gateway has a 220 breaker for each installed powerwall (4x). These are combined in the gateway, and provide power to the house through the house mains. The gateway is the automatic switcher between solar, powerwalls, grid and house.

 

[mokonack]

My Tesla gateway has a 220 breaker for each installed powerwall (4x). These are combined in the gateway, and provide power to the house through the house mains. The gateway is the automatic switcher between solar, powerwalls, grid and house.

Ah, those are the Powerwall breakers themselves - mine are located (temporarily) in my main loads panel. My Gateway does not have the optional internal panelboard which yours does.

 

[skepticcyclist]

My Tesla gateway has a 220 breaker for each installed powerwall (4x). These are combined in the gateway, and provide power to the house through the house mains. The gateway is the automatic switcher between solar, powerwalls, grid and house.

View attachment 971796

Interesting. My gateway doesn't have any breakers. The PW breakers are in the subpanel between the powerwall and gateway

 

[Matt-FL]

Mine is a whole panel backup setup, no sub panels. That's probably the difference.

 

[lodar]

Are Powerwalls able to function/provide backup power without a connected gateway?

Managing the Powerwalls is a bit like balancing a broomstick on your fingertips. They have to provide just enough power for your home without leaking battery power onto the grid. This is despite your house power needs fluctuating, and if you have solar, its fluctuations too!

The Gateway has CTs that constantly measure the flow of electricity in and out to the grid, your house, and solar. It is constantly making minute adjustments to the Powerwall output (or input) to perfectly balance the flow of energy.

Your Powerwalls are useless without the Gateway to control the flow of power.

 

[mokonack]

Just to close the loop on this with some empirical evidence, the consensus is correct; without AC power to the gateway (via grid or the Powerwalls), the Powerwalls will shut down.

I used the "Go off-grid" option in the Tesla app to disconnect the grid, then flipped the main breaker between my load center and the gateway to electrically isolate it from any power sources. The Powerwalls continued providing power for maybe 5 seconds and then went dark.