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Powerwalls during PG&E PSPS 2020-10-25
- Thread starter bmah
- Start date
Don’t understand. What were your 3PWs charged to before your power went out? Assume you got the StormWatch Active status and alert ahead of time. Also curious what you guys were running that depleted your PWs. You weren’t charging your car were you? Can you help us out and explain more?
We also have 3PWs (med solar system) but no PTO yet but also not in PSPS area. When we got the StormWatch Active status we used the grid during off peak to at least charge our PWs to 98% in case we lost power since we don’t have the luxury of solar recharging yet.
Yeah that statement is wrong. One of the big (sometimes overlooked) benefits of Powerwalls (and similar systems?) is solar inverters can continue to work even if the grid is out. One can clearly see that in the graph in my first post (the only power source I have other than the grid is solar...no e.g. gas generator). If I didn't have Powerwalls on the other hand, then my solar would have been useless for the past two days.
Bruce.
Something is wrong in your setup. As long as you have excess solar generation, the Powerwalls should recharge from this excess. Time to get it looked at if this is not the case.
You might test this occasionally by shutting off the grid. We do every few months.
The "I am ticked that it is bright and sunny, and my solar cannot power the house because the grid is down!!!" realization has driven many PowerWall sales to people with solar only installs.
SageBrush
REJECT Fascism
I just loved that part of the outage where Bruce had filled up his PWs and dumped excess PV power into an EV
I just loved that part of the outage where Bruce had filled up his PWs and dumped excess PV power into an EV
A common occurrence for me in the summer when the PowerWalls are full by 11 AM. I would rather put the juice in my Teslas than send it back to the grid for a paltry $0.04/kWh.
We do the same when the grid is down. Don't want that solar energy going to waste! Our normal household usage around 1 pm would be about 1 kW but I can bump it way up by charging a car or two.I just loved that part of the outage where Bruce had filled up his PWs and dumped excess PV power into an EV
Fortunately, our utility credits us the same rate they would charge us. When the grid is up, we try to export nearly all of our solar at ~$0.12/kWh (part-peak) or ~$0.20/kWh (peak). We have the Powerwalls programmed to power the house for all but 2 hours of the day. Then we charge at the $0.08/kWh off-peak rate.
SageBrush
REJECT Fascism
Yep. Electric water heaters can serve the same function. And an electric heat pump water heater is a perfect companion. Hopefully this is the near future where smart homes use energy efficiently and wisely.
I have not been on the program before, but my understanding is that as part of the NEM program PG&E only pays us the wholesale rate for any power we put in the grid. And these rates are around $0.04/kWh. Please let me know if I am wrong.
Not exactly. For power sent back to the grid, you will be credited at the retail rate, i.e., the same rate you pay for. Your annual true up bill will be the sum of all of your credits and usage each month. However, if your true up is net negative, you will not get a check in the mail. Thats where the 4 cents comes in. If you have a net annual over production of kWhs, then they will pay you 4 cents per kWh. Actuall, I think it is more like 3 cents. So, the best cost saving strategy, is to set App to Cost Saving. It will use PWs to power house during Peak and send solar to grid at peak rates
Sure. But in summer that is a lot of my production. During the morning the solar powers the house completely and still can recharge the Powerwalls by 11AM. From then on any excess solar (after A/C and other household usages) is dumped back into the grid. It is this excess electricity I use to charge the cars instead of getting $0.04/kWh. We are usually 100% self-powered until late August.
