Powerwalls not charging to 100% when Storm Watch is triggered?

[sk00]

Storm Watch happened twice this past winter season (one happening currently) and I noticed in both cases the Powerwalls' SOC maxes out at 99% instead of 100%. On non-StormWatch days the Powerwalls correctly charge to 100% from solar.

Is there a reason for that or just a glitch with the system?

 

[patrick40363]

Mine stays at 97%. I wonder if they stared doing it that way so any solar production can go into the battery when an outage happens?

 

[astrorob]

before the last AR there was no storm watch, so i set my reserve to 100%, and the PW charged all the way up on solar energy.

i noticed in the morning that the SOC was down slightly. the PW reported a 3-5 watts exported during each 5 minute period during the night. what's weird is that the SOC levels are sometimes discontinuous, running along at 100% for quite a while with a stepwise drop to like 99% or 98%. but maybe that's what the SOC looks like with such small draw from the battery.

on the other hand, on some nights it's just pegged at 100% all night. so not sure what's going on. but at such a high SOC maybe they just don't attempt to charge from the grid. in the cases where my SOC dropped overnight, it did return to 100% via solar.

 

[skepticcyclist]

This is normal. Mine always only charge to 98-99% even when solar is active. Once storm watch ends the solar will then charge to 100%

03-09-2023 - No Stormwatch for Northern CA?

I am surprised there is no Stormwatch for Northern and Central CA. We must run pumps to keep the yard clear when it rains hard. I am worried about keeping the Powerwalls topped off, given the skies will be overcast. We are forecast to get over 6 inches of rain in the next few days.

teslamotorsclub.com

 

[arnolddeleon]

Without Stormwatch I see 100% recently with Stormwatch I see 98%. My GUESS is that they remove/reduce the buffer when in Stormwatch.

 

[jjrandorin]

Without Stormwatch I see 100% recently with Stormwatch I see 98%. My GUESS is that they remove/reduce the buffer when in Stormwatch.

Thats what my guess also is, and I also see 98-99% on stormwatch mode as the most it fills to. It certainly seems intentional to me, since I believe it has been mentioned before and multiple different people see it when stormwatch activates.

 

[nyprepper]

this behavior has changed with a recent update. i used to see 100% in Storm Watch. Only within the last few months have I observed a 98% cap. I'm tempted to toggle to grid charging to see they come up to 100%. my panels are buried under a foot of snow right now and i'm flabbergasted we haven't lost grid power yet.

 

[skepticcyclist]

this behavior has changed with a recent update. i used to see 100% in Storm Watch. Only within the last few months have I observed a 98% cap. I'm tempted to toggle to grid charging to see they come up to 100%. my panels are buried under a foot of snow right now and i'm flabbergasted we haven't lost grid power yet.

Just turn off storm watch during the day to let your solar charge to 100%. Even with limited sun you will still produce some solar. Then turn storm watch back on

 

[h2ofun]

Just turn off storm watch during the day to let your solar charge to 100%. Even with limited sun you will still produce some solar. Then turn storm watch back on

With grid charging, really no longer a need for storm watch

 

[cwied]

Without Stormwatch I see 100% recently with Stormwatch I see 98%. My GUESS is that they remove/reduce the buffer when in Stormwatch.

The Wh numbers the API returns for pack energy and current charge do not reflect this. My personal guess is they minimize charging at a high SOC to avoid battery degradation. Doesn't backup-only do something similar? I seem to remember that it also would let the charge float down to 97% before charging again.

 

[aesculus]

With grid charging, really no longer a need for storm watch

In fact unless I don't want to have my PWs discharge during peak with solar, I don't use SW. I like the fact that grid charging takes into account the cost of power where SW prioritizes getting the batteries charged. They both have their sweat spot so I am happy they are both available.