Realistic expectations

[buckweet1980]

I bought one of the Sense Solar devices and just installed it.. As of 4pm CST, it was showing about 9kw being generated by the solar and 2 to 8kw being used by the home (A/C going on/off, multiple units).. This is more what I expected.

This Sense device is already way more accurate. What the Tesla app was saying doesn't match up with what the meter has been saying.

 

[getakey]

something is not wired right in your Gateway
I fought for 2 months with my installer and they finally admitted it was wired wrong

 

[jjrandorin]

I bought one of the Sense Solar devices and just installed it.. As of 4pm CST, it was showing about 9kw being generated by the solar and 2 to 8kw being used by the home (A/C going on/off, multiple units).. This is more what I expected.

This Sense device is already way more accurate. What the Tesla app was saying doesn't match up with what the meter has been saying.

I wanted one of those but was told that if you have powerwalls they dont work well with them. Without powerwalls they are supposed to be very good.

 

[charlesj]

Do you (or does anyone) know how the power blaster sends its data to tesla? It seems like it must be sent wirelessly, but how? Through WiFi? Did anyone ask for your WiFi credentials? Through zigbee to the little black gateway? I think that’s probably more likely. But from the pictures I’ve seen all the power blaster devices are installed inside the electrical panels, which has got to be pretty bad for wireless signals. Maybe try to put your gateway closer to the power blaster to see if that helps?

Most likely that power blaster sends data through the powerlines. You are right, in box is a death blow to wi-fi. This device has several names similar to this.

Yes, when they installed I gave my wi-fi code and they had to install an extender that shows it is operating. Has 4 blue light on: power, 2.4gHz, 5gHz, and signal. So, in my case neither is possible. Gateway is fixed in place, lots of heavy wire, so is the powerline transmitter that has to be by the solar breaker to measure solar generation and that too cannot be moved.
Just interesting how it works perfectly one day and not the next. Hard to believe that line noise is so strong on some days and not the other.

 

[BrettS]

Most likely that power blaster sends data through the powerlines. You are right, in box is a death blow to wi-fi. This device has several names similar to this.

That’s possible, but if it sends data through the power lines then what receives that data from the power lines and sends it on to tesla?

 

[charlesj]

something is not wired right in your Gateway
I fought for 2 months with my installer and they finally admitted it was wired wrong

For that 2 month, did it ever work properly? I would think not. Mine works for days then it doesn't.

 

[charlesj]

That’s possible, but if it sends data through the power lines then what receives that data from the power lines and sends it on to tesla?

The current sensor sends it to the Gateway as does the PW sends info to the gateway but that is hard wired.
Not sure where all the calculations are carried out, Gateway or Tesla data center, to show the info on the app. But the transmission to Tesla is by phone or wi-fi or ethernet cable to router through your cable company.
My Enphase inverters under each panel sends signal through the powerline to a box on desk that happens to be connected by ethernet cable to my wi-fi router because it is close and was able to wire to router. Currently for PW, ethernet cable is not easy at all, very far, from 2nd story to far end of garage, through two attics and walls.

 

[BrettS]

The current sensor sends it to the Gateway as does the PW sends info to the gateway but that is hard wired.
Not sure where all the calculations are carried out, Gateway or Tesla data center, to show the info on the app. But the transmission to Tesla is by phone or wi-fi or ethernet cable to router through your cable company.
My Enphase inverters under each panel sends signal through the powerline to a box on desk that happens to be connected by ethernet cable to my wi-fi router because it is close and was able to wire to router. Currently for PW, ethernet cable is not easy at all, very far, from 2nd story to far end of garage, through two attics and walls.

Keep in mind that there are two completely different configurations depending on whether you have solar only or solar and powerwalls. There are also two different devices called a gateway to further confuse things.

If you have powerwalls then your current is sensed with a neurio device that is contained within the large grey electrical panel gateway. This communicates to tesla though WiFi, an ethernet cable, or a cellular modem.

However, what we were talking about above was a solar only install. This uses a small black box gateway. This device connects to the internet through an ethernet cable. The inverter connects to the small black box through zigbee to report solar production. The solar only installs also use a power blaster device that is installed in the electrical panel to measure how much power is pulled from or sent to the grid. It is this device for the solar only installs that I don’t know how it communicates it’s data to tesla.

 

[getakey]

For that 2 month, did it ever work properly? I would think not. Mine works for days then it doesn't.

no. It worked perfectly when they first installed PWs. They were add on to existing Solar. They turned them on even though technically I did not have PTO. They came back out for inspection and had to change some wiring. Then it just showed very eratic power flows. I kept telling them that they changed something and they did nto believe me. Sent them all sorts of screen shots and they sent to Tesla. Finally the original crew came back and said the CTs were wired wrong. They fixed it.

 

[Troglodytes]

Hmmm.. down the rabbit hole a bit, but sharing for other people's knowledge:

University of British Columbia has some people who have some ideas (learned on kickstarter link below).
Company created called Energy Aware Technology, Inc.
Energy Aware Technology made the Powerblaster (photo credit: @PazzoPower in a different post)
https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/attachments/power-blaster-jpg.579381/

Energy Aware Technology also creates a kickstarter campaign to create a product called Neurio.
Neurio: Home Intelligence

Neurio Technology created in 2013
https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/energy-aware-technology-inc

Neurio product now available via neur.io and was subsequently acquired by Generac.
Generac Announces Acquisition of Neurio Technology Inc. | Generac Holdings Inc.

The above isn't complete, but the powerblaster and neurio have similar heritage it looks like.

Back to the problem at hand.. I believe that OP has two SE7600H's and the Tesla app isn't showing full power. Other sources are showing much higher generation numbers.

Someone else speculated that there was a wiring issue. I would agree with that assessment based on what has been said so far.

I wonder if the installers put the powerblaster's CT clamp for solar production on only one of the two wires coming from the inverters.

Also... I couldn't find any documentation on the Powerblaster any where. But, given the above information that Energy Aware Technology become Neurio Technology I wonder if a request to Neurio support might yield some guidance in the absence of any from Tesla.

 

[getakey]

here's an example of the eratic behavior. There were no clouds that day

 

[charlesj]

Keep in mind that there are two completely different configurations depending on whether you have solar only or solar and powerwalls. There are also two different devices called a gateway to further confuse things.

If you have powerwalls then your current is sensed with a neurio device that is contained within the large grey electrical panel gateway. This communicates to tesla though WiFi, an ethernet cable, or a cellular modem.

However, what we were talking about above was a solar only install. This uses a small black box gateway. This device connects to the internet through an ethernet cable. The inverter connects to the small black box through zigbee to report solar production. The solar only installs also use a power blaster device that is installed in the electrical panel to measure how much power is pulled from or sent to the grid. It is this device for the solar only installs that I don’t know how it communicates it’s data to tesla.

Oh, ok, solar only and your inverter is not under panels like mine.
It still has to communicate to Tesla or inverter company then they send to Tesla. Would the inverter company know?
Before PW mine sent signal through power lines to a box that in turned was connected to the internet wi-fi router by ethernet cable.
Have you checked your wi-fi router map to see if a box connected to the solar is accessing the wi-fi?

 

[charlesj]

no. It worked perfectly when they first installed PWs. They were add on to existing Solar. They turned them on even though technically I did not have PTO. They came back out for inspection and had to change some wiring. Then it just showed very eratic power flows. I kept telling them that they changed something and they did nto believe me. Sent them all sorts of screen shots and they sent to Tesla. Finally the original crew came back and said the CTs were wired wrong. They fixed it.

Same boat as you. When it was installed it worked operated without PTO, and was inspected about a month after installation. Worked pretty well, Still does but it is a hit and miss. Finally do have PTO

 

[DrSmile]

By any chance is the system using optimizers? If you have a Solaredge inverter and optimizers you can get panel by panel production information. I can detect the amount of shading my chimney throws on late afternoons that's how sensitive the info is.

It will also give you more accurate (but more delayed, it isn't instant, usually a few hours behind) production numbers than the app even if you have Powerwalls.

 

[buckweet1980]

Lots of chatter since I last looked as this thread, I'm impressed with the engagement!

My powerblaster only has the inductance coils on the main leads.. There isn't any on the solar feeds. The box itself doesn't have the connection points to even add more coils. My assumption is that Tesla app just reads the main leads and then what is reported by the inverters. I figured it's sending this signal via zigbee? But I am curious if it sends it through the power lines like someone mentioned.

Still though I have two issues:
#1 the app doesn't report the right solar generation, almost like one of the inverters isn't tied to my account. My attempts to shut an inverter off at a time didn't provide great results as the Tesla app seems to be delayed, or the data is just so wrong.
#2 the powerblaster doesn't appear to read the right power either.. In both issues, sometimes they disappear at different times. I figured

Someone mentioned a wiring issue for the solar system, I don't think that's the case here. With the Sense device I have coils on the main and solar leads (4 total) and it reports something totally different than what Tesla is saying. Sense reports are in line with what the power meter is saying overall generation/usage is. I don't have per second/minute granular details with my power company unfortunately, just hourly at most which is also delayed reporting.

I'll probably give Tesla a call tomorrow to see if everything is setup right in their systems.

 

[buckweet1980]

I just obtained installer access on SolarEdge and one of my inverters is registered to another site..

Because of my monitoring goofiness, it makes me wonder if Tesla only registered one device.

Then the next question is how do I get the one that's registered to another site switched over to mine.. Hopefully that isn't a big headache for SolarEdge to do..

 

[BrettS]

My powerblaster only has the inductance coils on the main leads.. There isn't any on the solar feeds. The box itself doesn't have the connection points to even add more coils. My assumption is that Tesla app just reads the main leads and then what is reported by the inverters. I figured it's sending this signal via zigbee? But I am curious if it sends it through the power lines like someone mentioned.

Yes, the tesla app gets the data about solar production directly from the inverters, which connect to the little black gateway box through zigbee. It certainly does sound like your system is only getting data from one of your inverters for some reason. The tesla app gets the data about how much power you are sending to or pulling from the grid from the power blaster device. But I don’t know how that device gets it’s data to tesla.

Then, since it knows how much power your solar is producing and how much power you are sending to or pulling from the grid it is able to determine how much power your house is using.

Still though I have two issues:
#1 the app doesn't report the right solar generation, almost like one of the inverters isn't tied to my account. My attempts to shut an inverter off at a time didn't provide great results as the Tesla app seems to be delayed, or the data is just so wrong.
#2 the powerblaster doesn't appear to read the right power either.. In both issues, sometimes they disappear at different times. I figured

Yeah, looks like tesla needs to get both inverters to be reporting to your account. I suspect that the issues with the power blaster might be related to this. As I said above, it figures out how much power your house is using based on the solar production and the power blaster data. But since the solar production data is wrong then the calculated numbers will be wrong too.

I imagine that tesla should be able to take care of this after you call them.

 

[BrettS]

Then the next question is how do I get the one that's registered to another site switched over to mine.. Hopefully that isn't a big headache for SolarEdge to do..

I believe that this is something that tesla will need to do. I tried to call solaredge a couple of times for various questions and issues, but they always told me that I needed to go back to the installer. They can’t make changes on an account that is registered to an installer.

 

[charlesj]

I just obtained installer access on SolarEdge and one of my inverters is registered to another site..

.....

What a goof by Tesla.

 

[Troglodytes]

My system was only partially configured by Tesla at installation in SolarEdge's monitoring system.

I have two SE inverters. Only one was listed for my SolarEdge monitoring site. Further, it wasn't until I plugged in the Ethernet that the monitoring received any data from even the single inverter. Zigbee was communicating to the black flat box labelled Tesla inside the house. No clue what data if any was actually getting back to Tesla. But, that inverter data was NOT getting back to SolarEdge.

I ended up calling SolarEdge and telling them that my installers hadn't added my second inverter. I then gave them the new SolarEdge site ID I had created using my SolarEdge installer account and asked them to move both of the inverters to the site I had created. That enabled me a lot more control over what I could see from the inverters.

I would avoid involving Tesla at all with changes to your SolarEdge monitoring setup. Telsa doesn't have any real engagement with SolarEdge as far as I could tell; either support wise or anything else. But, Tesla did threaten me with voiding the warranty if I made any changes to the system that did damage to the system.

With respect to the Powerblaster.. it sounds like the inductance coils for @buckweet1980 are only on your main supply lines and not on the lines coming from the inverters. For the Zigbee connection... what is it connecting to? Do you have a flat black box in your house that may be labelled Tesla or SolarCity? Or, is it connecting to the Powerblaster?

The powerline communication comments someone else made earlier involves an Ethernet cable from some device to something like a TPLink Ethernet-over-powerline adapter that then sends signals over the powerlines to another TPLink Ethernet-over-powerline adapter back to Ethernet and into a switch.