Recharge from Solar during Peak

[eml2]

I recently elect to this TOU plan:

Peak: 11a - 7p ($0.146)
Shoulder: 7a - 11a & 7p - 11p ($0.121)
Off-peak: 11p - 7a ($0.092)

On the other hand, export to grid only gets ~ $0.04/kWh. So, I would like to charge my PW at all times when there is solar generation and to export only when it is full.

However, when I select TBC mode, either Balanced or Cost Saving, during Peak times, it will export either Net or All solar to the grid and won't charge PW. Is there a way to make it charge PW during Peak?

Or is my scenario not really covered by current TBC and better off with self-powered?

 

[cwied]

TBC mode assumes that your feed-in tariff equals the rate you're paying. For your scenario, self-powered is probably the best option. Given the hours you have for peak, it's unlikely that you would ever use any peak power.

Also, count yourself lucky you don't live in California (assuming you're a net consumer of electircity) - your peak rate is lower than my off-peak.

 

[eml2]

TBC mode assumes that your feed-in tariff equals the rate you're paying. For your scenario, self-powered is probably the best option. Given the hours you have for peak, it's unlikely that you would ever use any peak power.

Also, count yourself lucky you don't live in California (assuming you're a net consumer of electircity) - your peak rate is lower than my off-peak.

I have a town-owned utility company that has the best rate in the state. So, I count myself lucky in this regard. On the other hand, I hardly get multiple consecutive sunny days like you guys do in California. I have a 9.24 kW PV, but my 2 PWs seldom get to full charge.

 

[MorrisonHiker]

TBC mode assumes that your feed-in tariff equals the rate you're paying. For your scenario, self-powered is probably the best option. Given the hours you have for peak, it's unlikely that you would ever use any peak power.

Also, count yourself lucky you don't live in California (assuming you're a net consumer of electircity) - your peak rate is lower than my off-peak.

That explains why my Powerwalls try to export so much even though our feed-in tariff is something like 1.5 cents per kWh. I would use self-production but It doesn't have a way to set specific hours. I know I can adjust the reserve but it would be nice if I could just schedule it for self-production for all but a couple hours. Hopefully some day they'll add some more functionality to allow this.

 

[eml2]

That explains why my Powerwalls try to export so much even though our feed-in tariff is something like 1.5 cents per kWh. I would use self-production but It doesn't have a way to set specific hours. I know I can adjust the reserve but it would be nice if I could just schedule it for self-production for all but a couple hours. Hopefully some day they'll add some more functionality to allow this.

Rather than adjusting the reserve in self-powered mode to manually put PW in Standby or Charge/Discharge, I am thinking about using TBC in Balanced with only off-peak and shoulder (no peak), and set shoulder in PW to cover peak period. If I understand it correctly, Balanced during shoulder will act like self-powered, and off-peak will put it in standby. And if I think I will have enough charge to cover part of shoulder, I will adjust it manually. That way, at least, I will have more control time-wise.

 

[MorrisonHiker]

Rather than adjusting the reserve in self-powered mode to manually put PW in Standby or Charge/Discharge, I am thinking about using TBC in Balanced with only off-peak and shoulder (no peak), and set shoulder in PW to cover peak period. If I understand it correctly, Balanced during shoulder will act like self-powered, and off-peak will put it in standby. And if I think I will have enough charge to cover part of shoulder, I will adjust it manually. That way, at least, I will have more control time-wise.

Yeah, When I read your first post, I was going to suggest trying something like that. I'm currently doing something kind of similar and have tweaked my peak and shoulder times and have been using Balanced lately. It works ok for the most part but still seems to prefer sending everything to the grid at odd times. I would expect it during peak but lately it's been doing it hours before peak starts. Some days, the Powerwalls never get charged so I have to change it over to self-powered for a while and then switch it back. I may have to give your method a try.

 

[miimura]

Self-Powered or TBC-Balanced with no Peak hours are probably the only viable choices for someone that doesn't have full Net Metering.

 

[alleyooptroop]

appreciate everyone chiming in! here's a graph of the tou plan i'm currently on with socal edison. love to hear your thoughts

 

[alleyooptroop]

oops! sorry. wrong thread