SPAN - Smart Electrical Panel

[phantasms]

Hey all. Any updates from the SPAN owners?

We just moved to NH and are looking to add heatpumps, sauna, all the electrics lol and our 200 amp service may not be enough. To upgrade to 400amp seems like it may be a $20k job. I'm investigating going two SPAN panels, which will be expensive, but less than $20k. I plan to add powerwalls and solar at some point.

Thank you!

 

[shive]

My suggestion would be to AVOID SPAN. I have a home with 400 amp service (2 x 200amp) in California and the installation has been a complete an utter nightmare. To make a long story short, our home prior to installation with SPAN had a 20kW solar array with 2 Powerwall 2s which all worked fine in backing up the home in the event of an outage. However, it wasn't "smart" and like others, I drank the proverbial Kool-Aid and paid to install what the design team determined as a need for 3 Span panels-- 2 in the garage across from the main panel and 1 sub-panel inside. The end result was having multiple sub-contractors come in and mess up our electrical system to the point of damaging equipment. I am now left with only one half of our system backed up with the Powerwalls and Tesla refusing to install additional Powerwalls as the main panel wiring has been altered and damaged from botchy Span installations (and attempts at fixes).

My advice is that you stay away particularly if you have need for more than one Span panel. It truly sucks to have a home where things simply no longer work with our main panel showing arc'd damage, outlets blown out from mis-wiring neutrals (back feed), etc, etc. This whole ordeal has now been ongoing for years (believe it or not) and when I recently asked them to fix the issues that Tesla wanted addressed before adding additional Powerwalls, they have since refused. What kind of company sells you on a design for your home, outsources it to incompetent installers on multiple occasions, and then refuses to stand by their product after it has damaged your home?

Sorry for the rant here, but this process has been horrific and I would not wish it upon anyone else.

I'm happy to share more info if there is interest, but also looking to find some sort of resolution as well...

 

[buckets0fun]

What kind of company sells you on a design for your home, outsources it to incompetent installers on multiple occasions, and then refuses to stand by their product after it has damaged your home?

‘Go solar power’ is also this way. Court, the owner, will promise to remedy and will ignore you for over a year and counting.

 

[jjrandorin]

My suggestion would be to AVOID SPAN. I have a home with 400 amp service (2 x 200amp) in California and the installation has been a complete an utter nightmare. To make a long story short, our home prior to installation with SPAN had a 20kW solar array with 2 Powerwall 2s which all worked fine in backing up the home in the event of an outage. However, it wasn't "smart" and like others, I drank the proverbial Kool-Aid and paid to install what the design team determined as a need for 3 Span panels-- 2 in the garage across from the main panel and 1 sub-panel inside. The end result was having multiple sub-contractors come in and mess up our electrical system to the point of damaging equipment. I am now left with only one half of our system backed up with the Powerwalls and Tesla refusing to install additional Powerwalls as the main panel wiring has been altered and damaged from botchy Span installations (and attempts at fixes).

My advice is that you stay away particularly if you have need for more than one Span panel. It truly sucks to have a home where things simply no longer work with our main panel showing arc'd damage, outlets blown out from mis-wiring neutrals (back feed), etc, etc. This whole ordeal has now been ongoing for years (believe it or not) and when I recently asked them to fix the issues that Tesla wanted addressed before adding additional Powerwalls, they have since refused. What kind of company sells you on a design for your home, outsources it to incompetent installers on multiple occasions, and then refuses to stand by their product after it has damaged your home?

Sorry for the rant here, but this process has been horrific and I would not wish it upon anyone else.

I'm happy to share more info if there is interest, but also looking to find some sort of resolution as well...

This is really unfortunate, as the SPAN panel really looks like a cool product.

There seem to be some other SPAN panel owners in the "Tesla solar in Houston and surrounding areas" thread:

Tesla Solar in Houston & Surrounding Area’s

I got the Bacon 🥓 icon by my charging level indicator. First time for that. I will before it hits 100 percent. I was nervous at first. Until I read. It means it is preheating the battery. I guess. I got that icon when I first got my car and I was so confused hahahaha

teslamotorsclub.com

Perhaps one of them has some contact at SPAN or something? I seem to remember that SPAN was started by someone who came from Tesla Energy but may be mis remembering that...

 

[h2ofun]

My suggestion would be to AVOID SPAN. I have a home with 400 amp service (2 x 200amp) in California and the installation has been a complete an utter nightmare. To make a long story short, our home prior to installation with SPAN had a 20kW solar array with 2 Powerwall 2s which all worked fine in backing up the home in the event of an outage. However, it wasn't "smart" and like others, I drank the proverbial Kool-Aid and paid to install what the design team determined as a need for 3 Span panels-- 2 in the garage across from the main panel and 1 sub-panel inside. The end result was having multiple sub-contractors come in and mess up our electrical system to the point of damaging equipment. I am now left with only one half of our system backed up with the Powerwalls and Tesla refusing to install additional Powerwalls as the main panel wiring has been altered and damaged from botchy Span installations (and attempts at fixes).

My advice is that you stay away particularly if you have need for more than one Span panel. It truly sucks to have a home where things simply no longer work with our main panel showing arc'd damage, outlets blown out from mis-wiring neutrals (back feed), etc, etc. This whole ordeal has now been ongoing for years (believe it or not) and when I recently asked them to fix the issues that Tesla wanted addressed before adding additional Powerwalls, they have since refused. What kind of company sells you on a design for your home, outsources it to incompetent installers on multiple occasions, and then refuses to stand by their product after it has damaged your home?

Sorry for the rant here, but this process has been horrific and I would not wish it upon anyone else.

I'm happy to share more info if there is interest, but also looking to find some sort of resolution as well...

I never thought this made sense. I just use the KISS policy. I stay away as much as possible for fancy stuff that adds no real value

 

[phantasms]

I got two panels installed and 3 Powerwalls. I’m very happy. Only drawback is the Powerwalls currently can only back up on panel. Software update will change that.

 

[crackers8199]

I never thought this made sense. I just use the KISS policy. I stay away as much as possible for fancy stuff that adds no real value

i mean, i wouldn't say that span "adds no real value."

if it works it definitely adds value...it allows you to extend your backup time on the fly by dynamically turning things off rather than having to go out to the panel and do it manually. that could potentially be a huge deal in an extended outage (and at the same time allow you to run some things during the day as the battery fills up while the sun is still overhead).

 

[h2ofun]

i mean, i wouldn't say that span "adds no real value."

if it works it definitely adds value...it allows you to extend your backup time on the fly by dynamically turning things off rather than having to go out to the panel and do it manually. that could potentially be a huge deal in an extended outage (and at the same time allow you to run some things during the day as the battery fills up while the sun is still overhead).

Again, who cares, just extra stuff to worry about. My manual stuff works just fine.

 

[woof]

I'm quite happy with two SPANs, and 2 gateways each w. two Powerwalls. This is due to 400A service, yet each SPAN and Tesla Gateway are only 200A devices.

SPAN still cannot give a single view of both panels, one must pick on or the other in the App. But neither can Tesla give a single view of both gateways.

And there's no way to "cross connect" the SPANs, so that each battery bank is truly independent. That sucks when one is empty (so now drawing from the grid) but the other still has some charge left, but cannot help out. It'd be less of an issue if I could sell power back to the grid...but that's a whole 'nother problem (Tesla's fault, not SPAN).

I think they are quite useful: the ability to shift battery backed loads on the fly is paramount. And the ability to see what each circuit is drawing in real time has already helped track down a faulty HVAC circuit board (it started running the fans continuously, even though nothing was asking for that).

I took the "SPAN installer course" (fully online) so I could get access to the SPAN installer app and commission them myself. Our electrician had no clue about those newfangled things. So he installed it, I did all the software/networking bits.

 

[cali8484]

Emporia and similar can provide power monitoring for all circuits for 5-10% cost of Span. Automatic load shedding relays/modules are also available at a fraction of the cost. Hard to see the overall value in Span especially with the complexities.

 

[crackers8199]

Again, who cares, just extra stuff to worry about. My manual stuff works just fine.

"who cares?" is very different from "adds no real value." just because you don't personally think it's worthwhile doesn't mean it adds no value for anyone ever.

 

[buckets0fun]

"who cares?" is very different from "adds no real value." just because you don't personally think it's worthwhile doesn't mean it adds no value for anyone ever.

this was the same attitude the masses (has)had towards powerwall products.

 

[h2ofun]

this was the same attitude the masses (has)had towards powerwall products.

I have found no real value with the powerwalls I have either, but a nice toy

 

[shive]

These are all first world problems for sure, but the idea of the span and being able to prioritize circuits on the fly during an outage is "in theory" pretty cool. It also depends on how often you might have outages, etc. I agree that it's a shame that the app cannot aggregate multiple panels into one interface, but neither can Tesla with multiple gateways. Other options like the Savant energy system do create a single interface, but I don't know of anyone who has this type of thing installed.

For those with Span panels, do you often have the fans in the unit running? One of the panels we have in the home (in our pantry) runs for 1-3 hours daily which I find odd and support suggestions of rebooting the panel have done nothing to change this.

Sadly, I have been working the issues with the install for the past 1.5 yrs with issue after issue. During our last outage, the Span panel for one half of the home (200A) went dark and "lost connection" to the Powerwalls which were full.

For those of you who have had installations, have any issues like these come up? Did you simulate an outage at the end of your installations to test the system?

At this point, I wish I had just gone with the relatively dumber Leviton smart breakers...

 

[felixculpas]

SPAN has been saying for years now to keep checking back for availability in Canada. Meanwhile and perhaps lucky for me, the larger companies in this space are or have developed competing products such as Schneider Electric as per this article. Meanwhile, my ultra low overnight rate is 2.4c/kWh which makes it hard to justify solar. Bidirectional with a properly working smart panel seems my best strategy. Whoever offers the best fit in 2-3 years. Presuming that will have me moving away from Tesla as despite their rhetoric seem to not want to cannibalize PW prominence. When the weather is bad, my car will be at home and I have nothing critical that requires backup power that badly.

 

[phantasms]

My SPAN install came out great…

 

[felixculpas]

I think I would prefer a different design though I've seen far worse network racks. Seems labelled well. I'm imagining how my local inspector would react to that though.

 

[phantasms]

I think I would prefer a different design though I've seen far worse network racks. Seems labelled well. I'm imagining how my local inspector would react to that though.

Not sure if serious…

 

[woof]

For those with Span panels, do you often have the fans in the unit running?

The fans seem to be connected to a random number generator. There is no rhyme or reason to their operation that I can discover. They are on in the cold, in the heat, sometimes off, most times not. Ramp up and down with no change in power flow. Nothing in the API measures the power drawn by the panels themselves, BTW. It's obviously not zero, so what power are those fans dissipating?

 

[CrazyRabbit]

Are the fans to cool the bus bars, or electronics?