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SPAN - Smart Electrical Panel
- Thread starter 201reyes
- Start date
I’ve been considering SPAN as a potential solution to automated and allowed load shedding. We have a 200a panel and several upgrades have put us near the edge. 320a is over $30k due to underground service, distance, and going under a concrete drive that would need to be ripped up.
Curious if others are having problems with the system.
Curious if others are having problems with the system.
There are easy ways to bore under a driveway. Impact moles are pretty amazing. No need to tear it up. I bet with a creative contractor it would be a lot less than $30k.
Four Ways to Bore Under a Paved Surface
A look at the pros and cons of four of the most common ways to bore under a paved surface.
www.forconstructionpros.com
Given the Span comments above, do you really need that headache?
All the best,
BG
@BGbreeder That's pretty cool. Not sure if it would work in my case with where the conduit starts and ends and tree roots. Something to keep in mind if I ever tackle this.
This is the exact reason I went this route and I’m happy with the SPAN panels.
CrazyRabbit
Active Member
Span panel is small, too few circuits. Wish they would put higher amp bus bars (I’m fine with the 200amp main breaker) with bottom tap lugs that could feed a main lug expansion panel. Need 80 circuits. They need to sell directly to public too.
Oceanwolf
Oceanwolf
I was reading about the other smart circuit breakers. They allow you to trip them but you need to be there in person to set them back. I wonder if there are any that allows you set remotely. My use case is my swim spa. In the case of a grid shutdown, which is common in Sierras, CA, I don't want the swim spa to continue to use power, but I want my well pump to be able to come up. they are on the same subpanel I couldn't get them separated when we were getting the powerwalls. The SPA breaker is 50A so maybe I should go with a relay solution.
Is there a signal available somewhere that could be used to disconnect the relay? A Swim spa (swim current, filtration, heat) is one of my larger loads on my highly loaded panel.
I believe the Savant Smart breaker solution will do this on and off actuation for you for an up to 60A breaker. The hardware is around $1000 to a contractor. I'm not sure if they will sell directly as I haven't gone further than seeing them at trade shows.
That is pretty straightforward to do by installing a contactor (a large relay, with the option for lots of extra features) that is turned on by grid power and using it to switch the spa on/off. That should be pretty straightforward for most setups, and one most commercial electricians should be able to install. @Vines what do you think?
If you want WiFi control as well, that would get more complicated.
All the best,
BG
A sufficiently sized Normally Open Double Pole Single Throw (NO DPST) relay and control circuitry to get voltage sense and contactor actuation from the grid side to the circuit you want to turn off would also work. As my boss likes to say "we could solve that problem with a relay!" In the old days with Sunny Island or Outback battery backup systems, we would need this sort of load shedding to make the systems work well enough.
This sort of simple automation works well enough when the first person installs it. It's not until it breaks/wears out and someone else tries to fix it, that things can get confusing. My advice is if you are going to install your own custom solution and wiring to document and label things very well with weatherproof labels and maybe a simple wiring diagram inside the affected subpanels.
Even if wifi control is needed several home automation products could be used to control the relays signal circuit and give you this sort of control as a "science project"
Pretty happy with our SPAN panel, so far. One of the selling points for me was their ability to integrate with the Powerwall.
Alas, about four weeks ago, the SPAN app reported that it lost communication with the TESLA backup.
SPAN support has been pretty responsive ~ 20 email messages from them so far, and while there is data on ethernet between the two panels, SPAN support tells me they are receiving an error from TESLA “incorrect password” even though the default password has not changed.
Pretty frustrating from my end.
I contacted TESLA, and was told they don’t know anything about SPAN.
This makes me wonder if the SPAN-TESLA connection is informal, and TESLA made no promises to leave the maintenance interface (which SPAN is using) unchanged, and changed it recently.
Anyone here shed any light on this conundrum ?
Thank you.
Alas, about four weeks ago, the SPAN app reported that it lost communication with the TESLA backup.
SPAN support has been pretty responsive ~ 20 email messages from them so far, and while there is data on ethernet between the two panels, SPAN support tells me they are receiving an error from TESLA “incorrect password” even though the default password has not changed.
Pretty frustrating from my end.
I contacted TESLA, and was told they don’t know anything about SPAN.
This makes me wonder if the SPAN-TESLA connection is informal, and TESLA made no promises to leave the maintenance interface (which SPAN is using) unchanged, and changed it recently.
Anyone here shed any light on this conundrum ?
Thank you.
My SPANs and powerwalls are still communicating with each other. Good luck!
I don't have SPAN panels, but from what I can see, it connects to a Tesla Gateway/Powerwall+ using an Ethernet cable and needs to be configured with the Gateway password. This likely means it's accessing the unofficial Gateway API. I would go through these steps when debugging connectivity issues (SPAN support probably had you run through some of these already):
- Unplug and reconnect the ethernet cable on both ends.
- Reset or power-cycle both SPAN and Gateway/Powerwall+. If you have a Tesla Gateway, there's a reset button behind the glass door. If you have a backup switch, it probably requires powering-cycling the whole system.
- Make sure you can access the Gateway using the web form and the same password. You probably don't have access to the ethernet network, but your Gateway is likely connected to wifi as well. Find its ip address and connect with a web browser. You can DM me if you need help with this part.
- Check if you have a recent Gateway firmware that SPAN doesn't support yet. Tesla has been making some changes in the Gateway API recently. This version is shown in the Tesla app, Energy/Settings/My Home Info.
Q - I've read that Span firmware isn't yet compatible with Tesla Powerwall 3 (which is what's being installed in 2024 and onward). Anyone know when that'll happen? I'm in the middle of a Tesla Solar installation process and going back and forth on whether a main panel upgrade is needed.
Unknown, sorry. I’d reach out to SPAN. I’ve had great success with their customer service. That said, I assume you’re still using a Gateway 2 so I’m not sure what difference it would make to the SPAN panels but I’m not an expert.
UPDATE:
Tesla tech showed up today - super guy out of Maryland.
He checked with his app, said, “Nothing wrong here.”
Showed him my app, where there was no solar, and all power coming from the grid, with blue sky and full sun.
He got on the phone with someone on the server side, and 15 minutes later, solar was full production, power was going to the house with excess going to the grid.
He showed me a screen shot from the server guy who has access to my app, and showing how settings (I never touched, by the way) were all messed up — as if the system had just been installed, and before permission to turn on.
I don’t understand why Tier 1 (customer facing) couldn’t have been empowered to tell me change the settings, and who knows what they did on the server end that might have been outside my purview - all speculation at this point.
In any case, all working now, and as said, tech guy is super, and gave me his contact number in case I have questions related to the case later.
And icing on the cake: the tech said this was a warranty call, so no charge to me.
Tesla tech showed up today - super guy out of Maryland.
He checked with his app, said, “Nothing wrong here.”
Showed him my app, where there was no solar, and all power coming from the grid, with blue sky and full sun.
He got on the phone with someone on the server side, and 15 minutes later, solar was full production, power was going to the house with excess going to the grid.
He showed me a screen shot from the server guy who has access to my app, and showing how settings (I never touched, by the way) were all messed up — as if the system had just been installed, and before permission to turn on.
I don’t understand why Tier 1 (customer facing) couldn’t have been empowered to tell me change the settings, and who knows what they did on the server end that might have been outside my purview - all speculation at this point.
In any case, all working now, and as said, tech guy is super, and gave me his contact number in case I have questions related to the case later.
And icing on the cake: the tech said this was a warranty call, so no charge to me.
