Stacked Powerwall 2 install question

[bradbissell]

Do stacked Powerwall 2s need to be attached to a wall? I can't find the installation manual online, so I am looking for some help. I hoped to install 2 Powerwall 2s on a small concrete slab next to a screen porch, but not touching it. Is this allowed? If not, does anyone have the location measurements (height from floor, and side to side) for the needed wall anchors?

Thanks!

 

[abasile]

Our installers (Tesla) told me that ground/floor mounted Powerwalls do need to be anchored to an adjacent wall. I don't have exact location measurements for the wall anchor points, but here's a photo of the wall mounting bracket that Tesla used in our install last week. The following photo shows our two Powerwalls immediately after they were mounted to the wall. As our home is on an upslope, they drilled into our concrete foundation wall to anchor the right side of the mounting bracket.

 

[bradbissell]

Ok, so that will impact my install. If anyone has the anchor point measurements it would be a huge help since the Installation Manual doesn't seem to be available. Depending on measurements I may have to build a false wall or support structure between the deck and the Powerwall.

 

[Shygar]

When they did your site survey, did they give you any indication that your placement of the powerwalls would be a problem?

I do know that if you want to mount it off the ground (like in my case), you cannot mount them stacked. If you want to stack them they have to be on the ground. Not really relevant for your case but maybe for someone else.

 

[tdk1007]

Needs to be attached to a wall using 4x 1/4" lags that embed at least 2 & 1/2" deep into the stud (not counting drywall). Studs need to be 12", 16", or 24" apart. Lower row of holes is roughly 11 & 1/2" from the floor and the upper row would be 29 & 1/2"

 

[SoundDaTrumpet]

Needs to be attached to a wall using 4x 1/4" lags that embed at least 2 & 1/2" deep into the stud (not counting drywall). Studs need to be 12", 16", or 24" apart. Lower row of holes is roughly 11 & 1/2" from the floor and the upper row would be 29 & 1/2"

One could attach channel struts (i.e. Unistrut) to the wall as an interface. This can help position the Powerwall(s). You will give up a couple of inches of depth as more space is needed for the unistruts.

(Story has it that my electrical solar contractor said he would have mounted my surface mounted solar subpanel to the inside finished wall of my garage if the bill of material included unistruts. The other side of the wall had an exterior flush mounted service panel that disallowed the electrician from fastening the subpanel to the inside wall. It shows that electricians are provided with a list of material and sometimes this limits alternate more efficient placement of electrical subpanels. The electrician was an older gentlemen with significant experience and knew there was a better way. Instead, the bill of material include a 3 ft of 2" conduit and a massive LB. With unistrut, it would be a short 2 inch long 2" hidden adapter, and less intrusive install.)

 

[abasile]

(Story has it that my electrical solar contractor said he would have mounted my surface mounted solar subpanel to the inside finished wall of my garage if the bill of material included unistruts. The other side of the wall had an exterior flush mounted service panel that disallowed the electrician from fastening the subpanel to the inside wall. It shows that electricians are provided with a list of material and sometimes this limits alternate more efficient placement of electrical subpanels. The electrician was an older gentlemen with significant experience and knew there was a better way. Instead, the bill of material include a 3 ft of 2" conduit and a massive LB. With unistrut, it would be a short 2 inch long 2" hidden adapter, and less intrusive install.)

I'm pretty happy with the way Tesla Energy handled our Powerwalls. The lead installer came to our house the week before the installation to go over the plans in person. He asked me for my preferences and made sure to answer all of my questions. Plans on paper are important, but there's no substitute for working out the details on site.

As a result, on installation day, the installers had all of the materials necessary to do the job in what seemed to me the best manner possible. This included whatever they needed to anchor into our concrete foundation wall, a detail that was not part of the formal plans. As per another request of mine, the installers also made sure to be able to leave room in our backed-up loads subpanel for us to add circuits in the future.

Aesthetically, I'm also pleased with the way the loads subpanel, Energy Gateway, and Powerwalls tie into our existing electrical infrastructure. The installers made use of an existing junction box and generally did their best to limit the amount of new conduit needed. I had been concerned about worsening the clutter of electrical hardware near our front entrance, but this turned out to be a non-issue, in my opinion.

It's also worth mentioning that the total system cost never changed from day one - I paid exactly what Tesla initially quoted.

 

[psoni]

Does the wiring of stacked Tesla Powerwall 2's differ from the wiring of powerwall's placed adjacent to one another? I.e. If you stack 2 Powerwall 2's do you still have two conduits running from the Powerwalls (one per Powerwall) to the storage load center/your house's load center or is the Powerwall 2 stacked in front connected to the Powerwall stacked behind it, and then the second one is connected to the storage load center/your house's load center?

 

[cwied]

My stacked powerwalls have only one conduit running to the generation panel. I don't know how many wires are inside the conduit, though.

 

[Brovane]

Does the wiring of stacked Tesla Powerwall 2's differ from the wiring of powerwall's placed adjacent to one another? I.e. If you stack 2 Powerwall 2's do you still have two conduits running from the Powerwalls (one per Powerwall) to the storage load center/your house's load center or is the Powerwall 2 stacked in front connected to the Powerwall stacked behind it, and then the second one is connected to the storage load center/your house's load center?

You only have one conduit if the PW's are stacked.

 

[MorrisonHiker]

You only have one conduit if the PW's are stacked.

It depends on how they install them. They have the ability to daisy-chain the Powerwalls together by cutting into them and running the wiring that way...but I've seen pictures of an install (not installed by Tesla Energy) where they did not do this and instead ran multiple conduits, one to each Powerwall.

 

[Brovane]

It depends on how they install them. They have the ability to daisy-chain the Powerwalls together by cutting into them and running the wiring that way...but I've seen pictures of an install (not installed by Tesla Energy) where they did not do this and instead ran multiple conduits, one to each Powerwall.

As usual there is multiple ways to do something.

I am not aware of any real advantage of running stacked Powerwall's through separate conduits. I would think the norm would be to daisy chain them together. My installer wasn't Tesla Energy but they still daisy chained them and ran only one conduit.

 

[MorrisonHiker]

As usual there is multiple ways to do something.

I am not aware of any real advantage of running stacked Powerwall's through separate conduits. I would think the norm would be to daisy chain them together. My installer wasn't Tesla Energy but they still daisy chained them and ran only one conduit.

I don't think it's the standard way of doing it and there wasn't any advantage other than the fact that they didn't have to cut through the Powerwalls to connect them. More than likely, they didn't know how to do it the proper way or didn't have the template or tools necessary. It definitely looks nicer (IMHO) to just have the one conduit going to the stack.

Here's the images I'm referring to:

and the post here: Joined the club!