Storm Watch Did not activate and we lost power

[ewoodrick]

Whenever my power goes out, the internet often goes down, probably because Comcast doesn't have backup power for the neighborhood switching equipment. So even though I can run my cable modem and router off of the generator, the cable modem often has nothing to connect to.

And a reason why you should increase your charge well before a storm gets here and not 5 minutes before. After all, you've got to give the device some time to charge.

But I think that the point was that you need to make sure that the Powerwall has Internet connectivity. If it doesn't, it doesn't get the notification to charge up.

And because knows one knows when there will be a power outage, you will indeed encounter a number of "I didn't need to do that" scenarios. But that comes back to the adage.

Better Safe than Sorry.

Expect the Tesla notification to not get through, double check and enable it when you feel the possible need.

"Whoops the power went out" is too late.

 

[RKCRLR]

Whenever my power goes out, the internet often goes down, probably because Comcast doesn't have backup power for the neighborhood switching equipment. So even though I can run my cable modem and router off of the generator, the cable modem often has nothing to connect to.

I have 4G fixed wireless internet so as long as the AT&T cell tower and my modem have power I have internet (for what it is worth).

 

[STS-134]

I have 4G fixed wireless internet so as long as the AT&T cell tower and my modem have power I have internet (for what it is worth).

Don't count on it. Whenever the power goes out, all of the small cells (which are not backed up) go down and all of the load is put onto the larger (macro) cells. Which everyone and their grandmother is trying to use because most people don't have generators and so they all take out their cell phones to get internet. So data service often still works, but unless you are very close to the macro cell site, it is often so slow that you can't even load the PG&E outage webpage to figure out what's going on.

If you want internet during a power outage, get Starlink or a comparable service, and just hope that the outage doesn't overload the ground stations.

 

[RKCRLR]

Don't count on it. Whenever the power goes out, all of the small cells (which are not backed up) go down and all of the load is put onto the larger (macro) cells. Which everyone and their grandmother is trying to use because most people don't have generators and so they all take out their cell phones to get internet.

If you want internet during a power outage, get Starlink or a comparable service, and just hope that the outage doesn't overload the ground stations.

I looked into Starlink. They require a clear view of the northern sky. I would either have to cut down a lot of trees or put the receiver on a tall tower. I have a good view of the southern sky but for some reason they require a view of the northern sky even though they have satellites in the southern sky. Additionally, they have an indefinite waiting list in my area.

 

[jboy210]

Whenever my power goes out, the internet often goes down, probably because Comcast doesn't have backup power for the neighborhood switching equipment. So even though I can run my cable modem and router off of the generator, the cable modem often has nothing to connect to.

Ours works for about 8-10 hours. I assume after that the batteries powering the Comcast boxes are exhausted.

 

[STS-134]

Ours works for about 8-10 hours. I assume after that the batteries powering the Comcast boxes are exhausted.

Interesting. I had an outage in January and fired up the generator at around 10 am. Comcast was already dead at that time. Outage happened around 3 am I think.

 

[CapStormfield]

This has been said a bunch of times in various threads, but stormwatch activation (or not) is based on national weather service specific warnings. No NWS warning, no stormwatch.

Also, I am not sure what does or does not allow a person to have grid charging in their Tesla app, but many people do (have grid charging enabled in their tesla app). If you dont, perhaps you should look into why that is.

March 2, 2023, 6pm DFW area: NWS has issued a tornado watch for North Texas, and there is a huge line of severe storms approaching. Still no Tesla StormWatch activation.

 

[jjrandorin]

March 2, 2023, 6pm DFW area: NWS has issued a tornado watch for North Texas, and there is a huge line of severe storms approaching. Still no Tesla StormWatch activation.

What's the difference between Tornado Watch and Tornado Warning?

With severe storms possible Thursday, we wanted to make sure everyone knows the difference between a Watch and Warning when it comes to severe weather.

www.fox4news.com

In my quote, I said NWS specific warnings. I dont live in an area with Tornados, but a watch, is not warning, and its likely the difference in activation or not lies there.

============================

Storm Watch | Tesla Support

Storm Watch allows you to maximize savings by keeping a low backup reserve percentage in Self-Powered or Time-Based Control mode, while still having peace of mind that Powerwall will react in time to protect you during a severe weather event.

www.tesla.com

(relevant text from the tesla link above)

Severe Weather Events​

Storm Watch mode is triggered during severe weather events that are more likely to damage power lines and cause power outages. Storm Watch mode activates when the weather event has advanced in severity, and one of the following watches or warnings has been issued in your local area:

• Hurricane (watch or warning)
• Tropical storm (watch or warning)
• Red flag (warning)
• Thunderstorm or severe thunderstorm (warning)
• Tornado (warning)
• Winter storm (warning)
• Blizzard (warning)
• High wind (warning)
• Ice storm (warning)
• Snow squall (warning)
• Wind chill (warning)
• Flood (warning)
• Flash flood (warning)
• Coastal flood (warning)
• Lakeshore flood (warning)

If Storm Watch mode hasn’t activated based on your local weather conditions, and you prefer additional energy security, set a higher Backup Reserve in advance of an anticipated grid outage.

Note: To better prepare yourself for everyday weather events or other grid instability, visit your utility provider’s website for updates. If your system has been affected by a natural disaster, learn more about what to do following a force majeure event.

================
BTW, I found this tesla page above by googling "Tesla Stormwatch NWS" and it was the first link that came up.

 

[CapStormfield]

March 2, 2023, 6pm DFW area: NWS has issued a tornado watch for North Texas, and there is a huge line of severe storms approaching. Still no Tesla Storm Watch activation.

OK, just after I posted this, at around 6:20 pm, Storm Watch came on and my Power Walls are charging. (I had manually set them to 100% backup this afternoon, but they only got to 68% on solar.) Looks like the wall of storms is now 20-30 minutes away.

 

[jboy210]

OK, just after I posted this, at around 6:20 pm, Storm Watch came on and my Power Walls are charging. (I had manually set them to 100% backup this afternoon, but they only got to 68% on solar.) Looks like the wall of storms is now 20-30 minutes away.

Good to hear that the batteries are charging, and take care.

 

[CapStormfield]

OK, just after I posted this, at around 6:20 pm, Storm Watch came on and my Power Walls are charging. (I had manually set them to 100% backup this afternoon, but they only got to 68% on solar.) Looks like the wall of storms is now 20-30 minutes away.

The NWS definition says that the Watch conditions are those likely to produce tornadoes, which are known well in advance. The NWS changes from a Watch to a Warning only when an actual tornado is sighted, on the ground or by radar. That avoids a lot of false alarms, but gives folks near a tornado touchdown little or no time to take cover, let alone charge a Powerwall.

Over the 8 months I have had my solar and Powerwall system, I have been impressed with the way Tesla has activated Storm Watch a couple hours in advance of severe weather, giving the Power Walls adequate time to charge.

Last night was an exception. After the Storm Watch came on, my two Power Walls added only about 15% of capacity by the time the storm hit.

 

[Vines]

I did and this was the response I got blamed the restrictions on the SGIP incentive I received as follows. I'm guessing some of you near me also received that but your installer didn't bother to lock you down.

Swell Energy

Feb 28, 2023, 11:26 AM PST

Good afternoon Trent,

Unfortunately there isnt a way to allow for grid charging of the batteries aside from the Stormwatch feature at this time. The reason for this is the terms of the SGIP program you are enrolled in which was the source of your rebate for the system as well. The SGIP program has requirements that must be followed for the first 5 years of ownership of the system. One of the requirements is a restriction on grid charging of the batteries, with the Stormwatch feature being an exception for weather emergencies. However, there is a work around for the if the National Weather Service does not issue an alert for the Stormwatch to be triggered by. In the Tesla app, you can adjust the reserve level of your batteries. If for example you wanted to batteries to retain as much charge as possible leading up to a storm where a grid outage may be possible, you caa adjust their reserve level to 100%. Doing so will cause the batteries to retain their entire charge to only be used during an outage, whether that be a full 100% or not. Please let me know if this is helpful to you or if you have any further questions on this. I'd be happy to assist you further.

thank you,

Chris

Sometimes PG&E will put a limitation on your system or all the systems for a particular installer.

Unfortunately, this isn't something you can enable by installer menus. If you look in your Interconnection Agreement or CAD plans it may say something like "ESS is not allowed to increase the host load on the utility transformer." This means that Grid charging is restricted.

 

[tpoltron]

Sometimes PG&E will put a limitation on your system or all the systems for a particular installer.

Unfortunately, this isn't something you can enable by installer menus. If you look in your Interconnection Agreement or CAD plans it may say something like "ESS is not allowed to increase the host load on the utility transformer." This means that Grid charging is restricted.

The weird thing IIRC is this Grid Charging restriction is recent (last year) and when first installed I could even set the system to arbitrage: grid charge and night and sell to grid during peak.

 

[ucmndd]

I’m not aware of any SGIP limitation on grid charging. Can’t you claim SGIP incentives even if you have no solar at all?

I know there’s a discharge requirement (i.e. you can’t use them just for backup reserve, you have to send energy back to the grid), but I don’t think it matters what energy source they charge from.

The federal ITC did have a requirement that stipulated the storage had to be charged from on-site renewables.

 

[Vines]

I’m not aware of any SGIP limitation on grid charging. Can’t you claim SGIP incentives even if you have no solar at all?

I know there’s a discharge requirement (i.e. you can’t use them just for backup reserve, you have to send energy back to the grid), but I don’t think it matters what energy source they charge from.

The federal ITC did have a requirement that stipulated the storage had to be charged from on-site renewables.

I am not sure it is a direct result of SGIP, but it is a part of the NEM-MT agreement if required.