Storm Watch not working

[Ulmo]

Seems like a good reason to use a higher reserve, it would reduce your risk of depleting your Powerwalls during an ill-timed blackout.

Cheers, Wayne

If you mean permanently, no, because that would defeat the main purpose of the PowerWalls to use my own solar power and remedy the peak utility use issues.

Reserve has to be adjusted according to forecasts daily, making certain to leave enough sunny days before storms to fill the batteries.

When we get over 70kWh of batteries, we can start to program in a higher reserve, but we would still need to adjust it for forecasts. With over 100kWh of batteries, we could start to keep a larger permanent reserve.

Right now with only 27kWh, we scrape by, with not a single day where we have a lot of power when the sun comes up.

Locally, a storm is any real rain or any wind. It would be better if Tesla recognized that and allowed us to determine what triggers storm mode.

I had to plan today's reserve a week ago.

 

[Ulmo]

Funny you mention the whole ISP issue. Here in NoCA we are now in the 'new normal' of Public Safety Power Shutoffs. Last one lasted for 5 days. So I have 2 Powerwalls on order for January install (Tesla Energy is understandably slammed). When we lose power in our neighborhood, Comcast goes down in about 1 hour. Our local cell service (ATT) is terrible where we live, and in a day the tower loses power. thus no connectivity. I just ordered HughesNet satellite internet as a backup. Since I will have power, I will thus have internet even if Comcast and ATT are both down. HughesNet is running a major promo with $10/month discount, free installation, $100 gift card back. No data caps but 25 Meg speed only up to your monthly plan. I ordered a 20 Gig plan, which will run about $60/month with equipment lease. Not cheap, but I will have connectivity, iMessaging and WiFi calling.

Same problem with our only ISP in this area (Comcast) besides Verizon Wireless (iffy), and good solution. Ordered.

 

[Ulmo]

Would love to get an answer to this. I still bet it’s based on NWS warnings. Anything lower would be useless and anything non-automated would be insane.

And the new name is supposed to be ‘Disaster Watch’ unless this is another Elon tweet that goes nowhere.

Anyone that thinks this is a manual process has little understanding of the scope of the issue and diversity of the nationwide weather landscape. Nevermind who would do this for international locations.

Grid problems don't equal weather problems. Either Tesla needs to do its own forecasting or Tesla needs to let us determine the triggers to make this work. It's predictable with water and wind events for each neighborhood, but Tesla could do better with crowd sourcing that knowledge for each neighborhood.

 

[fseir]

If you mean permanently, no, because that would defeat the main purpose of the PowerWalls to use my own solar power and remedy the peak utility use issues.

Reserve has to be adjusted according to forecasts daily, making certain to leave enough sunny days before storms to fill the batteries.

When we get over 70kWh of batteries, we can start to program in a higher reserve, but we would still need to adjust it for forecasts. With over 100kWh of batteries, we could start to keep a larger permanent reserve.

Right now with only 27kWh, we scrape by, with not a single day where we have a lot of power when the sun comes up.

Locally, a storm is any real rain or any wind. It would be better if Tesla recognized that and allowed us to determine what triggers storm mode.

I had to plan today's reserve a week ago.

Totally agree on all points. Today, short of manual control of storm watch, I really wished I could tap into that big battery in my car to backup my home.

 

[daniel]

Recently I happened to check my Tesla app in the morning (I don't usually, since it just works) and saw a notice that it was on Storm Watch for the cottage (but not for the house). I went into Settings and found that the cottage (but not the house) was set to use Storm Watch. So I shut it off before it had drawn more than a kWh or so from the grid. By noon my Powerwalls were all full. I don't know how it happened that the cottage was set to use Storm watch.

I guess the NWS had issued a watch, but there was no storm. When we did have several days of very cloudy weather my Powerwalls got lower overnight than normal.

I'll take my chances with the occasional power outage coinciding with very heavy overcast rather than sucking up grid power every time the NWS thinks there might be a storm. But then, I don't live in a state with a dysfunctional grid or a criminally negligent electric utility company.

 

[KY-Lonewolf]

Happy New Year to all of you.
As a follow up to all the recent storm activity Saturday 01/11/20 here's how my system reacted:
In my region of Kentucky, the NWS issued a "high wind warning" (40-60 mph wind)
Storm Watch DID activate as I would expect.
My powerwalls running in backup-only mode were topped off to 100% from the grid

version 1.43.3

 

[jrweiss98020]

Just north of Seattle, we had a Storm Watch scheduled to start at 3pm. I checked my PW2 at 2:55, and it was recharging from the grid at 6+ KW.

Good accuracy on the Storm Watch, too! The snow started at 2:57!

 

[gpez]

I'm south of you and haven't ever seen Storm Watch activate. We're under two active NWS warnings too. Sitting at 98%, no idea why it's not working for me.

https://alerts.weather.gov/cap/wwaatmget.php?x=WAC061&y=1

 

[marksvend]

Just north of Seattle, we had a Storm Watch scheduled to start at 3pm. I checked my PW2 at 2:55, and it was recharging from the grid at 6+ KW.

I’m in Issaquah, and my powerwalls also charged to 99% on Storm Watch starting at 4pm. It’s only a Winter Storm Watch here for 1-3 in. It’s hardly likely to cause an outage.

Edit: The Watch was upgraded to a Winter Storm Warning at 2pm, so that’s likely what triggered it.

My solar inverter is awaiting replacement, and the Powerwalls had drained to 68%, so this was a welcome surprise.

 

[gpez]

I’m in Issaquah, and my powerwalls also charged to 99% on Storm Watch starting at 4pm. It’s only a Winter Storm Watch here for 1-3 in. It’s hardly likely to cause an outage.

Edit: The Watch was upgraded to a Winter Storm Warning at 2pm, so that’s likely what triggered it.

My solar inverter is awaiting replacement, and the Powerwalls had drained to 68%, so this was a welcome surprise.

I'm very close to you and haven't ever seen Storm Watch kick on. I've opened a ticket with Tesla and they've escalated to T2. Lots of power outages here today in the PNW (mostly out in Bremerton) thanks to the snow. Stay warm!

 

[aesculus]

Just got a Storm Watch for my units. The actual storm is not scheduled until tomorrow night and I don't want it charging from 50% to 100% during peak, so I toggled Storm Watch off after I saw it had pumped in 10%.

I am planning on turning it back on again tonight when we go to off peak and leaving it on since my solar potential will be close to 0 for the next few days.

I am also thinking of moving my base up to 70% or 80% because without sunny days I am only able to generate about 20% capacity anyway per day. It took me three days to get here when the devices were installed.

Anything else I should do?

 

[power.saver]

I tried that once, and it didn't work. Stormwatch came in just after the start of my peak, and started drawing from the grid at the highest rate. So I turned it off. But later when I turned it on, no grid charging. Someone here said that it must be on in the App when the warning comes, and you can't turn it on later and activate grid charging. This was a while ago, so maybe things have changed, but I suspect you won't get any grid charging once you turn it back on (until the next warning).

If you are concerned about an outage, by all means raise your % up now.

 

[aesculus]

I set my PW to 80% reserve.

I waited until 11pm for off peak and then toggled Storm Watch back on again. It instantly started charging them from the grid to 100%. So hopefully the prior issue with missing the initial message and not allowing them to be turned off and on during an event has been addressed.

 

[Bigtanuki]

I agree that an automated system makes the most sense though it is feasible that there is someone reviewing alerts and making decisions. Regardless, having clarity as to what the feature does (and doesn't) do would make it orders of magnitude more useful.

Hey wait. I know this one...AI can do it! Plenty of data out there train with.

 

[Bigtanuki]

Just got a Storm Watch for my units. The actual storm is not scheduled until tomorrow night and I don't want it charging from 50% to 100% during peak, so I toggled Storm Watch off after I saw it had pumped in 10%.

I am planning on turning it back on again tonight when we go to off peak and leaving it on since my solar potential will be close to 0 for the next few days.

I am also thinking of moving my base up to 70% or 80% because without sunny days I am only able to generate about 20% capacity anyway per day. It took me three days to get here when the devices were installed.

Anything else I should do?

With respect to modifying reserve limits. I've started modifying it based on long term forecasts forecasts in anticipation of lower solar generation. I'm fortunate here in having an extremely reliable localized forecast. I'm very confident in the information for the last couple of years since my PW2 installation. Summer gets a 25% reserve since PV generation is assured. Long storms get me up to 80% in the fall and winter. I will eat some high TOU rate power during the winter months but it's all just a risk balancing strategy that each person needs to figure out for themselves.

I'm wondering how the PW functionality with respect to the grid might change once the solar ITC time limit is up (5 years?). After that period it seems like we should be able to start using our PWs to charge at night and feen into the grid, making them more valuable. I'm sure the utilities, via lobbying the local Utilities Commision, will get it set up in their favor. Perhaps we should start lobbying on behalf of us home storage owners.

 

[power.saver]

I waited until 11pm for off peak and then toggled Storm Watch back on again. It instantly started charging them from the grid to 100%. So hopefully the prior issue with missing the initial message and not allowing them to be turned off and on during an event has been addressed.

Thanks for reporting back. I'm glad it works now. I don't have to worry if I need to turn it off during the peak period.

 

[beedeebeedee]

Just had some tornado watches here in NC, no dice on Storm Watch. Received automatic notices on my cell phone, and forecasters have been predicting gusts of 60mph for at least 2 days now.

Love my powerwalls but I have no way to figure out how this works and how it's triggered (I kept my reserve up to 70 % just in case, but it would be good to have more confidence about this feature)

 

[Cirrus MS100D]

Just had some tornado watches here in NC, no dice on Storm Watch. Received automatic notices on my cell phone, and forecasters have been predicting gusts of 60mph for at least 2 days now.

Love my powerwalls but I have no way to figure out how this works and how it's triggered (I kept my reserve up to 70 % just in case, but it would be good to have more confidence about this feature)

AFAIK there needs to be a warning issued by the National Weather Service for your area.

Copied and pasted from another site:
Tornado watches are issued for broad areas where conditions exist for the development of twisters, while tornado warnings are issued for highly localized areas where a tornado is imminent or has been detected on radar. Watches, commonly issued a few hours before a storm could hit, are meant to alert the public of a developing threat for tornadoes and indicate the need to remain vigilant. Warnings, often issued minutes before a tornado hits, are urgent calls to seek shelter immediately.

Storm watches are issued by NOAA while storm warnings are issued by NWS. More from here

I agree that it's frustrating that there doesn't seem to be a "sliding scale" that triggers Storm Watch as we have had crazy gusts here in PA all morning, predicted to get worse, but no Storm Watch until we got a "High Wind Warning." We got Storm Watch once during a "Severe Thunderstorm Warning" but we haven't gotten it if we have a "Severe Thunderstorm Watch."

Obviously a tornado warning issued minutes before a possible tornado isn't going to add much juice to a Powerwall, so one would think a tornado watch would be good enough, though perhaps they typically go hand-in-hand with a several thunderstorm warning?

I think at this point we should feel fortunate that Tesla even offers Storm Watch at all. I'm obviously surprised more "anti solar/climate/ITC" folks aren't raising a stink about Storm Watch potentially being a violation of the solar ITC that stipulates no charging from the grid in order to claim the batteries. (Maybe in the fine print it allows for something like Storm Watch, like "must primarily be charged from solar" or something like that?)