Switched on my system today!

[daniel]

After several months of waiting for the installation, the installer switched on my system today. Whoopee! I've wanted solar for well over a decade, but never lived anywhere I could get it until now. It got turned on late in the day so the Powerwalls didn't get much charge and are empty now, but in the morning they'll charge up pretty quickly. I unplugged the car for now. I'll plug it back in after paddling in the morning, when the sun will be well up in the sky.

Just in time for the hottest of the summer weather here in paradise.

 

[daniel]

6:13 a.m. in North Kihei, HI. The sun is just starting to peek over the low northern slope of Haleakala. The house is drawing 400 watts, and half of that is coming from my new PV panels. The other half is coming from the grid.

6:18 a.m. The house is drawing 300 watts and all of it is coming from the panels.

6:19 a.m. The house is drawing 200 watts, the panels are producing 500 watts, and 300 watts are going to the Powerwalls.

6:20. The panels are producing 600 watts.

6:40. Producing one kW.

I can see all the above on the app. But when I log in to my Tesla account on the web site, I cannot see my Powerwalls. Is there a way to see that, or does the web site just not have that information? Is there any way to see the Powerwalls on the desktop computer?

 

[dandrewk]

I can see all the above on the app. But when I log in to my Tesla account on the web site, I cannot see my Powerwalls. Is there a way to see that, or does the web site just not have that information? Is there any way to see the Powerwalls on the desktop computer?

Congrats on your setup! Isn't it great knowing that all the electrons you are using come directly from the sun shining on your roof?

AFAIK, there are no desktop apps for the Powerwalls, but there are options if you want to get an electrician involved. Even those may only be monitored via a smart device.

However, if your system was installed my Tesla and has a gateway, you can log directly into it and get some of the same info as the app. It will require connecting to the Powerwalls WiFi and then using a browser: Connecting to Tesla Gateway | Tesla Support

Note - your desktop will need to be close to the gateway as the WiFi signal is a bit weak.

 

[daniel]

Congrats on your setup! Isn't it great knowing that all the electrons you are using come directly from the sun shining on your roof?

AFAIK, there are no desktop apps for the Powerwalls, but there are options if you want to get an electrician involved. Even those may only be monitored via a smart device.

However, if your system was installed my Tesla and has a gateway, you can log directly into it and get some of the same info as the app. It will require connecting to the Powerwalls WiFi and then using a browser: Connecting to Tesla Gateway | Tesla Support

Note - your desktop will need to be close to the gateway as the WiFi signal is a bit weak.

Thanks for that. Not sure it will help though if I have to log onto the gateway's own wi-fi. What I'd like is to be able to keep a window to the gateway open on my desktop so that I could monitor it. But I need the desktop to be logged onto my router so I have access to the internet. Maybe it's no biggie. I'll want to monitor it pretty steadily for the first few days to see how it's doing, and maybe after that I won't feel the need any more.

Whether or not all my electrons come from the sun will depend on if I have enough panels and Powerwalls, though. My expectation was that I will. But it will take a day or a few days to find out. I was getting 3 kW, then a cloud blocked the sun and it dropped to 800 watts. OTOH it's only 9:30 a.m. Once I turn on the A/C that draws 4.5 kW. That will probably happen pretty soon.

 

[Big Earl]

Congrats! How big is your system (size in kW) and how many Powerwalls did you install?

 

[daniel]

For the main house, 32 panels and two Powerwalls. The inverter can deliver 10 kW AC. For the cottage out back (which I rent out) there are 16 panels and one Powerwall, and the inverter can deliver 6 kW. The main power use is A/C. In the main house the A/C seems to draw about 4.5 kW when it's running. Not sure yet about the cottage. Next week when the renter goes to work if she leaves the A/C on for the puppy (which she generally does) I'll probably be able to see how much the A/C there draws because there shouldn't be any other power draw when she's not home.

Both the house and the cottage already had solar hot water so that does not draw any electricity other than the very small amount to run the pump.

10:30 a.m. I have not yet turned on the A/C for the day, the Powerwalls (house and cottage) are all at 40%.

 

[dandrewk]

Thanks for that. Not sure it will help though if I have to log onto the gateway's own wi-fi. What I'd like is to be able to keep a window to the gateway open on my desktop so that I could monitor it. But I need the desktop to be logged onto my router so I have access to the internet. Maybe it's no biggie. I'll want to monitor it pretty steadily for the first few days to see how it's doing, and maybe after that I won't feel the need any more.

Whether or not all my electrons come from the sun will depend on if I have enough panels and Powerwalls, though. My expectation was that I will. But it will take a day or a few days to find out. I was getting 3 kW, then a cloud blocked the sun and it dropped to 800 watts. OTOH it's only 9:30 a.m. Once I turn on the A/C that draws 4.5 kW. That will probably happen pretty soon.

My desktop sits next to the router, so I can have a wired and wireless connection to my iMac. The ethernet wire keeps me connected to the internet while my WiFi is connected to the gateway.

 

[daniel]

The contractor came back today and installed some do-thingies that connect to the inverters (?) and to my internet router and that, once he gets it all set up, will allow me and him to see the operation of each individual panel.

As of 1:00 p.m. my Powerwalls for the house are at 71%, my panels are producing 9.6 kW. For the Cottage, the Powerwall is full and the panels are producing 1.4 kW because they cut back production when there's no place for it to go. The utility will not take my excess.

I figure that I won't get much sun after about 5:00 p.m., and probably not much power after about 4:00. So my system has 3 more hours to try to get my Powerwalls full today.

 

[woferry]

If you put your Gateway on your home network (either join it to your WiFi if it's within reach, or connect via Ethernet) then it's just another IP on your home network and you can leave a browser window open to the Gateway's UI, that's what I do. The box you just described likely only provides inverter/panel data, not the Gateway/Powerwall data.

 

[daniel]

If you put your Gateway on your home network (either join it to your WiFi if it's within reach, or connect via Ethernet) then it's just another IP on your home network and you can leave a browser window open to the Gateway's UI, that's what I do. The box you just described likely only provides inverter/panel data, not the Gateway/Powerwall data.

You are correct about what the new box does. I don't know how to put the gateway on my home network. Is that something the contractor should be able to do? It is connected to my home wi-fi now, which is how it communicates to Tesla. I am computer-savvy from a user point of view. That is, I can do the usual stuff. I am totally ignorant from a systems point of view. I don't know how to do anything other than operate the apps.

 

[woferry]

I don't know how to put the gateway on my home network. [...] It is connected to my home wi-fi now, which is how it communicates to Tesla.

Little bit confused by these two statements, as they seem to conflict. If the gateway is already on the home wi-fi then you just need to find it's IP address. The gateway also has cellular, so it can talk to Tesla without a wifi or ethernet connection. If it isn't then you'd need to join it, the installer should be able to do that, it's pretty easy to do yourself, also. The link provided above (post #3) has the details for getting the gateway on your network.

Once that's done (or if it's already done), it might take a bit of work that would be specific to your internet router to figure out what IP the gateway is using (usually there's a way to view the DHCP clients on the router, though you might have to go through a process of elimination to figure out which one is actually the gateway). You might also want to configure your router to assign it a fixed IP so that it never changes. But once you know/set the IP, you just browse to that IP (http://192.168.42.84/ in my case) and its home-page is a UI similar to the Tesla app's Power Flow page. Your browser will likely complain about site security, and you'll probably have to accept the Gateway's certificate before you'll see this page (how this works depends on your browser, Firefox seems to make it fairly hard to override, other browsers are easier to get around).

 

[daniel]

If my post contradicted itself it was because I really don't understand this stuff. I can connect a device to wi-fi by going to the wi-fi settings, selecting the network, and typing in a password. In the case of my gateway, I gave the contractor my network name and password and he connected them. I have a vague idea what an IP address is, no idea whatsoever what a DHCP client is. I think it would be a very bad idea for me to mess around with any of this stuff.

It's 2:30 p.m. and the app is showing my Powerwalls for the house at 100%. They're not really full since they're still accepting 3.5 kW. But this means that they probably will be actually full when the sun goes down to where the clouds over the West Maui Mountains block it, so I'll have a full charge going in to overnight. And I should have plenty when I turn off the A/C a bit after sundown.

This is really cool!

 

[daniel]

Yesterday was my first full day with solar. To recap: 32 panels and 2 Powerwalls for the house plus 16 panels and one Powerwall for the cottage. Both systems started the day with the PWs at zero charge. The one PW for the cottage was at 100% by noon. For the house, the 2 PWs were full at 3:00 p.m., which is exactly when the contractor thought they would be. Didn't think to plug in the car but the A/C was running. At 5:00 p.m. with the sun still pretty high above the horizon the cottage was getting no power and the house was getting a very small amount. Maybe because the PWs were full.

I turn my A/C off shortly after sunset because it's not needed any more. I suspect the cottage needs A/C for longer because it doesn't get the breeze that the house gets. Also, the renter's brother was visiting, so maybe they were using more power. I told her not to skimp on power because I want to see what the system can handle. By morning the cottage PW was empty, and the house PWs were around 78%. I plugged in the car when I got up so there would be room for the solar to send power. I still only have 120 v. in the house garage, so it's a slow charge, 5 miles per hour of charging. No biggie. I still had 150 miles of range, which would be enough for a week here on Maui.

Right now the PW for the cottage is at 100% and the cottage is pulling minimal power from the solar. The PWs for the house are at 97%. The house is drawing 6 kW, which is mainly the A/C and the car charging. Sometimes a tiny bit is coming from the PWs and most is coming from the solar, and sometimes the solar is producing enough to run the house and send some to the PWs.

 

[Jerryt175]

After several months of waiting for the installation, the installer switched on my system today. Whoopee! I've wanted solar for well over a decade, but never lived anywhere I could get it until now. It got turned on late in the day so the Powerwalls didn't get much charge and are empty now, but in the morning they'll charge up pretty quickly. I unplugged the car for now. I'll plug it back in after paddling in the morning, when the sun will be well up in the sky.

Just in time for the hottest of the summer weather here in paradise.

You are lucky, they won't touch my cedar roof for solar installations

 

[Mary Starfnbu]

Our solar system is six years old and has worked flawlessly. We didn't anticipate an electric car when we put them up, so we are a little behind the curve this year. At "True Up" next month, we figure our annual bill will be around $120. We are talking about adding about 4 more panels. It is an excellent investment as rates are going up. Unfortunately we do have a $10/mo transmission fee, though.

 

[cbaaz]

........
As of 1:00 p.m. my Powerwalls for the house are at 71%, my panels are producing 9.6 kW. For the Cottage, the Powerwall is full and the panels are producing 1.4 kW because they cut back production when there's no place for it to go. The utility will not take my excess.

I think the HI profile is still around 80% fossil fueled power generation - and yet they won't take your excess power. Crazy

Thanks for posting these real world results - they are very interesting

 

[Mary Starfnbu]

I think the HI profile is still around 80% fossil fueled power generation - and yet they won't take your excess power. Crazy

Thanks for posting these real world results - they are very interesting

Here we get credit for everything we send back to the grid after subtracting what we use, and that is applied to the next year's bill. The thing that really annoys me is that California doesn't count hydroelectric as renewablel. The PUC fears that if they count hydroelectric then there will be no incentive to build wind and solar.

 

[Unofficial]

Daniel have you checked to see how your system operates when the grid goes down? Depending on the settings, there’s a good chance your zero export Pv won’t produce when it doesn’t see any import (needs to see import to know it needs to produce)

 

[daniel]

I think the HI profile is still around 80% fossil fueled power generation - and yet they won't take your excess power. Crazy

Thanks for posting these real world results - they are very interesting

My understanding is that they are getting so much excess solar that they cannot balance any more. But that's just my general impression. Another issue is that they have a huge investment in plant, which becomes useless if too many people go on solar.

Daniel have you checked to see how your system operates when the grid goes down? Depending on the settings, there’s a good chance your zero export Pv won’t produce when it doesn’t see any import (needs to see import to know it needs to produce)

If the grid goes out, my solar production will stop for five minutes, and then turn back on. But I have to turn off my A/C compressor because it produces a spike when it starts that is so big the system cannot handle it and it will re-set the five-minute delay.

So I won't have A/C during power outages. But this is Hawaii, not Arizona. Lack of A/C would be uncomfortable, but not a health hazard. Might just have to spend more time on the beach and less at the computer.

I'm learning that I need to be aware of my power use and generation. I don't want my batteries to go empty because then I'd be buying power; but I also don't want them too full, especially at the start of the day, because then there's no place for power to go and my solar will cut back and I miss out on the sunlight. And I need to be aware of the cloud cover because that affects how much I'm generating. Hopefully the clouds that reduce my production will also reduce my need for A/C.

One problem is that I'd like to use the car to draw down the Powerwalls in the early morning before the solar gets going strong, so there's room to accept as much as possible, but right now I only have 120 v. in the garage, so the car can only draw 1.5 kW. I'm going to have a Nema 14-50 installed and then the car will be able to draw up to about 7 1/2 kW. The Powerwalls can deliver that much and still supply the house as long as the A/C is not running. Maybe I'll limit the car to 5 kW.

 

[NuShrike]

Here we get credit for everything we send back to the grid after subtracting what we use, and that is applied to the next year's bill. The thing that really annoys me is that California doesn't count hydroelectric as renewablel. The PUC fears that if they count hydroelectric then there will be no incentive to build wind and solar.

Do we really want to count hydroelectric as renewable with all the frequent droughts?