Tesla app showing ~double my home kW usage

[steve3]

My new 4kW solar panel system, no powerwall, has been operating 2 weeks now. Until yesterday, the app showed a consistent 23kWh daily usage, and hour by hour consumption variations were always in a .6 to 1.6kW range.

Yesterday the app started showing 3+kW usages, or roughly double, for a day’s total 39kW usage. Meanwhile my production was normal at roughly 2.4 to 3kW. So I made note of my meter readings at various times; meter readings went down about 10kWh during the daytime, so I know that for 6+ hours my production was notably higher than home usage, but the app’s readings were saying the exact opposite!

For a brief period after dusk the app seemed to report normal usage, but today the problem returned. So I power cycled both gateway & inverter...but the same erroneous app readings persist. Anybody else experience this??

 

[MorrisonHiker]

It sounds like there might be an issue with your CTs. Has your system been set up and recording correctly for a while or is it a new install? When we had our first system installed, they had to configure the CT settings for the gateway a couple different times in order to get things set up correct. About a year and a half later, we started seeing some odd readings and it turned out that one of the CTs had fallen off the wire so it wasn't reporting properly.

Give Tesla a call and they should be able to diagnose things remotely and see if they can fix it remotely or if a visit is required.

Also, you might want to make sure you didn't change your usage yesterday. I track our usage every day so I can see when the laundry is done, when each car charges, etc. and I can tell quickly if something is different. I noticed with one recent firmware update that my car would charge every 2 hours instead of every 2-3 days. I got another firmware update and that problem has gone away.

 

[steve3]

It sounds like there might be an issue with your CTs. Has your system been set up and recording correctly for a while or is it a new install? When we had our first system installed, they had to configure the CT settings for the gateway a couple different times in order to get things set up correct. About a year and a half later, we started seeing some odd readings and it turned out that one of the CTs had fallen off the wire so it wasn't reporting properly.

Give Tesla a call and they should be able to diagnose things remotely and see if they can fix it remotely or if a visit is required.

Also, you might want to make sure you didn't change your usage yesterday. I track our usage every day so I can see when the laundry is done, when each car charges, etc. and I can tell quickly if something is different. I noticed with one recent firmware update that my car would charge every 2 hours instead of every 2-3 days. I got another firmware update and that problem has gone away.

Thanks for your suggestions.

System has been set up, operating correctly, with correct app readings for two weeks. I also know that my home usage is quite consistent, as my 620w waterfall pump which goes 24/7 accounts for ~2/3 of my home’s 23kW daily usage during these 2 weeks...so with the Xcel meter showing lower readings as the day goes on, there’s definitely an error.

Ok, so I don’t know what a CT is. Also, do you have a phone# to call Tesla energy support? The app says to fill out a form. TIA.

 

[MorrisonHiker]

Here's a quick explanation of CT meters but there are probably better pages out there: 3 Tips For a Successful CT Meter Installation | eGauge

For Tech Support, just call 1 (888) 518-3752 and choose option 2 for Energy Products.

Just wondering, but where do you see the option to fill out a form in the App? I've seen that for out vehicles but don't have that option for our Solar or Powerwalls.

 

[steve3]

Here's a quick explanation of CT meters but there are probably better pages out there: 3 Tips For a Successful CT Meter Installation | eGauge

For Tech Support, just call 1 (888) 518-3752 and choose option 2 for Energy Products.

Just wondering, but where do you see the option to fill out a form in the App? I've seen that for out vehicles but don't have that option for our Solar or Powerwalls.

Thanks, I’ll call them.
In the app, select Service, then one of the categories. They have videos on troubleshooting, which only show the proper sequence for power cycling inverters & gateways. Then it says to fill out the form.

 

[MorrisonHiker]

Thanks, I’ll call them.
In the app, select Service, then one of the categories. They have videos on troubleshooting, which only show the proper sequence for power cycling inverters & gateways. Then it says to fill out the form.

Do you have a screenshot showing where you see Service in the app? We only have a Service option under cars, nothing under our Powerwalls or Solar.

Let us know what you find out concerning your issue.

 

[steve3]

Do you have a screenshot showing where you see Service in the app? We only have a Service option under cars, nothing under our Powerwalls or Solar.

Let us know what you find out concerning your issue.

 

[BrettS]

Do you have a screenshot showing where you see Service in the app? We only have a Service option under cars, nothing under our Powerwalls or Solar.

There was a bit of talk about this on the boards a few weeks ago when the option first appeared. I haven’t seen it mentioned since then, but at the time it seemed that just people with solar only were seeing the option. I don’t believe that anyone with powerwalls has seen the service option appear in their app yet.

 

[BrettS]

My new 4kW solar panel system, no powerwall, has been operating 2 weeks now. Until yesterday, the app showed a consistent 23kWh daily usage, and hour by hour consumption variations were always in a .6 to 1.6kW range.

Yesterday the app started showing 3+kW usages, or roughly double, for a day’s total 39kW usage. Meanwhile my production was normal at roughly 2.4 to 3kW. So I made note of my meter readings at various times; meter readings went down about 10kWh during the daytime, so I know that for 6+ hours my production was notably higher than home usage, but the app’s readings were saying the exact opposite!

For a brief period after dusk the app seemed to report normal usage, but today the problem returned. So I power cycled both gateway & inverter...but the same erroneous app readings persist. Anybody else experience this??

The Tesla system doesn’t directly measure the amount of power being used by your home, but rather it measures the amount of power that your solar system is producing and the amount of power that you are pulling from or sending to the grid. And then, based on those numbers it calculates the amount of power that your home is using. So if your home usage is wrong then one of those other two numbers also has to be wrong. If you can figure out which one is wrong then that might help to figure out what’s happening and maybe we can then figure out how to fix the problem.

 

[CrazyRabbit]

consumption is not same as meter reading. meter reading is consumption minus production.

 

[steve3]

Let us know what you find out concerning your issue.

Well, I called & they basically said nothing they can do remotely. They’ll send out a tech but if no problem is found with Tesla system then I’m charged $200.

So, since I’ve determined that my problem is that the Tesla app is reporting erroneous consumption readings [edit: or how much is coming from the grid, as @BrettS explained]...are CTs the source of the app’s consumption data, and are those CTs part of Tesla system, or Xcel... should I be calling Xcel??

 

[steve3]

The Tesla system doesn’t directly measure the amount of power being used by your home, but rather it measures the amount of power that your solar system is producing and the amount of power that you are pulling from or sending to the grid. And then, based on those numbers it calculates the amount of power that your home is using. So if your home usage is wrong then one of those other two numbers also has to be wrong. If you can figure out which one is wrong then that might help to figure out what’s happening and maybe we can then figure out how to fix the problem.

So how does the Tesla system know how much is being supplied by the grid?
Edit: I believe the app is correctly reporting solar production, so does that mean the problem is the grid number?

Edit2: since this problem started (yesterday), the app has not even once shown that any of the solar production is going back to the grid...yet I believe that much of the time solar production has been greater than consumption, so it should be showing up as supplying some to the grid.

 

[BrettS]

CT’s are Current Transformers and they are little round donut things put over the AC wires to measure how much power is flowing through that wire. In this case the CT’s are put over the wires between your house and the grid and connected to a PowerBlaster, which is a little device that lives in your breaker box and reads the data from the CT’s and sends that data to Tesla so the app can see how much power you are sending to or using from the grid and so it can calculate how much power your house is using. The PowerBlaster and CT’s would have been installed by Tesla during your solar install and they are part of your Tesla system.

The PowerBlaster should be connected to a breaker in your main panel (probably labeled PB or PowerBlaster). If you can identify which breaker it is connected to you could try turning the breaker off and then on again to reset the PowerBlaster device. If that doesn’t help then you’ll probably need to wait for Tesla to come out.

 

[steve3]

CT’s are Current Transformers and they are little round donut things put over the AC wires to measure how much power is flowing through that wire. In this case the CT’s are put over the wires between your house and the grid and connected to a PowerBlaster, which is a little device that lives in your breaker box and reads the data from the CT’s and sends that data to Tesla so the app can see how much power you are sending to or using from the grid and so it can calculate how much power your house is using. The PowerBlaster and CT’s would have been installed by Tesla during your solar install and they are part of your Tesla system.

The PowerBlaster should be connected to a breaker in your main panel (probably labeled PB or PowerBlaster). If you can identify which breaker it is connected to you could try turning the breaker off and then on again to reset the PowerBlaster device. If that doesn’t help then you’ll probably need to wait for Tesla to come out.

Very helpful explanation, thanks! I now see the CTs & PowerBlaster in the breaker box. Unfortunately none of the 3 Tesla tech support agents I talked to this afternoon had ever heard of a CT, nor mentioned the PowerBlaster.

I’ve power cycled PowerBlaster, to no avail. I’ll watch one more day to make sure that meter readings clearly show solar production is more than consumption. Then I’ll have Tesla come out.

 

[charlesj]

So how does the Tesla system know how much is being supplied by the grid?
....

You could look at the utility meter while you are also looking at the app and see what is going or coming from the grid. It should be close although the app, I believe, reports in hundreds, not tens.

My utility meter is down to each watt.

 

[steve3]

You could look at the utility meter while you are also looking at the app and see what is going or coming from the grid. It should be close although the app, I believe, reports in hundreds, not tens.

My utility meter is down to each watt.

That’s the disconnect - over a 2-4 hour span utility meter goes down 2-4 kWh while app shows ADDED kWh consumption.

It’s as if app is taking the amount of solar production sent to grid and adding it to cumulative consumption instead of subtracting it.

 

[BrettS]

The CT’s are directional, so it’s possible that if they were installed backwards then it would show power that you were feeding into the grid as power that you were pulling from the grid. However, if that was the case then at night when you were actually pulling power from the gird it would show that you were feeding power to the grid.

It also wouldn’t explain why it just suddenly started to happen. If they were installed backwards then they should have been installed backwards from the beginning.

 

[BrettS]

Actually, now that I posted that, I know that a lot of power meters do have the option to switch the polarity of the CT’s in their settings. I don’t know for sure about the powerblaster, but it’s certainly conceivable that if the configuration got changed or corrupted that could have switched the polarity setting.

But again, if this was the case it would show you feeding power into the grid at night when you were actually pulling power from the grid. Is that what you are seeing?

 

[steve3]

Actually, now that I posted that, I know that a lot of power meters do have the option to switch the polarity of the CT’s in their settings. I don’t know for sure about the powerblaster, but it’s certainly conceivable that if the configuration got changed or corrupted that could have switched the polarity setting.

But again, if this was the case it would show you feeding power into the grid at night when you were actually pulling power from the grid. Is that what you are seeing?

Good thought! Nope, but I’ll check again tonight.

 

[steve3]

Yesterday afternoon I reported my problem through the form on the app (I got nowhere with phone support, they said system was working as designed, suggested it was Xcel’s problem) the problem being 3 days of the app never once showing any solar production surplus going to the grid despite my net meter’s display proving otherwise (reduced net consumption over time on a sunny day), and instead inflating my consumption numbers by the amount going to the grid.

This morning there was an update to the app, and an hour into today’s sunshine, the app shows surplus solar production going to grid...so it’s working now.