Tesla app showing incorrect information when charging from grid

[RKCRLR]

There is a storm here in northern California but Storm Watch wasn't triggered so I decided to top off my Powerwalls from the grid. I enabled charging from the grid and set my reserve to 100%.

The app is showing power coming from solar (which is more than is possible on a rainy day) and the grid but showing my home isn't consuming anything. My 3 Powerwalls are showing charging at a rate of the sum of the solar "production" and grid consumption.

When I directly connect to the Gateway using the IP address the grid consumption and Powerwall consumption match the Tesla app but it shows my house consumption value negative (but the absolute value in the right ballpark) and has a yellow triangle with an exclamation point saying "Warning: Load meter may be configured incorrectly" when I click on it. The sum of the grid consumption, solar production, and house consumption (when changed to a positive value) match the Powerwall consumption.

I suspect there something incorrect with the CT settings. When I'm not charging from the grid the Tesla app and Gateway readings appears to work correctly (including during a power outage).

Is this normal for grid charging with solar, does anyone else have this problem?

 

[h2ofun]

There is a storm here in northern California but Storm Watch wasn't triggered so I decided to top off my Powerwalls from the grid. I enabled charging from the grid and set my reserve to 100%.

The app is showing power coming from solar (which is more than is possible on a rainy day) and the grid but showing my home isn't consuming anything. My 3 Powerwalls are showing charging at a rate of the sum of the solar "production" and grid consumption.

When I directly connect to the Gateway using the IP address the grid consumption and Powerwall consumption match the Tesla app but it shows my house consumption value negative (but the absolute value in the right ballpark) and has a yellow triangle with an exclamation point saying "Warning: Load meter may be configured incorrectly" when I click on it. The sum of the grid consumption, solar production, and house consumption (when changed to a positive value) match the Powerwall consumption.

I suspect there something incorrect with the CT settings. When I'm not charging from the grid the Tesla app and Gateway readings appears to work correctly (including during a power outage).

Is this normal for grid charging with solar, does anyone else have this problem?

Great point, the storm hitting is really heavy, so no solar. I also just move my batteries to 100% so grid charging just start. I hear this sucking sound from PGE

 

[RKCRLR]

Great point, the storm hitting is really heavy, so no solar. I also just move my batteries to 100% so grid charging just start. I hear this sucking sound from PGE

Coincidentally, my power went out when I was up to 91% SOC. Power is back on now.

 

[Dennis Rosche]

Are the grid charging tax implications only for the year the powerwalls were installed? MY powerwalls are5 years old, can't see that there should be any tax issues. I switched my grid charging option from NO to YES, the powerwalls received 17.7 Kwh from the grid last night, enough to bring them up to 100%.

 

[ptdusn]

There is a storm here in northern California but Storm Watch wasn't triggered so I decided to top off my Powerwalls from the grid. I enabled charging from the grid and set my reserve to 100%.

The app is showing power coming from solar (which is more than is possible on a rainy day) and the grid but showing my home isn't consuming anything. My 3 Powerwalls are showing charging at a rate of the sum of the solar "production" and grid consumption.

When I directly connect to the Gateway using the IP address the grid consumption and Powerwall consumption match the Tesla app but it shows my house consumption value negative (but the absolute value in the right ballpark) and has a yellow triangle with an exclamation point saying "Warning: Load meter may be configured incorrectly" when I click on it. The sum of the grid consumption, solar production, and house consumption (when changed to a positive value) match the Powerwall consumption.

I suspect there something incorrect with the CT settings. When I'm not charging from the grid the Tesla app and Gateway readings appears to work correctly (including during a power outage).

Is this normal for grid charging with solar, does anyone else have this problem?

Hey!! This sound like my "Load Meter Fault" issue!! When my PWs get fully charged, the house indication goes from a kW reading to 0kW and shows everything going to the grid, with the yellow triangle saying "Load Meter fault"

 

[Gwgan]

After a Powerwall software update I had the same problem as the OP. After finally getting support on the phone they “uninverted” the solar CT meter setting and after about 5 minutes all was well.

They also noted two conditions in the logs which would trigger PW to stop working; high grid voltage spikes and battery temps below freezing but neither corresponded temporally with the change in meter readings.

 

[RKCRLR]

I called Tesla in December about this problem and they escalated it to a Tier 2 technician. I hadn't heard back from them and the problem still happens so I called them today after an outage. The representative I spoke to responded they closed the ticket in January but didn't bother passing the information along to me. Basically, they stated this is normal. Below is the level 2 response that I requested to be forwarded to me:

Hello XXXXX YYYYYY,

This is Tesla Powerwall Support. We are just reaching out in response to your request for support. Good news! It seems we were able to resolve your issue remotely. We’ve included the details of the resolution below.

Issue Addressed: ticket # 31259575 | incorrect readings in the Tesla App

​

Actions taken: Ticket was reviewed, and it was determined that the readings were correct. This is due to the system grid forming after going off grid
causing the value of the reading to change negatively but then goes back to normal. However, if this issue occurs while on grid then we would want to review it further.

If you are still experiencing any concerns or the issue is not resolved with your Powerwall, please contact us as soon as you can. We can be reached at 877-798-3752. We are available 7 days a week from 6am to 1am PST.

Thank you for choosing Tesla!

Best regards,

Reuben Flores
Tesla Powerwall Support Team

Also, if solar isn't being produced and I'm charging from the grid the readings are still erroneous.

Does anyone NOT have this problem when charging from the grid? If some people don't have this problem when charging from the grid I'd like to ask Tesla why my system works differently.

 

[cwied]

Does anyone NOT have this problem when charging from the grid? If some people don't have this problem when charging from the grid I'd like to ask Tesla why my system works differently.

If I understand your issue correctly, I do not have this problem when charging from the grid. My house load still shows correctly when charging from the grid. Here's last Sunday's grid use graph. Note the grid charging at midnight and around 2pm with house load drawing from the grid.

 

[RKCRLR]

Thanks for the response but the energy graphs don't capture the problem. It's the energy flow on the homepage of the app and when I log into the Gateway that show the erroneous information when the Powerwalls are charging from the grid.

 

[cwied]

Hmm, for me the energy graphs reflect what the energy flow shows in realtime. Here is a chart of the home load for the same day from an external system that monitors the flow reported on the Gateway's web page (i.e. the numbers you see when you log into the Gateway):

 

[RKCRLR]

Thanks

 

[jgleigh]

When I directly connect to the Gateway using the IP address the grid consumption and Powerwall consumption match the Tesla app but it shows my house consumption value negative (but the absolute value in the right ballpark) and has a yellow triangle with an exclamation point saying "Warning: Load meter may be configured incorrectly" when I click on it. The sum of the grid consumption, solar production, and house consumption (when changed to a positive value) match the Powerwall consumption.

This definitely sounds like a backwards CT on your house load. You can flip them in SW, but the correct way is for Tesla to get them oriented correctly.

 

[RKCRLR]

This definitely sounds like a backwards CT on your house load. You can flip them in SW, but the correct way is for Tesla to get them oriented correctly.

I agree. I responded to Tesla's email that said everything is correct saying I disagree but its been crickets...

 

[swedge]

I agree. I responded to Tesla's email that said everything is correct saying I disagree but its been crickets...

At least in my system, there is no CT on the house load. Instead, house load is calculated as the sum of solar production, grid draw and PW discharge, including negative numbers for grid export and PW charging.

In the installer wizard, one can "flip" the solar CTs. I have not done this to see how it affects the behavior and displays. But misconfiguration of the CTs will give crazy displays.

I do occasionally see slight imbalances where the flows don't total to zero, bu these are only momentary and probably due to the displayed numbers not being exactly synchronized. (The gateway is electrically a connection node which does not itself produce or consume any power, always nets out to zero.)

 

[aesculus]

If I understand your issue correctly, I do not have this problem when charging from the grid. My house load still shows correctly when charging from the grid. Here's last Sunday's grid use graph. Note the grid charging at midnight and around 2pm with house load drawing from the grid.
View attachment 912406

Can you explain this graph around 4pm where both your solar and PWs are exporting to the grid? I can understand the solar, including a dip that I suspect is shading, but I don't understand the PW that almost mirrors the solar, including the dip.

 

[jgleigh]

I agree. I responded to Tesla's email that said everything is correct saying I disagree but its been crickets...

If you post the four screens from the Tesla app, we can probably point you in the right direction of which CT is misconfigured.

 

[swedge]

Can you explain this graph around 4pm where both your solar and PWs are exporting to the grid? I can understand the solar, including a dip that I suspect is shading, but I don't understand the PW that almost mirrors the solar, including the dip.

That is what mine looks like when it Exports Everything at the beginning of the 4-9pm peak price period.

The dip could have been a brief increase in house draw, which was being covered by the PW.

 

[aesculus]

That is what mine looks like when it Exports Everything at the beginning of the 4-9pm peak price period.

The dip could have been a brief increase in house draw, which was being covered by the PW.

I was wondering if that was what it was. So when you export everything then it appears Tesla gives a hint on where the power you are exporting originally came from. That is a bit scary.

 

[swedge]

I was wondering if that was what it was. So when you export everything then it appears Tesla gives a hint on where the power you are exporting originally came from. That is a bit scary.

I don't think that is exactly it. There are four connections: house, solar, grid and battery. The flows always sum to zero. The gateway calculates house from the CTs on both the solar and grid as well as what it set the PW battery to flow.

The gateway algorithms determine how much to charge or discharge. When the grid is up, it will supply or absorb the difference between the other three. How the PW flows is decided based on time, rates, settings, state of charge, etc. When charging from solar, it sets the charge rate equal to the solar rate. When it is doing that, it displays the solar as going to the PW, and the gird going to the house. But the display could show the grid charging the PW and the solar running the house, same numbers but different colors in the display and charts. The difference is only that the gateway knows why it is charging at that rate, so it displays things that way.

During peak, it sets the discharge rate to null out the grid flow by controlling the discharge rate to match the house minus solar production, if any. When there is no solar, the PW will match the house draw. At this point the display doesn't show where the charge came from, solar or grid, it just shows the PW running the house. By the way, when it does this, there is usually a small flow to or from the grid, but less than 50 watts, so it rounds down to zero.

When the grid fails, it disconnects from the grid and the PW regulates the voltage, supplying whatever current it takes up to it's limit. If solar is producing more than the house is using, and the PW is fully charged, PW shifts the frequency up from 60 Hz which tells the solar inverters to shut down, all the while regulating the voltage.

Anyway, the display mirrors the logic. The numbers are real, but sometimes the colors are a bit made up.

Is that confusing enough? ;-)

Interestingly, the energy lost between charging and discharging is not displayed, you have to calculate that from the numbers the app gives you: grid, solar, house, charge and discharge. Unless the state of charge is exactly the same at consecutive midnights, you can't just use the total daily charge and discharge numbers, sigh. When I've checked it, around 10% of charging was lost.

So, not scary, but definitely pretty clever. If you want scary, try asking ChatGPT these questions. It makes up answers and if you call it on being wrong, it will lie about having said what it said. Now that is scary in my book. Just like some people we know....

 

[aesculus]

Is that confusing enough? ;-)

Yeah.

Mine seems to be so much simpler without Export Everything. Here is a grid charge to PW day (at midnight while also charging my car). You can see the solar output in orange at the bottom. In my case only solar gets exported to the grid because I don't have Export Everything toggled on.

Can the PW export to the grid while solar is also being exported? I suspect it would be capped by your max export rate.

This may be just poor graphics on the apps part. If so I wish they would just show the orange as what is flowing from the solar to the grid and any PW (green) adding to it.