Tesla Virtual Power Plant in CA

[Redhill_qik]

Mine is almost at the lowest, 5%

Ok, 1 Powerwall set to 5% and only exporting at 2-3kW have you checked what your site export limit is? In thinking that it must be around 2.5kW.

Log in to your TEG, click on Summary option and the Site Export Limit is near the bottom.

 

[KHYE]

Ok, 1 Powerwall set to 5% and only exporting at 2-3kW have you checked what your site export limit is? In thinking that it must be around 2.5kW.

Log in to your TEG, click on Summary option and the Site Export Limit is near the bottom.

I confirmed, it's 9.1kw.

 

[Redhill_qik]

I confirmed, it's 9.1kw.

Very strange. Can you post screen shots for your Powerwall, House and Grid for the last 3 hour event? Maybe there is a clue there.

 

[KHYE]

Very strange. Can you post screen shots for your Powerwall, House and Grid for the last 3 hour event? Maybe there is a clue there.

Thanks.

 

[Redhill_qik]

Those are screenshots from today not a VPP day. Also switch to the colored source view by clicking on the chart type icon next to Day so that it is 3 solid bars instead of 3 dashed bars

 

[KHYE]

Very strange. Can you post screen shots for your Powerwall, House and Grid for the last 3 hour event? Maybe there is a clue there.

My bad. Can't remember the last VPP event date, I looked back on this thread, it seems like there was one on Sept 9. Here are the graphs on that day:

 

[Redhill_qik]

My bad. Can't remember the last VPP event date, I looked back on this thread, it seems like there was one on Sept 9. Here are the graphs on that day:

The 9/9 VPP was from 5:00-8:00pm and it looks your Powerwall discharged at the max right at the beginning and then ramped down to about 2.8kW for the remainder. Maybe it was the Tesla/PG&E control algorithm throttling you because your area didn't need much at the time or was experimenting or maybe it was the Powerwall control algorithm trying to leave you enough to get through midnight.

The Powerwall graph shows that it continued to discharge after your defined Peak from from 4:00-9:00pm. Are you using Self-Powered mode instead of Time-Based Control and this is normal for you? I haven't seen anyone else here using SP mode report something similar.

Did you have the same behavior the prior day on 9/8 when the VPP was from 6:00-9:00pm?

 

[KHYE]

The 9/9 VPP was from 5:00-8:00pm and it looks your Powerwall discharged at the max right at the beginning and then ramped down to about 2.8kW for the remainder. Maybe it was the Tesla/PG&E control algorithm throttling you because your area didn't need much at the time or was experimenting or maybe it was the Powerwall control algorithm trying to leave you enough to get through midnight.

The Powerwall graph shows that it continued to discharge after your defined Peak from from 4:00-9:00pm. Are you using Self-Powered mode instead of Time-Based Control and this is normal for you? I haven't seen anyone else here using SP mode report something similar.

Did you have the same behavior the prior day on 9/8 when the VPP was from 6:00-9:00pm?

I'm with SCE and it's on time based control. Like you said, I don't know why it ramped down to around 2-3kw after it started. I want to send max to the grid during VPP. Here are graphs from the day before. Thanks for your help.

 

[Redhill_qik]

I'm with SCE and it's on time based control. Like you said, I don't know why it ramped down to around 2-3kw after it started. I want to send max to the grid during VPP. Here are graphs from the day before. Thanks for your help.

Maybe there is another SCE VPP participant here that can offer some insight based on what they have seen during the VPP events.

I was wondering what your normal Powerwall behavior was and remember that you had posted a screenshot earlier. You took the screenshot around 8:30pm, so the Powerwall data is zero after that point, but the first part from 12:00-6:30am is showing that the Powerwall is discharging into the home which is indicative of self-powered mode. The Powerwall algorithm is a black box and appear to be mostly based on your utility pricing numbers, so your SCE numbers might be causing this. If you like what is happening then leave it as-is, but if you don't want to be using the Powerwall during off-peak then you might want to look into editing the buy/sell pricing.

 

[yblaser]

I'm on SCE and my PW's discharge during the VPP event is only limited by either the 7.5 kW site export limit or the absolute 10 kW limit from the 2 PWs. It discharges at the max rate until it hits reserve. In the attached screenshot I changed the reserve during the event to eek out another 15 minutes of discharge. I normally run in self powered mode but was in time based on this day (and during all the VPP events) due to the amount of energy I was using in the house during the hot weather.

 

[KHYE]

I'm on SCE and my PW's discharge during the VPP event is only limited by either the 7.5 kW site export limit or the absolute 10 kW limit from the 2 PWs. It discharges at the max rate until it hits reserve. In the attached screenshot I changed the reserve during the event to eek out another 15 minutes of discharge. I normally run in self powered mode but was in time based on this day (and during all the VPP events) due to the amount of energy I was using in the house during the hot weather.

View attachment 857050

Thanks for sharing. I'm not sure what settings I need to make so that my PW is discharging max to the grid during VPP.

 

[carlosmalt]

Payment isn't until March 2023. There is no known way to check officially how much you have made, but there is the spreadsheet that I created that can estimate for you if you download all of the daily data from 8/4 through 9/9.

Thanks @Redhill_qik -- Where did you find the information about payment timing?

 

[Redhill_qik]

Thanks @Redhill_qik -- Where did you find the information about payment timing?

Emergency Load Reduction Pilot | Tesla Support

Participate in the Emergency Load Reduction Program (ELRP) pilot offered by Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) and support the grid while also earning compensation and maintaining your energy security.

www.tesla.com

 

[Redhill_qik]

I just received the following from Tesla.

​

​ ​ Your Powerwall Supported the Grid​

​ Your Powerwall helped support California’s grid during this year’s record-breaking heatwaves—thank you for helping create a more sustainable grid. On October 31, 2022, the Tesla Virtual Power Plant dispatch season with PG&E ended. We are working with your utility to calculate your 2022 season earnings and will provide you with payout information once available.​

Shocked a bit that they don't have this information already calculated. How is real time TOU pricing going to be implemented if a simple program like the VPP takes month to calculate.

The VPP page has been updated with stats from the events.

Emergency Load Reduction Pilot | Tesla Support

Participate in the Emergency Load Reduction Program (ELRP) pilot offered by Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) and support the grid while also earning compensation and maintaining your energy security.

www.tesla.com

 

[jboy210]

I just received the following from Tesla.



Shocked a bit that they don't have this information already calculated. How is real time TOU pricing going to be implemented if a simple program like the VPP takes month to calculate.

The VPP page has been updated with stats from the events.

Emergency Load Reduction Pilot | Tesla Support

Participate in the Emergency Load Reduction Program (ELRP) pilot offered by Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) and support the grid while also earning compensation and maintaining your energy security.

www.tesla.com

As I read the email, they only calculate the season earnings at the end of the VPP dispatch season, which ended October 31.

 

[Redhill_qik]

As I read the email, they only calculate the season earnings at the end of the VPP dispatch season, which ended October 31.

That's a bit like saying that credit card companies calculate the monthly statement at the end of the month. Yet, the credit companies are keeping track of every purchase, refund and payment made and you can see your balance at any time. Similarly, the baseline amount for the previous dates is known and the Powerwall discharge during the event is known, so (event - baseline) * $2.00 should be available at the end of the event or the next day at worst with a daily batch job.

 

[BGbreeder]

That's a bit like saying that credit card companies calculate the monthly statement at the end of the month. Yet, the credit companies are keeping track of every purchase, refund and payment made and you can see your balance at any time. Similarly, the baseline amount for the previous dates is known and the Powerwall discharge during the event is known, so (event - baseline) * $2.00 should be available at the end of the event or the next day at worst with a daily batch job.

Yes, it is poor software execution, if not engineering. Sigh.

This sort of thing always leaves me wondering what other "oversights" or "glitches" there are in Tesla's code. At some point, I think that "run fast, and break things", needs to morph into specifications, quality, and safety testing before releases.

All the best,

BG

 

[bmah]

Yes, it is poor software execution, if not engineering. Sigh.

This sort of thing always leaves me wondering what other "oversights" or "glitches" there are in Tesla's code. At some point, I think that "run fast, and break things", needs to morph into specifications, quality, and safety testing before releases.

Or it could be that "provide real-time VPP statistics to end-users" wasn't deemed important enough to get any of the limited (as in not infinite) engineering resources. Absent some kind of insider information, we probably won't know either way.

Bruce.

 

[MJ_CA_2019]

I didn't get an email... am for sure in the VPP and participated in events this summer. PG&E territory

 

[notsure11]

I’m a PG&E customer with two Powerwalls and no solar. Is anyone without solar participating in VPP? Since we don’t normally export and earn any credit, how does exporting electricity affect the utility bill? (I’ve read somewhere that the meter has to be specifically configured to account for export, otherwise they bill you even for exported kWh.) Thank you.