Your Powerwall 2 App settings adv. mode with Solar PV and Octopus Agile

[Fly.guy]

We have PV, a Powerwall 2 and a Model S and are on Agile. This is what our usage looked like yesterday:

As you can see, the car charges from 1am. The PW is set to Advanced, Cost Saving with off peak set between 0:30 and 7:00 and all the rest normal (no peak).

Seems to work well. Not only in terms of cost but also shifting CO2 intensity by charging in the small hours when baseload power is at its cleanest and avoiding any draw during the rest of the day.

 

[ACarneiro]

No solar production at all? Ouch!

 

[Fly.guy]

Grey, foggy and gloomy... 0.6kWh all day !

 

[kuruma]

we only had 1.1kWh... and we've got a 5.2kWh array! Dismal times, but the solstice is around the corner... the official start of summer as far as I'm concerned!

 

[Dilly]

we only had 1.1kWh... and we've got a 5.2kWh array! Dismal times, but the solstice is around the corner... the official start of summer as far as I'm concerned!

It was so dismal here today that my 10.9Kw array produced a just a miniscule 810wh!

 

[Gatsojon]

In the NW we don’t seem to see much agile plunging. I’m on Go and charge the PW at 5p then run the house from that during the day. You just get the full charge in the 4 hour slot. I’ve not seen more than a handful of Agile days that could have returned better. No problem charging the car 40% on top of PW, dryer and dishwasher. Not much solar currently though did get an unexpected 3 kWh yesterday from the 5 kW array.

might look at the Tesla tariff in the spring as that’s 8p in and out all day with zero standing charge. You hand over control of the PW and car charging to Octopus though.

 

[IanL]

I thought the Powerwalls were rated for 90% round trip efficiency?

I personally can’t be bothered will all the Agile work so just got on Go. I can charge my batteries at 5p per kWh and that is just under half what my previous Economy7 rate was. Complete no brainer

I was being conservative with the 20% round trip loss, but I have seen that figure multiple times.

The uncertainty of Agile seems to be a challenge but if you look at the higher rate you pay on Go for the hours of the day you are not on 5p - and if you have restricted batteries or a high base load then pretty much consistently Agile is the no-brainer. If you have sufficient battery to run your house at the 5p rate then it could be different when Agile is ‘high’.

There really isn’t a lot of work with Agile, other than reducing peak load and/or ensuring batteries discharge 4-7pm.

 

[ACarneiro]

I have enough battery storage to run my house the whole day so the benefit of Agile would be marginal, I suspect

 

[IanL]

Big battery. Everyone’s maths will be different depending on storage capacity and usage (and solar capacity).

I have one Powerwall 2 and can avoid any draw in the afternoon peak +/- 1hr but there is no way it will stretch the whole day. I don’t think the economics are fully there for adding more capacity, especially with average kWh prices of 8-9p.

 

[ACarneiro]

Yes, I have two PW2s
I also clearly have more money than sense, as you're absolutely right, it makes no economic sense. It gives me a a bit of a warm fuzzy feeling to be as self sufficient as possible and I suppose early adopters spend money to make technology cheaper and more accessible, so in a way I'm putting my money where my mouth is.

 

[MrBadger]

I thought that recycled fork lift batteries was the battery of choice for those wanting to go self sufficient? Or has that phase of early adoption passed?

 

[Dilly]

I have 2 Powerwalls and solar. Over a year my off-peak to peak draw ratio is about 10:1. During summer it’s more like 100:1
Go works for me. I’ve looked at the Tesla tariff, but 8p all day, loss of export and control of my PW’s isn’t a territory I want to step into.
I’m not a net exporter and the sums don’t stack up

 

[dskitch59]

I have 2 Powerwalls and solar. Over a year my off-peak to peak draw ratio is about 10:1. During summer it’s more like 100:1
Go works for me. I’ve looked at the Tesla tariff, but 8p all day, loss of export and control of my PW’s isn’t a territory I want to step into.
I’m not a net exporter and the sums don’t stack up

When I signed up as an exporter Octopus said I couldn’t stay on Go and I had to move to Agile which seems to be cheaper anyway. I couldn’t work with advanced and manually switch to backup-only during the night time cheap periods. (Backup-only seems to charge at 3.4kW whereas upping the reserve on Self-powered only seems to charge at 1.7kW)

 

[Dilly]

When I signed up as an exporter Octopus said I couldn’t stay on Go and I had to move to Agile which seems to be cheaper anyway. I couldn’t work with advanced and manually switch to backup-only during the night time cheap periods. (Backup-only seems to charge at 3.4kW whereas upping the reserve on Self-powered only seems to charge at 1.7kW)

PW’s are normally capped at 3.5Kwh charge/discharge so backup grid charge is fine.
self powered should also give the same charge assuming you have a big enough solar array. Your home will of course get first call on the solar.
Advanced settings can be hit and miss, particularly when dismal weather follows a sunny few days.

 

[Poweruser]

Hi everyone

I just moved to octopus agile and I also have Solar panels and powerwall 2. I am using “Cost saving” option as well to make sure to reflect the 16:00-19:00 peak time. Anyone aware what the differences are between “off peak” and “shoulder” time with octopus agile?

 

[crashzero]

Hi all, new to this forum having just come across this post.

As a Tesla Certified Installer I wanted to clarify that Powerwall 2 has a maximum charge and discharge rate of 5kW provided it has been set up in G99 mode by the original installer. If it doesn't ever exceed 3.68kW then it has probably been set up in G98 mode.

The settings can be changed with prior approval from the Distribution Network Operator (DNO). Any Tesla Certified Installer can do this, it just requires an application to the DNO. My local DNO is quite generous when it comes to what they allow us to connect but certain other DNOs are not. The reason some installers choose to use G98 mode is because it is a quicker application process but in my opinion they're not being fair to their customer who deserves to enjoy the full capabilities of their premium battery system.

I run a similar system to the OP with 6kWp of solar, a Powerwall and the Agile Octopus tariff.

Kind regards
Stuart

Hi Stuart,
got a favor to ask, could you get in touch please

thanks
Rudi