Awesome! If you don't mind me asking, what's your name? I'm always curious to follow along. Installed yet or have an install date?

@@TheMahkus David U. Everything is installed and running as of June 18th. I’ve been waiting on PTO from SCE since then.

Ah nice!! Hopefully you should have PTO soon. Used your referral points to get our universal wall connector and we love it! Thank you!!

Any HOV eligible vehicle, the stickers will be the same!

Yep we're on NEM 2. First year we had our system was about $250 payment for excess credits. Used a bit more the next year and got about $40 for excess credits the next year.

No front camera on the Model Y. It doesn't block ultrasonic sensors on the older Model Ys either.

That's a killer incentive from your utility! Do you have to agree to VPPs or anything to receive that incentive? You're going to love the Powerwalls. They truly are the icing on the cake for home solar generation!!

We're on 24.12.3. Your system might have some issues. Solar should be priority in covering the house load and then powerwall picks up the difference with no change in solar output

Nice system! I wish I could do that, but barely have enough time to make videos as it is! Will hopefully have new content out soon.

​@@TheMahkus I do have a question how did u convince Tesla to give you 2 inverters, I was not able to get another, and now my system technically, Max is out at 7 kW

​​⁠I asked for our system plans prior to install and double checked. All our panels are east facing, so with 12.24 kW worth of panels we needed the second inverter.

At this point unfortunately Charge on Solar only works with one vehicle at a time. Pretty sure you could have the one running with regular charging settings, and the other using Charge on Solar and that would adjust via load sharing if draw was too great for the circuit

We live in an area surrounded by farms so they get dusty every couple months. I usually get the hose out maybe 2-3 times a year when they're overly dusty and we don't have rain (it doesn't rain for most of the summer here). I don't pay to have them cleaned, though, cost of cleaning doesn't come anywhere close to what the increase in production would be.

I want an answer to this question before I install power wall

The old tax credit (the one we claimed in 2021) required the Powerwalls to be only solar charged and not grid charged for 5 years to claim the credit. The updated tax credit no longer requires that - so you can claim the tax credit nowadays for a Powerwall only install. Without the solar (or with cheaper rates) the time shift of the loads only will prolong your payoff period, but I agree, I really lile having the backup protection of the Powerwalls. And for us, it pretty much keeps us completely off the grid except for during the winter!

​@@TheMahkus I just had a third PowerWall added to my system this month so maybe I can get the tax credit on that install? That would be exciting! Of course if I had known that I might have opted for 2 more instead of one. I did a run time test last summer and got 16 hours with two of them. Three brings me to around 24 hours estimated in a summer outage. Of course that was without any load shedding so in a actual prolonged outage I could probably stretch longer. In winter I could probably get multiple days since I have a gas furnace.

@@samnewby9783You should definitely look into the credit!

That's a good question! All depends on your preferences and a couple different variables. Do you overproduce throughout the year? You will have to use the grid if you deplete your Powerwall during the event. We use our excess credits for that, but if you don't net export you'll pay retail rates for those kWh after the event (which are probably still cheaper than the $2/kWh they give us during an event!) If you're in an area that doesn't lose power that much, I'd say go for it! You can always set a reserve limit so you have a little bit of backup in case of an outage.

Our house is pretty new, so current HVAC system has a ways to go before we replace it. We'll definitely be going that route once it needs to be replaced!

You should be able to operate your system before PTO and it'll just keep all your production behind the meter! Charge on solar is ideal for that kind of situation actually. Or is your utility forcing you to keep it off?

You should be able to set a backup reserve level for the Powerwalls. If you set it higher (closer to 100% backup) it will put all your solar production into Powerwalls. It won't use the Powerwalls in that setting though. Do you run it in self powered mode or time based control? Sounds like self powered mode might be better for you. It will prioritize your house load, then charging the batteries in that mode. Only when the batteries are full and house load is covered would it start to send back to grid

Not too much in functionality updates - they have allowed the two sliding charge level bars to be set to higher/lower percentage levels now. Still hoping they add the ability to prioritize a Powerwall charge level (ie. fill it up to 100% then start Charge on Solar) in the future. I will keep the Powerwall charging video suggestion in mind in a future video! Depends on the season but we use anywhere from 30% or so a night in winter to pretty much draining the Powerwalls during summer nights if the AC is running all night.

That's going to be a monster system! Congrats!

Go for it!! Just make sure that the 27 kWh capacity of the two Powerwalls is enough for you to last from 6am to 8pm without needing to touch the grid. Using AC and such it'd be tough for us to do that during the summer with 3 Powerwalls. If you're thinking about it use your referral code (or mine if you need it!) and take advantage of the $500 off before it ends on April 30! Everything is refundable up until you accept designs, so might as well lock in some savings while you think about it!

What is the per kWh rate that the SDG&E VPP pays? For us with PG&E it's $2/kWh. Definitely worth it to discharge them whenever. Some companies do fixed rates based on storage capacity (I believe on the East Coast I've heard that more commonly). If you're a net exporter the VPP rates are generally going to be quite a bit more lucrative (for us about 40x) than the rates you get paid for excess at the yearly true up!

Glad I could help! Let me know if there's anything you have questions about!

Awesome! Do you use automation to control the charging at all?

No, I just plug my Tesla in when I want to charge it. Since I drive to my shop pretty much every day and plug in when I get to around 30% - 40%, automation is not needed. My car will charge up usually by 3pm easily, and then the inverter goes dormant unless my batteries need toping off from the night before.

I run my system in self powered all year. I adjust my backup level only. Usually run 100% self powered 0% backup from about March to October, then switch it to 60% backup 40% self powered when the solar production is too low to refill my daily use from the Powerwalls. We have east facing panels and crazy high peak rates so the 60/40 split allows me to avoid peak rates and still have a backup in case of an outage. We get charged non-bypassable charges of about a nickel per kWh even though we're net exporters, so I keep it in self powered to avoid those fees as much as possible.

Yes

But there is a 30% tax credit if you pay enough in federal taxes to take advantage. You can take it (split it) over two tax years which is nice

For the most part it's a sale pitch, yep. If you keep them long enough and they reach their payoff period (for us with expensive electricity rates it's only 5 years) the system will be "free" after that. You'll get the 30% federal credit, then a little extra if you can do VPP events...so it all helps. But realistically nothing will be completely free...

Thanks! I'll take a look

Agreed! I really don't understand why they don't allow you to set Charge on Solar to start after the Powerwalls reach a set percentage

How big is your array and where are ya located?

12kW. Mid Atlantic ….East West setup max production is 8kW. 2 powerwalls

Haha! My brother made the same comment about the burritos!! I'll include our rate plan in the April update! We are on PG&E's E-TOU-D plan. Tesla doesn't break anything down in terms of cost savings during rate periods unless it's vehicle specific charging data. I'd have to figure out a way to compile the data for those periods...I'll try to do my best at some point but I can't guarantee it :)

It's my understanding that PWs are AC in and AC out so effectively you're going solar (DC) to inverter (AC) then if going to Powerwall (DC) or house/vehicle (AC). If discharging from Powerwall you're taking that DC and going back to AC to charge...everyone of those conversions is losing efficiency. So if you can avoid using the battery and either using solar/grid you're skipping one extra conversion from DC to AC

@@TheMahkus The PW3 as I can tell seem to be DC-Coupled... (I found this on google)-- "DC Coupling: solar panels create direct current (DC) electricity. Powerwall 3 takes this power and stores in in a DC battery. As your home uses energy, the unit converts it to alternating current (AC) for use by your appliances and all the other devices in your home." So it seems that it goes from solar (DC) to PW3 (DC) then the PW3 inverts it to AC then to the house. So nothing lost. But I'm no electrician so I already admit that I'm probably wrong!

I'm hoping that something will change to allow this, but I really think this is probably the utilities tying the hands of Tesla. They limit exports based on solar production, so I guess the power company is trying to guarantee you're not going to be charging somewhere else and not paying them and then selling it back at a premium rate (which is likely what I'd do). We'll likely see many more details as it releases and gets closer but it makes sense to me why it is like it is.

@@TheMahkus Could you clarify what you mean by "They already limit exports based on solar production"? Specifically, is the export limit related to the size of your 12.24 kW solar system, or does it depend on the actual energy generated by the solar panels? For instance, if your Powerwalls are fully charged by 1PM and you're using your AC during the day, resulting in no "excess" solar energy being exported to the grid, how do they determine your solar production for the day to enforce the "export limit"?

Powerwalls can be configured (or may be forced to be configured - if your transformer in your neighborhood/location is already at max capacity) to set an export limit in kW. Have read of utility companies also requiring a separate meter be installed to determine if amount of excess being sent back is more than what your panels realistically produce. This prevents someone from hooking up a generator and running it to send more back than they actually produce...basically what the Cybertruck could potentially do if you were to charge somewhere else and then dump the batteries back into the grid. What'd I'd like to see it used for is peak shaving - where it could be used during peak hours to handle the house losd (not just in an outage situation) so that all solar produced at peak could all be sent back to the grid while not having to discharge the Powerwalls during that time.

We have 12.24 kW in east facing panels and 3 Powerwalls!

With the same payout rates and this year being the program minimum, I would expect this year's payment to be the lowest possible for us. We set reserves to 0% and allow the Powerwalls to go full send. Of course could opt out of events and make less, or keep some in reserve and make less - but where's the fun in that?

We're in the Sacramento suburbs. Generally you can add Powerwalls without changing NEM status as long as you're not adding any inverters (solar panels I think you can add 10% or less of total system capacity without changing your status). Yep, unless you're in one of those crazy PSPS areas where they're constantly being shut off for safety you wouldn't have any current deals for PWs (you can claim the 30% federal tax credit though on Powerwalls!). You'd get $500 off with a referral (if you're not a current Tesla owner) - or loyalty points if you are. I just got an email that they're doing a giveaway too for a free Powerwall in April.

@@TheMahkus Thanks. I have never got a check for my true up. They just credit my account. I am not sure it is worth it to pay approx. 21K for 2 PWs (-30% approx. $15K) when I breakeven with my current solar set up. Of course, I do have a Tesla and I don't charge at home much because I have free super charging until the end of this year.

I'm fine (as much as I can be) with an increased flat fee - the other income based amount was ridiculously expensive and absolutely unnecessary - and would have taken away any extra income our system generates. We currently pay around $11 a month in connection fees, although I'd rather not pay more I'd understand if they increase it.

Replied on the other comment

I signed up for the VPP after the VPP season ended in 2021 (I believe around November'ish). It was a pop up that showED up in my app after I received PTO in late October - system was installed in August of 2021

Yep! This is somewhat of an older video of mine - I do things mostly the same but now utilize a 60% backup/40% self powered split during the low solar producing months when the Powerwalls wouldn't be refilled fully by the solar. Allows for that reserve in case some thing happens but avoids importing during our peak rates too.

Usually your rates will dictate how long it takes to return your investment on your system - and that's a big part of if it's worth it. For us with PG&E it's between 5-6 years. So despite having a solar loan you're still paying towards an investment in yourself as anything past that 5-6 years is money back in your pocket you won't be paying to the electric company. Otherwise you'll keep on paying the power company year after year (and rate increase after rate increase). As long as you plan on staying at your house for as long as the return on your investment period is it'll make sense. Plus you'll be addicted once you realize having the "gas station" on your roof makes your house and EV basically vertically integrated. Then comes switching house appliances to electric to get rid of the natural gas bill!

Check back when interest rates are lower. It will make more sense then.

The app doesn't have a way to check battery health - I believe if you dig into some of the API you can pull raw data - just haven't felt the need to yet. We've had our system for 2.5 years...haven't noticed them storing any less than when we had them new. Theoretically you could charge them up to full and discharge them down to 0 and see if the numbers match the 13.5 kWh usable for each Powerwall.

Last I saw around the Sacramento area gas was at 4.99 a gallon for the cheapest grade. Assuming 30-40 mpg, it'd be at about $150 a month per vehicle. So roughly $4,000 a year in fueling/oil change costs for 2 vehicles. Our home is pretty well insulated, however when it's 110 out our AC will run for 6-8 hours a day...but I like it cold! We don't get too much of a Delta breeze in the summer cool things down.

Woof that's expensive!

We're on E-TOU-D so right around the same thing! Thank goodness for solar

Thanks Ian!

I spoke with someone on their team when it happened but never got an answer back. I did end up finding out that the tripped breaker was due to a leaky faucet hose which had sprayed into the outlet. So that may have caused some sort of disruption too. Haven't had the issue since then thankfully

We use a Chargepoint Home unit from about 7 years ago currently...no need for a Tesla Wall connector!

Hey Joe! Sorry for the late reply. I try to avoid charging from the Powerwalls so I'll usually switch the backup over to 100% so it draws from the grid instead. I do know of a buddy who uses an app to automate this process for when their cheapest electricity rates are overnight. We usually charge at work/during daytime so thankfully haven't had to really research that route yet!

It makes sense when the sun is shining and the battery is full. In that case, it is either sell excess energy to the grid at 4 cents or turn off the panels and get nothing. At least in that case, your panels are helping to offset some probably fossil fuel based grid energy production elsewhere. I really don't find NEM 3 that outrageous. With the duck curve, it really isn't going to benefit the utility to have even more solar it can't turn off at noon, when it already has more than it needs (near future) -- especially if it has to pay $0.70/kWh for it when the wholesale rate is closer to the $0.04 NEM 3 pays. Since solar is part of the building code now, the state and the utility are cynically observing that new capacity isn't something they need to pay for, and they would be right about that. Solar adoption will happen anyway because people want homes to live in. (Grid solar is at least 3x cheaper than rooftop solar, too, so it is less clear the public good isn't better off with some larger grid scale projects if PG&E would connect them in a timely fashion.) All and all, we /should/ expect a flat charge for keeping the transmission hardware working + tree trimming + amortization, not to mention respec-ing connectivity to handle larger solar and EV loads. So, these non-bypassable charges or "utility taxes" as the installer lobby likes to call them do not seem to be out of line to me either. There is certainly a lot of justified screaming, but mostly it is coming from solar installers who have had their volume eviscerated and the occasional homeowner who would like the more remunerative NEM 2 schedule please, even if the numbers don't add up if say 50% of all residences were using it. (With building code, we will get there eventually.) Long story short, as many realize, using a battery to offset high TOU pricing at prime time is the way around the problem. Figuring this out is a little more challenging for some customers and the extra cost makes the sale much harder for installers, but that is where we need to go when grid solar isn't a better solution.