Tesla Solar and Powerwall Details Q&A

I collected questions from my earlier overview video and I'm back to answer. Bonus Powerwall sound intro is best experienced with good headphones in a dark room.
Jump to sections:
Referral Powerwall award: 01:21
Design process: 02:19
Meter and main panel: 04:28
Unbacked panel with charging: 05:47
Gateway: 09:07
Generation panel: 11:50
Powerwall discharge/charge from grid: 14:32
Inverter/panels: 16:57
Powerwall/Solar sizing: 19:48
Powerwall: 21:47
Property taxes and Insurance: 22:39
App: 23:10
Thanks! 27:38
If you're considering buying Tesla solar or powerwall and I've been helpful, please consider using my referral code, ts.la/matthew8725 to get $100 off.
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[@flyshacker]

Spectacular! I can’t believe how good this video is. We just ordered our Tesla solar power system *TODAY*, 24 panels with 2 power walls, and compared to all the other educational material and KZbin videos I found, THIS VIDEO is by far the most instructive. You really know your stuff and explain it SO clearly! I get it now. Thank you for the education!!! 👏 👏 👏 👏

[@RogerWilsonTodd]

Very effective showing the components with panel covers removed and tracing the wires step-by-step. Thank you for the effort.

[@zaydpeer]

Most informative video I’ve seen to date.

[@lawrencecerciello1466]

Enjoyed your presentation. Very informative and your start of the video answered my question. We are struggling where to put the 2 power walls and equipment. Tesla in design Dept. Have not been helpful and I believe as you mentioned, it will come down to the actual crew that comes out. Thank you again for a great video

[@gantmj]

A note on car charging during power outage: Tesla says in the future they will have an option in the app to choose whether or not Tesla vehicles will charge from the Powerwall during outages. If you don't have Tesla vehicles, however, this physical separation would still be required if you desire this kind of a fail safe.

[@TheTomasN]

Crazy and amazing start to the video. Love it.

[@RememberingMaryEvely]

Great video--I'm adding a bookmark in my documentation folder! I suspected that sound was coming from my new PW which is secured to the outside wall just a few feet from my headboard. Wouldn't have noticed at all except for the weirdness of it. I suspect there are multiple variable-speed fans that "beat" like propellers on a twin-engine plane. It's quieter than the fridge or furnace, so I'm sure I'll stop noticing it now that I know what it is.

[@liroger733]

I'm watching your video while waiting for the Tesla installation crew to come to my house to start my solar panel project! I should have 24 panels and 2 powerwalls installed once completed. I also have a 100amp service panel, so my house can be fully backed up by the 2 powerwalls. I do want to add an AC and Level 2 charger later on though. Potentially the new circuit breakers can be added to Tesla's new load panels. I'll have to find out when that happens. Thanks for the video!

[@EveryAmp]

I really like my setup with the car chargers not backed up, but with a backed up NEMA 14-50 outlet. That keeps me from draining the Powerwall with a car normally, but I do have the option, if needed. It's not as important if you have Teslas since they introduced a feature to make the Powerwall and car coordinate, but my setup works regardless of the vehicle. You could do something similar now with one backed up NEMA 14-50 outlet and another not backed up.

[@liroger733]

Yes, I like your setup as well, and I do share your concern that the overnight charging of the EV may deplete the Powerwall. Everything is new to me so I will find a way to make things work with the Tesla App or by adopting a new charging schedule. The only reason I'm thinking of using the Tesla load panel for new breakers is to avoid upgrading the existing service panel if I don't have to. By the way the Tesla crew is here doing the work as I'm typing this. I have asked the guy in charge. He said that adding new breakers to their load panel is a workable solution assuming my 2 Powerwalls can support it. I will need to let Tesla know so they can verify first before I proceed.

[@399paul]

Really great video and thanks. It’s really hard to get info on how and why in every day talk.

[@TheLotw]

There was an update to the software where you can set that it will not charge below a certain % for a car, but it may only work for a tesla car.

[@jessonwk6675]

Hey man, it's an amazing video I've been waiting for. I am also going solar with powerwall 2 from Tesla. I have a question. Does the powerwall charge from the grid in the "backup-only" mode? I am concerning whether the powerwall can not be filled up when the solar energy very low, like in the raining season several days raining, when I turn it to "backup-only" mode. That means I probably lose power when the grid is off even I have an "empty" powerwall.

[@EveryAmp]

Thanks! It depends. A) If you don't have solar, it can charge from the grid every night. B) If you do have solar, most utilities only let you charge from the grid if you have Storm Watch enabled and Tesla activates it in preparation for a storm or other likely grid instability. C) The only exception to this I know of is a few utilities that have programs where they can control your Powerwall modes to help with grid stability. They'll set it to charge and discharge throughout the day to act like a distributed peaker plant.

[@jessonwk6675]

@@EveryAmp Thank you for the quick response!

[@flfl3969]

Not sure how you passed inspection but your system does not comply with NEC code. You likely need a 200 amp meter panel.

[@NelsonGuzmanGarcia]

Thank you for the video! Very informative! BTW, Does it make that much noise? It sounds very loud...Imagine having 2...

[@EveryAmp]

Ha, well I might have embellished a bit at the beginning. You can hear it in a quiet room, but it's not loud at all. I actually used a guitar pickup attached to the Powerwall to record the audio.

[@NelsonGuzmanGarcia]

@@EveryAmp Thank you for the quick response! I'm getting mine in a couple of days and I am a bit worried about the noise since Tesla will install them close to my bedroom wall.

[@scratchpad7954]

@@EveryAmp Was that tag with your KZbin username CGI, or did you actually put it there over your charger port on your car? 😶😃👍

[@EveryAmp]

@@scratchpad7954 it's a real life vinyl decal. I'm not normally a fan of stickers on cars, but I felt like it was subtle enough.

[@scratchpad7954]

@@NelsonGuzmanGarcia If I had a wall charger in my house, I would be very unlikely to hear it in my room in my house. Yes, it is directly upstairs from my garage, but I have a whole floor plate and a couple of walls blocking it. If it really is as quiet as +LivingTesla says it is, there is no way I would be able to hear it. Who knows, I have pretty good hearing, so it's possible.

[@100forms8]

We also have my Tesla and my wife's Volt that will be another Tesla in future :)

[@supersquad1403]

Very informative. Thanks a lot.

[@paulwilliams8192]

Amazing video ! I've learnt more about Tesla Powerwall in those 30 mins than ever before +++ Just one question, I'm a newbee at electrical wiring and can't understand if you've got 3P+N or 2P+N, I'd like to compare that with my current installation, thanks !

[@EveryAmp]

It's just a typical US residential install with 2P+N at 240V

[@paulwilliams8192]

@@EveryAmp Thanks a lot +++

[@sappermining8248]

ET for sure. Elon & Tesla 😇

[@evlnte]

That was a perfect Hollywood intro. Really enjoy the detail of your videos. Do you know at current pricing for solar, at what price per kilowatt is solar not yet worth it? In other words, if I live where power is cheap at what price pero kilowatt is solar not yet worth the cost of a solar installation?

[@EveryAmp]

It really depends a lot on your location. You need to factor in panel layout, latitude, shading, weather, and more. I used pvwatts.nrel.gov/ to get predicted solar output numbers to build a spreadsheet for myself. I used that with historical usage from my utility to get a real model for myself, but most solar installers will do that for you. It also depends on your definition of worth it. For me, I just wanted to see an internal rate of return of at least 10%. I'm predicting about 15% at 10 years and 21% at 25 years.

[@evlnte]

LivingTesla I’m just not sure of the overall return on investment since we pay 11.5 cents per kilowatt with no peak/off peak rates. I think it makes more sense in States with extra tax credits, beyond the federal credit, and with variable (and somewhat expensive) rates. The solar roof seems a more sound investment for me because roofing materials in my State are already pretty expensive. I have a lot to consider still.

[@EveryAmp]

@@evlnte Just for some ballpark numbers, say you did a 4kW system that could generate 14kWh per day on average. At your rates that would be $1.61/day or $588/yr. That system costs about $8000 from Tesla right now after the federal tax credit. It would take 13.6 years to "break even" and you'd be looking at around a 5% IRR at 25 years. It's not where I would put my money personally.

[@hartfischer5509]

Great info. Can you administer your Solar Edge and Powerwall without being connected to the Internet? Can you use a Linux machine ( no Android or IOS ) to administer everything?

[@EveryAmp]

Yes and no. Tesla didn't really make access to the inverter easy. I've heard you can go around them, but I haven't tried. The Powerwall doesn't have a local webserver, but the gateway does and that's what you really want anyway.

[@happyface4100]

this is very good video, millions thumbs up, I have a questions if you have solar panel and powerwall, if you dont you used a lot at night time, you may not use from the grid anymore, am I correct? another question when did you charge your EV car day time or night time? thank you very much

[@EveryAmp]

It really depends on how things work at your power company and how you set up the Powerwall. You can set it up on the "self-consumption" setting where all your solar energy is stored in the Powerwall and used throughout the day and night. If you have enough sun and batteries you may not use the grid anymore at all. I use the "time-based control" setting which relies on the grid more, but maximizes the amount of solar energy that you sell back to the power company at peak prices. This setting isn't necessarily the lowest carbon footprint, but it will give me the fastest payback in dollars. We have an electric vehicle rate plan that gives us the lowest prices at night from 11pm-7am, so that's when I charge my car. Even if I had extra solar during the day that I could use to charge the car, it's more cost effective to sell it at those higher rates and buy it back at lower rates at night.

[@chriskarnchanaphati5028]

How do I get the CT clamp that plugs right into the tesla gateway 2. I have 2 power walls. I am adding solar panels to my system and now I would like to monitor the incoming solar energy on my tesla app. Any help would be greatly appreciated

[@EveryAmp]

I suspect you're going to need Tesla service to reconfigure the gateway.

[@Dynamics556]

what are your thoughts on the Tesla Autobidder software?

[@EveryAmp]

It's yet another reason why TSLAQ is going to continue losing money betting against them. Our grid needs to get smarter yet to really take advantage of it, but at some point Tesla will have control of a massive distributed battery system and will be able to buy and sell energy to utilities, keep a cut for themselves, and also give back to Powerwall owners to help those batteries pay for themselves. There are some glimpses of that future already here today. Green mountain power in Vermont has already been doing a small scale version of it: greenmountainpower.com/product/powerwall/

[@ELCRISTORC]

Hello! how much in a normal day take the battery go from 60% to 100% and how much panels actually you have

[@EveryAmp]

That depends entirely on the size of your system, your location, and how much energy your house uses. I have a 12-panel, 4kW system.

[@donc.6353]

Very nice video. You noted that Tesla Design kept missing stuff. I am about to purchase a medium size 7.8kW system with two Powerwalls. (Put outside - I am in SoCal.) What should I look out for?

[@EveryAmp]

I was struggling with errors on the drawings like the panel layout, roof resign (truss vs rafter), type of roof, and also since the Powerwall was a referral and technically a separate order, getting it on the electrical drawings with the solar. In the end they still had to submit corrected drawings and it was approved quickly, so maybe my concerns were unnecessary.

[@newtocamera]

Great informative video. One thing though. I can't help but think that at 4KW your solar array is almost comically undersized compared to what you would need to drive that battery properly? Particularly in a cold climate?

[@EveryAmp]

On a good day, we'll generate 24kWh, so why would you think that's undersized?

[@LuanNguyen-ls5rt]

Thank you for the video. Do you know if all systems installed now use optimizers with the inverter? Apparently we will have the solar edge inverter similar to the one in your video. I signed up for the medium system with 2 PW. Trying to get this system up before end of the year. I am completely with you regarding the back and forth during design process. Constant errors. I even emailed the advisor and listed exactly what to address and each time they get back to me they only address one thing, if that. The advisor doesn’t seem to recall the conversations and I’d have to summarize everything as if it was the first conversation. Apparently the delays are the city permit, inspections, and pto. Can you tell list your specific timeline from design to pto? Thank you!

[@EveryAmp]

As far as I know they use optimisers on every system, but it's possible they wouldn't use them on systems with no shading. For timeline, between design and install I had a couple months waiting on the referral powerwall, but had I agreed to take a white one that wouldn't have taken so long. In the meantime the permits were submitted and approved in a week or so. When they called ready to install we scheduled it for 2 weeks out. They did the install in one day. The city inspected the next week. 3 weeks after install they still hadn't submitted my PTO request, so I contacted my advisor. A week later it was submitted and it took my utility another week and a half to approve.

[@VGMusicMagic]

Great video. I am thinking of 4kwh + 1 Powerwall on the roof of my home in Texas. My home has all gas appliances, except dryer and the Tesla 14-50 charger. Wondering if this combination would be self sufficient. Could you please advise?

[@EveryAmp]

Everyone's energy needs are a little different, but I'm going to assume you use air conditioning in Texas and that's nowhere near enough solar to offset it. You likely would need 12kW and 3 Powerwalls to handle summer in a hot climate.

[@VGMusicMagic]

The AC seems like it is powered by gas and electric. Does that change anything?

[@EveryAmp]

Take a look at your power bill. How many kWh does it show you're using each month?

[@VGMusicMagic]

37kwh avg per day

[@EveryAmp]

To be 100% self sufficient, you have to size everything for the worst possible day, likely a rainy day in winter, but if you're just going for average, we'll use some ballpark numbers. Each panel can produce around 1-2kWh of energy per day (more in summer, less in winter), so we'll assume 1.5kWh/day per panel. For 37kWh/day you need 25 panels to cover your average use. Since the panels only produce for about 1/3 of the day, the rest needs to be stored, so that's 25kWh. Each Powerwall can store 13.5kWh, so you'd need 2 Powerwalls. So in Tesla terms, that's looking like an 8kW system with 2 Powerwalls to meet your average needs.

[@robkaOK]

Matt, is the HPWC necessary for the car to know that it is charging from the Powerwall(s)? IOW, would a non-Tesla EVSE be too dumb?

[@EveryAmp]

The wall connector doesn't matter. The communication happens through the car.

[@robkaOK]

@@EveryAmp Ah ha. TY!

[@scratchpad7954]

Did someone leave their OG 2001 XBOX on overnight again?

[@Resist4]

Do you think the EV-A plan is better than the Tier 1 plan with solar panels? And what will you do when SLO changes power companies in a few months?

[@EveryAmp]

Tiered plans are no longer available, so EV-A is the best option for solar. They're about to change EV-A as well too though. I'll be grandfathered for 5 years, but after that the peak hours will be after the sun goes down, which makes the Powerwall more important. As I understand it currently, there will be no changes for us. PG&E still handles distribution and the plans will stay the same, we'll just get generation from somewhere else.

[@Resist4]

@@EveryAmp I'm on the Tier 1 plan with solar panels.

[@EveryAmp]

@@Resist4 it also depends where you live. But in California the California Public Utility Commission (CPUC) is phasing everyone out of Tier plans. You may have it for now, but it's going away. This is to match the demand esponse of the grid and intermittent generation sources.

[@Resist4]

@@EveryAmp so it sounds like they are just making electricity more expensive for us. California charges too much for power and for no reason other than greed.

[@EveryAmp]

@@Resist4 I'd argue that there's much more to it than greed. There's a lot of politics and pretending to care about the environment while we continue to burn carbon emitting sources and shut down our largest carbon free sources. Replacing 20% of California's carbon free power (Nuclear) doesn't comes cheap. You can only expect it to continue to go up in cost.

[@TheJesp01]

How did you made the rubber bumper for the powerwall?

[@EveryAmp]

It's just an adhesive foam like this: amzn.to/2SV1b59 with some magnet strips on the back like this: amzn.to/2SUwrkS

[@info781]

That is a lot of if-then statements. We need a flow chart.

[@BMtn-sx8xr]

Your off peak rate is more than our normal constant rate of about 12 cents per kWh in Virginia

[@EveryAmp]

For sure. Clean energy and large areas cost more. I used to pay 8 cents in Alabama.

[@mlg779]

Man, in 2019 we already had Sol-ark 8k on the market . Why did you go with Tesla ??? Can't stand Tesla.

[@EveryAmp]

I went with Tesla for a few reasons. 1) Price was excellent 2) Getting their solar was incentive for them to give me my almost free referral Powerwall 3) I prefer to stick with dominant companies who I’m more confident will be around in 25 years to back their warranties so that would be SolarEdge, Panasonic, and Tesla

[@mlg779]

But: 1. You cannot charge from the grid and I can. 2. Powerwall is not made for off-grid. There is all kind of horror stories from people that try to do that. 3. You cannot run a whole house by on one powerwall and if you run multiple powerwalls you have a lot of vampire loss. 4. Powerwalls are 86% efficient and your gridtie inverter loses another 3%. Your total loss is 17%. On my system I only lose 7% max roundtrip.

[@EveryAmp]

Sounds like your needs are different from mine and it’s great that we have multiple options to meet different needs.

[@TeslaRoger]

ROFL