You posted this two years ago and it gained you another Subscriber. Arkansas just changed their solar laws (March 2023), where the local electric companies have lobbied (and won) our state legislature to reacquire more money from revenue lost by customers who switched to solar, so I am researching adding a battery to our home solar system and become even less dependent upon our local services. Thank you for the informative video.
Let me tell you all something I live in south Louisiana during IDA Hurricane currently going through us. I invested in a Powerwall about three months ago, I also have a Generac Generator. When I tell you my generator never came on yet and the battery has powered my home with my family and in-laws, be mine you have to manage the power by not running AC constantly. I can tell you one thing Telsa power wall is awesome and is the Future and a must-have. Second infrastructure spending is a must and Louisiana will need every bit of it.
Hi Matt. I live in the same area as you. I installed a double setup for 10kw so I didn’t need to deal with shutting down any circuits. I also am part of the grid power when they need extra demand during the year. Mostly during the summer time do they pull power from the unit. One thing I will share is I found the powerwall frequency caused some of my older electronics to go crazy when the powerwall “poisoned” my electrical system to force my solar panels to shut down. As you said in your video if you are in a power outage situation your solar panels will still power the house and any excess power will charge the powerwall. Once the powerwall is topped off, it slowly increases the 60Hz frequency to around 64.5Hz which is outside the operating range of the solar panel inverter causing it to shutdown until such time the powerwall goes below 90% SOC. Then it would shift the frequency back to 60Hz allowing the inverter to startup again. My experience was my UPS devices I had on computers would beep saying there was an incoming power problem, my electric range started locking and unlocking the door because it was turning the self cleaning option on and off. I fortunately have test equipment and checked the frequency and that’s how I found out what they were sending in a off grid situation. A call to my installer got me in touch with Tesla support and they were able to remote in and change the high frequency setting to 62.5Hz which still was outside the solar panel inverters range causing it to shut down as it should, but now my electronic gear and stove were happier with 62.5Hz vs 64.5Hz. I found this out by sheer accident. I simulated an outage by turning the main disconnect outside off to simulate an outage just to see how it all worked. That’s when I found some devices to be very sensitive to the frequency Tesla has as a default to turn off solar inverters as the batteries approach full charge. I’ve been happy with my setup and has an instant backup to my house, I barley notice the changeovers during an outage, just a quick flicker in the lights, but not enough to shut anything down. Hope that info helps anyone.
I assume you have solar panels also. Is it enough for you to be completely off the grid year round? I’m also in the northeast and I’m curious about doing this kind of setup when I change my roof.
@@acchaladka honestly I read others experiences and do have a background in electrical engineering, so I am a installers worst nightmare. A homeowner who know too much is the worst 😂. My installer was knowledgeable, but there are things he didn’t know from the Tesla training that we learned together. Fortunately my installer is open to my technical experience so he can go to Tesla and explain what we were seeing vs him having to come out and troubleshoot himself. This technology is so new Tesla is playing it safe for there may be older systems out there that may not comply with today’s standards to shut down as quickly. Last thing your want is a electrical power plant in your house that has no way of offloading it power. That’s how electrical fires start if things overload. Electrical standards for solar install and shutdown have really matured in the last few years which will help reduce the need to be so strict in how Tesla operates its battery equipment to cover a vast array of solar installs out there.
I had Tesla install my powerwall and I would definitely recommend going with them for the install instead of a third party installer. They cam out and it was installed in a single day. No missing parts, no mistakes on wiring, etc.
That Tesla installer probably had a few extra of those "proprietary" parts. Which can be had at any electrical supply house (even Home Despot). The cost for the "independent" installer to go get that part would have likely been 1 to 2 hours. Time that this customer would not have wanted to pay.
How do you deal when a basic part blows and you can't fix it yourself and you're left holding your d**k until Tesla comes out to fix a simple fuse. I will never buy Tesla PW.
I have to say, your verbal presentation is superlative. Absolutely never an ummm or uhhh. And never do you say something inaccurate or unclearly that may or may not get corrected with the next statement. Never any ambiguity or poorly chosen wording. Studio lighting, visual aids, audio quality and volume levels, across all edits are so very well done. And about your editing, it is very professional. Even your sponsor inserts are professionally and tastefully integrated and absolutely interesting- so much so that I continue paying attention (and do not skip ahead). Excellent production all the way around, but did I mention your script writing and presentation… absolutely superlative.
This kind of openness about the process is fantastic! Kudos for being able to express disappointment in a process without demonizing the installer, that shows real maturity. It's part of what keeps me coming back.
It's hard not to demonize an installer who insists that he needs a "communications wire harness" and delays your installation for it, when a simple piece of string would harness it just as easily.🤬 I would just install the damn thing myself, I don't have that sort of patience.
This kind of video is what makes RUclips worthwhile. Have always been interested in a power wall and definitely appreciate the heads up about the potential pitfalls.
I live in Melbourne Australia we never have snow here thankfully. I recently had a solar system installed that comprises 10 kw of panels which is 25 panels and a power wall 2. It has only been in a week sadly we have had overcast days every day. The system has still managed to keep the battery charged over 50% even though this month is the lowest in the year for sunshine. The entire system was installed in a week by a registered solar installer. It cost me $30.000.00 AUD .like you I am fascinated by watching the app showing power going into the grid or battery or just charging the battery. Although it is mid-winter here we have still managed to run the house over 90% off the solar. I have found your videos informative and entertaining you say it as it is . I appreciate the effort you put into producing them. Gary Melbourne Australia.
Matt, I live in Vermont and our power company, Green Mountain Power, has a net metering program. Any additional energy my PV solar system generates goes out to the grid and I get credit, at the current rate, which I use in the winter months. 3 yrs ago they offered a program to lease a Tesla Powerwall for $15 per month for ten years. $1800 total and that covered the installation and any maintenance or repairs (non so far). The caveat is that they can draw from it at anytime to help them with their green energy goals, unless a storm is pending. It’s a great program and works flawlessly. When power goes out we literally never know it until I get the notification on my phone. I too can’t stop checking the app to see how the energy is flowing and monitoring our power usage and solar production.
Like so many install companies they just want to hook up the product instead of educating and working with the customer. Those red wires zip tied to the conduit are telling. Nice explanation.
The $2500 fee for everything was an in and out price. Tesla was obviously much more. Others were quoting $7500. He took the cheapest price which I think is very low for a project like this.
As an electrician for over 20 years and installer of batteries and solar panels also, there is no way I would have done all that for $2500 dollars. It wouldn't be worth it.
I am in Oz, and my system was installed by the company I purchased it from (Tesla approved) and it took them 1 day to install, including the panels. Part of the install had to be approved by local power company and that took another week, but my basic service was not interupted by this delay. In the last 10 months, this has meant that I have made $1000 profit, due to my use being much lower than what the solar can provide, but like you the peace of mind of having the backup in the event of a power outage is the best thing.
I purchased my 2 Powerwalls when I purchased my solar system. I have 52 sunpower panels producing 327 watts each (17KW). During the recent storm issue, between the powerwalls, limited solar, and random grid power, we didn't get any colder, in my house, than the mid 50's. My current setup is to be as self powered as possible. Because of this setup, my average electric bill is -$450 per month (yes, that is a (-) sign). I love the system.
So what you are saying is you spend 100K to get your setup and now you save 72 dollars a month? Having your house in the 50s when the outside temperature is in the 50s means your setup is crap. Are you stating after spending 100K to get it running, your system only works in great weather? So for 5 months out of the year you just suffer? Gee that sounds GREAT!
Had our Powerwall for two years now and it’s brilliant so good I’m definitely going to buy another. In the U.K. we get 4 hours of night rate with our supplier at 7.5p per kWh. for the rest of the time it’s 32p per kWh. We’ve ours set to charge up during that 4 hour period and it chargers from the solar panels too. What I love about the Tesla system is it knows if there’s going to be good solar production and will only charge from the grid if it needs to, the algorithm use is really very clever and has only got things wrong on a couple of occasions. In my opinion it’s the best cheapest per KWH domestic battery storage system out there.
I design and manage these installs locally in the Bay Area. Your experience nails many key points. But also points out your unique issues. Excellent documentation from your experience. I could go on for a long time adding clarity or depth to everything you said, just from the opposite side of the table but my key takeaway is the customer is suffering while companies figure out how to educate and offer a new product and work out all the kinks. 2020 has also definitely thrown in its own set problems for everyone. I would like to refer customers to this video ahead of time, also the price difference should be in the quality of the company and the education it gives the customer on what they are actually getting. Plus workmanship on the install. I’m sorry but yours looks like three different people at various levels of competency installed it. Keep the videos coming🤙
Employ educators to educate, empower them to do what they do and there will be educated customers, it they choose to be educated. There's always a catch ...
Great review. I have a 15.2 KW system with 4 power walls in the Austin area. It was installed last summer by Tesla. Its worked flawlessly since day 1. Last week I was never without power. My subdivision was without grid power on and off for about 40 hours based on my backup history in the app. It was eery seeing the whole neighborhood go dark at night and my house was the only one with lights on. I helped my neighbors as much as I could by running some extension cords to my back patio so they could power some things. I have a gas furnace for heat and at night according to the app I was drawing between 0.5-0.9kw which is nothing. I thought the frigid temps in my garage would make the PW's discharge faster or not hold as much capacity for very long but that was not the case. Very thankful for the investment in this system to say the least.
@@gregknipe8772 As a former Austinite, usually you are correct...but I'm pretty sure this was posted during the winter storm that shut down the Texas power grid a year ago (or two?...I've lost track of time at this point). during then it was, to use the technical term, "cold as fucking hell"
Tesla installed our solar and dual pw2 for all circuits and it was amazingly seamless. Some other vendors didn't even know they existed. Tesla did all the work with the power company and knew all the steps to do. Highly recommended to have Tesla install their own products.
Matt, I have solar installed on my house (desert south west, wall to wall sunshine) and installed in my previous house as well. We don't get winter storms with wet, heavy snow that cause wide area blackouts and take some time to repair. Here most blackouts are due to summer storms with strong winds that usually only take out small areas and without deep snow repair crews get there quickly and restore power quickly. Any one residence is likely to go years between power outages that last more than 3 or 4 hours. This makes whole house backup a very low priority. Loads are modest in winter, briefly very low during spring and fall, and then serious AC usage during summer. Here solar homes go onto a none-time based rate structure, so there is not a cheaper time to recharge. That means battery load leveling or time-shifting power usage to cheaper grid rates also does not make a good ROI. My solar is 12KW and hits nearly zero annual payments. With net energy billing I get effectively perfect power storage. I love the idea of a power wall and being able to run partial or full house operations when everyone is dark, but currently it is not worth the investment.
Thank you for sharing your experience. I am in the Southwest desert as well and I was pleased to see a comment that addresses the realities of this region. I have just started considering solar now that I have addressed other priorities in my home.
@@hamyncheese Don't forget that if you mount the array of panels over the roof, and have standard stand-off of 6 inches, the panels will shade the roof, thermal syphon cooler air between panels and roof, and drop your summer cooling load. But the higher summer heat makes the panels less efficient and degrade faster. The shade gain about balances the efficiency loss so plan for full summer load anyway.
So after having a large Tesla Solar and 2 power wall setup - what I wish I would have known before buying is that you don't choose the amount of power walls for total backup power only, you also choose that amount for total concurrent energy usage. For example one power wall is capable for 5 kw, while two is 10 kw, three is 15 kw, etc. Also having more power walls allows for more energy storage if he grid happens be offline. With my large solar system from Tesla, two power wall can fill up and then there is no where for excess energy to go. The solar inverter has to shut off, and I am missing extra energy. Also two, depending on your AC system, you need 2 or more power walls. You gotta look at your LRA rating on your AC to figure out. Stuff I had no idea about until AFTER my system was installed. Tesla installs a sure start, but I think it messed with my capacitor so had it removed. If I had 3 power walls it would start my AC unit WITHOUT a sure start. So that being said Im definitely looking into getting a 3rd. (I realized you covered nearly all of this, so that is great!)
I was reading on the Tesla website today about the Powerwall and LRA was in there. I don't remember seeing it when I had looked months ago. But as you say, it's not really so much about storage capacity as it is current capacity.
Tesla must be software configuring PowerWall 2's different here in Australia... My 6.4kW solar array fills up the PW by mid morning (usually) depending on cloud cover, BUT... once the PW is full, all excess energy is exported to the grid (at 20c/kWh). There is no solar shutdown just because the PW is at 100%
Oh dude, I just had a 10kw solar installation done. All top panels with micro-inverters to max out efficiency. $20K+ system. They install the main disconnect and breaker box and all conduits on the side of the house under the car port. Not a single conduit was straight, nothing was level. Not even the box mounted on the wall was straight and level. And they argued with me on the the apparent concept of "what is straight". I withheld the last 10% payment till they come back and fixed it. Never would recommend them. So anyone in SoCal SouthBay LA area, if you are looking for solar installer. PM and I'll let you who not to use.
Really good vid and many thanks for the pro level outcome. I have a 15kW gas generator with a breakout panel and mechanical cutover switch. Cost for equipment and sub-panel install- about $3,500. I keep gasoline in steel 55 gal drums with Sta-bil. 1 gallon/hour for fuel use. Rotate the gas into my cars once a year and I have gasoline delivered to refill them. I've used this system in multi-day power outages and it works flawlessly. Just a thought on an alternative to Powerwall- way less expensive, runs the entire house except for air conditioning. No drama on the install either. Again, great work on the vid, and I totally understand why folks use solar/Powerwalls.
LOVE my Sense Solar. We installed our entire solar system ourselves. Everything but 1 box - Service disconnect. When we applied for our RGE power feed certificate we had to have one. Didnt cost too much but its totally worth it. Adds a nice level of safety as well to my system
In addition to powering your neighbors homes, if you don't have the disconnect, you'll also be endangering the line workers by creating live lines where they expect to find only dead ones.
I had my Powerwall 2X installed by Tesla in March, right before COVID shut things down, so things may be more complicated now. The install took most but less than a day. The installers were super and the install itself was flawless. The surprise was that it took more space than I was led to believe but this turned out not to be a big deal and was mostly related to an "outside or inside" question. The two modules were installed back to back so the install was twice as deep as one module but with the same length and height. Quite compact. (You don't need 6 feet of free space when operating BTW). The one surprise was that the Gateway replaces the service panel, which becomes useless other than the main cut-off switch. Agree that having Tesla do the install would be best. Avoids all the finger pointing issues and probably wouldn't be a huge difference in price. The Tesla install was just really good. Tesla even sent someone out to fix the minor damage to the garage drywall. Don't agree there should be any real questions about how many modules you need. The Tesla website has a simple questionnaire that will give you a recommendation. Just follow it. Basically if you have want to run your HVAC system you should get two unless the system is very small. But the website goes through this. Agree the software and app are awesome. I would likely not have done things the way the app does but it it clearly smarter than I am. For example, I was surprised to find the Powerwall discharging rapidly on Fridays but then realized that this was the right call since since on my TOU plan Saturday and Sunday are super off peak days.
I used Tesla and my install was super clean and fast All professional with power wall emergency shut off and everything installed I would definitely Use them again on one of my other homes I didnt have any of these problems Thats why your Video is Very Good because its explaining all the things that could go wrong when you use a company that does not install solar everyday and has to order tesla products like power wall thanks for the information
100% installer matters the most. My parents recently added an LG battery system to their existing solar system and the guy who did it ( and also did their solar install) did a perfect install. Plainly laid out the options for cost vs. simplicity of future expansion, and the conduit runs were pr0nographic
Thanks for this Matt. We have remodeled our, new to us, 35 year old home to make it as energy efficient and wildfire resistant (we live in the California foothills where entire, neighboring towns grasslands, shrublands and forests burn down each year) as possible. We insulated, put in new, efficient windows, insulated some more, sealed every leak, etc. The house was almost a tear down and we aren't rich. But, it was one of the few in the area that we, as members of the dying US middle class, could afford, By doing the work ourselves, we have probably doubled the value of our home, or more. Everything is geared towards going solar, as with the increasing number of firestorms happening in our area, and the increasing number of towns and homes burning down, our electric utility is shutting down power every time we have a big rain, snow, or wind storm, or major heat event. A good idea for them, as the electric utility itself is causing many of these fires. So, when I rewired the house, I made sure to run wires from our electric panel to where the solar panels will be mounted on our roof. And, we saved space in the garage for the solar equipment and powerwalls or some other battery system. A big problem for us is that there just isn't enough accurate and detailed information out there about how to run a home with solar and batteries. Even our local electricians, and we've talked to a few, don't have good answers. So, again, thanks Matt, for sharing your experiences.
No, it's lack of maintenance and a stupid mentality behind forest management that makes wildfires so bad in California. Since you're not smart enough to leave that parasite state, you deserve to have your property destroyed by it's management.
I’m a new Texas Resident and just in time for that crazy winter freeze we just had a few months ago. I know that freeze was pretty rare, but Texas is definitely a place where weather can get rough. I’m definitely gonna look into this when we get out of this rental and buy our house. Plus the automation part really speaks to my inner super nerd. Thanks for the tips brother.
It's against electrical code to put both data/communication wire and a load bearing wire in the same conduit. Also since the data wire doesn't carry hardly an voltage it doesn't need to be ran in a conduit.
My array and Powerwall have been in use here in southern NH for a week now and I am super impressed with how I can double or triple my solar use overnight now in late November. I set the reserve every night based on how much power I think I'm likely to generate to refill the battery the next day, Currently, Eversource buys my kWh for .26, but sells my banked power back to me for .32, so they are in essence charging me .06/kWh for using my own power! So I use the battery to minimize how much I send to the grid, which has varied from 0.1 to 0.8 except on one very overcast day when I sent 0 and used more from the grid. I've been able to be self-powered up to 85% on some days -- less so on others. Very pleased so far!
I live in South Africa and had one installed about a year ago. Absolutely amazing!! We have power outages sometimes up to 3 times a day and this has been a life saver for us. Trying so save up to add a second one.
Had a local installer in a small town in South Australia install our tesla battery with our solar panels - bit pricey, but no problems with the installation and have been very pleased with the system. Even on quite cloudy days am getting some 'solar' input on our 8Kw system - credit in spring and summer hopefully to offset less solar in winter. Feed in credit to the grid is less than half of exporting costs. Hope it pays for itself in about 7 years.
A fellow New Englander! I'm up in Maine and currently getting some solar panel quotes for my home. House faces south and plenty of sunshine to cash in on. I've asked my vendor about the Tesla Powerwall since I like the idea of the 50.50 balance you mention, providing off hours power or backup. A Generac LP backup would be about $5000+ and then there's the giant tank. I don't exactly have a data center to back up but I do have a lot of 3D printers I run. We do get those annoying power blips which the UPS systems seem to help cover. Given the recent rate hikes up here of up to 30% or more, I'm really hoping self generating and some storage helps
Not really because I have solar and batteries and my 2 days of of power didn't run for 2 days at all. More like a half day then the polar zone won. Batteries dont like it cold. I came to find out what I missed
The biggest problem in Texas is still the summer, a hot summer with no AC is worse than a hard freeze. Can take other precautions for freezes and maybe a week of generator use, but summers last a lot longer... and if a freezer goes out in the summer, you lose all the food stored up for shortages
Mother Nature can overcome even the best laid plans and preparations... But in the case of our Texas Arctic Freeze last week, there were no preparations Texas power generating plants had never winterized their equipment properly to begin with! People literally froze to death as a result. Betting by Winter 2021 (next winter) there will be a lot more equipment in this state that get's winter upgrades!
I do enjoy you videos… your honesty and openness with sharing the good and the bad. You see the online quick commercials for the Powerwalls… but of course you NEVER see any wiring. That of course is not reality. I am a bit of a a perfectionist and it just kills me to see that you paid someone to install the Powerwall and you ended up having to run wires externally along the conduit. And like you said… hope that can be taken care of later. And why not paint the plywood white before installing everything…. ? I have a Telecommunications and Electrical background and we used to paint the backboards with a flame resistant (code) white paint before mounting anything. Just makes for a real clean job. Anyway… thanks for sharing about the Powerwall… and again… for being so open and honest.
detecting the incoming storm and fully charging the battery is an awesome feature! I've got a small, older house and it's not practical for me for many reasons, but was interested to hear from your experiences, thanks for the video
Very clear and useful info. Thanks so much for the care you put into covering the details succinctly and in an orderly fashion without getting distracted by them as happens to so many.
In preparation for a Powerwall, last Winter I installed a 200 amp, single phase Honeywell ATO on my home out here in the Country. For now I'm backing up my grids electricity with a 12KW Westinghouse Propane Generator, but I wired it so that I can install a my Solar System & Powerwall easily to work with both the grid and the back up generator. The 14 KW Solar System will also have 600 watt wind generator. I have the perfect spot to install 2 Tesla powerwalls. Half my home is Propane. So during August my largest current/ usage draw is 9 KW here in the South. 2 should do it. I am a retired Power Company Distribution Technician, so I am building my own setup. FYI, If you folks have a Smart Meter on your house, you can check your power usages easy with your phone with the Power Companies Apps.
This is good advice, but in my case, I went with the cheapest 2 our of the three major times I hired a contractor for a major project, and the third off time, when I hired someone with good reviews, it turned out Id accidentally hired a copycat contractor who was deliberately using another company's name to benefit off their reputation. Someone who shows up, does the letter of the law, but not the spirit, and costed me thousands to have the actual company come in and fix their screwup. The other two times when I hired the cheapest contractor, those two contractors did a fantastic job and I'll definitely hire them again.
Most contractors charge high on residential because the homeowner is not clear on what they want or expect, and they will not pay for electrical engineering.
when I buy a product, I first spend a while looking at my options and doing research. I first figure out what it is that I should be wanting from the product. you can't know what you don't know. once I know what it is I want, I look for the best deal on it. usually mid-range is best. never go for the cheapest, you'll be disappointed.
@@joeltashinian5888 : Only if you buy by price not by design......Competent engineering will protect itself from most hazards, cheap, made in China, will blow it's self out.....
My point is we are too quickly just converting to AC when many products actually use DC ! And we don't get in and insist on DC circuit's the house that run before the inverter takes the power and converts it then we are forever losing a lot of power to the inverter and then that power is going to have to mostly be converted back to DC and actually that the most inefficient process of all. so why take it there? Let's not be so quick to invert all this excellent DC power which is powering our lives these days all of our lighting Electronics Etc. but not only that, DC refrigerators Kenmore efficiently use solar energy
@@joeltashinian5888 That is a true statement. It sure was easy to hookup my 12kw 240 split phase inverter and run everything. One circuit breaker and 4 wires AC side and two 4/0 dc wires done.
I like that your humble enough to publicly admit where you made poor decisions that resulted in delays ... other people also shift blame on someone else -- & seem to exhibit little if any personal accountability or integrity of character, when something goes wrong they "pass the buck" as its said! Your right, the energy storage system combined with rooftop solar PV a really cool system when everything working. I would add that is should be able to work without an internet connection to really work well if there is a network outage & power outage, major natural disaster nearby that knocks out high speed internet or similar, or an extended power output, where you can jack into the unit with a laptop via a direct access web portal to "configure on the fly" to have at least some power for boiling water, keeping the fridge cold, using a electric blanket to stay warm, running small low wattage electric space heaters if the centra system fails (see backup indoor electric heating options- cheap small 700 w oil filled or little ceramic 250-500 watt units, to heat a bedroom to prevent dangerous cold harm etc
11:35 "The system detected the storm warning and automatically charged my battery up to 100% the night before the storm, and it kept it there for the duration." I'm confused as to why the system doesn't keep the battery at 100% at all times. Not all power outages will come with any kind of warning after all. Is there some issue with keeping the battery at 100% all the time? Maybe the life span of the battery, or a safety issue? I can't imagine any other reasons you wouldn't want to have your battery backup at full charge at all times. That's what you bought the thing for, so why keep it at anything other than peak readiness?
Want to get one eventually. I live in Florida, so winter is not a problem, but hurricanes are. Thank you for the info on what to know and ask. I'll get there someday.
FYI: It is not standard to have one of those giant service disconnect handles installed on the exterior of your home. Though it serves the same function, the disconnect in newer homes and homes where the services have been upgraded are "Meter mains" where the meter socket is on one side of a single metal enclosure and a panel with breaker handles is on the other, always including at least the main breaker.
Just as a by-note, I set up and ran a large house with 8 bedrooms and a recording studio in the late 1970's with battery backup to a windmill and a generator and the battery system was entirely brilliant. Ive designed several and installed them in the intervening years and they have always beaten the odds. Better inverters and smarter controls all help, but the bottom line is all about realizing how a storage system makes all the difference to any generation scenario, be it solar, wind, or mixed media. Things almost always go wrong at some time and having a simple chemical energy storage allows you to find and fix the fault without (for example) losing all your frozen goods, terrifying your kids or missing too many beats in our hectic lives. By the way, I like your narrative style a lot, appreciated.!
After I installed my solar panels I knew that “someday” I would add a Powerwall. However, that “someday” is coming sooner than expected. My service provider (FPL) recently began charging customers who use less than $25 / month, which includes me, as I constantly produce more power than I use, meaning my electric bill is $0. But now I have to pay $29.93 for the privilege of staying connected to the grid, even tho I put surplus power into the grid and never take any out. So I am learning about electric storage by watching videos and reading. Once I get my Powerwall I am disconnecting my FPL service. I am getting nothing for that almost $30 per month. I would rather pay PACE or Ygrene and know I am getting something for my money.
I paid 2k for a dual fuel generator, gas and electrical hookup. But I'm glad you early adopters will bring down the price and lessen installation issues for me. Thank You
I see Matt has an EGO battery charger on the plywood there. Home Depot really screwed up when they sold the product line to Lowe's. Fabulous lawn tools.
This strongly shows why I like doing all my own work (concrete, steel, plumbing, elect, etc). My experience is hiring things out means almost always dealing with other people’s errors, incompetence and delays.
Hi Matt, I had a Tesla 4.8 kW solar panel system (1 of 4 set sizes from Tesla Energy) and a Powerwall installed in My MA home. Still waiting for the bi-directional meter to be installed, though...going on 4 months wait. The panels and Powerwall were installed in one day. Great, clean job. Electrical inspections were good but not as timely as I would have liked. The SMART program is fantastic and should mean an additional $10,000 over the 5-10 years of the SMART program. Add the 30% ITC, and as someone I met at the Y said when I explained the program, It's a no-brainer!
@@UndecidedMF Sustainable tech from the consumer perspective. Back when discovery channel and the like showed educational TV I would see all sorts of programs about "upcoming technologies that could revolutionize xyz" and those are fine topics, but it was always disappointing to notice these never come to fruition due to various economic factors. Your channel is unique in that it examines the real-life-right-now costs of these technologies as they are brought to market - which means we can finally start getting excited about these technologies for the most part as most are either already cost efficient (thanks Chinese solar investments!) or make financial sense is select markets / conditions. As these products reach the market, this channel can be to sustainable tech what MKBHD is to smartphones.
After learning that he went with the cheapest place he found I’m all the sudden not surprised he had these issues. Sometimes it’s worth paying extra to have the job done right and fast the first time
Research is just as important as price. There are plenty charging through the roof (erherm) and still providing shitty service. The Solar Roof thing was a clusterfuck from top to bottom.
Thank you for your video. I’m throughly convinced that I will never install a Tesla wall. Just recently, I stopped into a Tesla store and ask them about their battery warranty for their vehicles. The person I spoke with told me if my batteries crap out after my warranty then I would be better off buying a new car and selling the car for parts !!! I asked will Tesla buy the car for parts and he said no. I could not believe what I was hearing. Who else would buy Tesla parts other than Tesla. I really do not know what to believe when it comes to Tesla.
This isn't a Tesla exclusive issue, battery packs and electric drive systems are just still too expensive. I had a Toyota Camry Hybrid which ended up having the battery die and wouldn't accelerate over 5 MPH around 280k miles. They wanted $8,000 for the repair when the entire car was only worth 5-6k just days before. I sold it to a mechanic at the dealership for $100, simply to not have to deal with it anymore. Battery packs and electric transmissions have a tough proving ground ahead with mass adoption, but I do believe companies like Tesla or Ford with their new electric vehicles are putting a lot of time and money into research and creating the best, cheapest, and cleanest EVs possible.
If you have a house upon which to install those things, you can easily get a home equity loan to cover it and the money you save on your utilities will cover the payment.
Do you pay an electric bill? Then you can afford both. Simple decision: wanna' give money to the utility or pay for your OWN power? After 12 years (or so) my solar will be paid for. In the meantime, my payment for the panels is LESS than my previous electric bill. So, in a few more years, the panels will be paid off, then, no payment, for the life of the panels (30 years?). Big step now is: battery. Tesla is a step in the right direction, but, even if you get ANY battery, it would have to last. And that's a big deal, the life of the battery. I saw one recently, had a recharge life of 20,000 cycles. No idea what the cost was, but such extended cycle life would last my remaining lifetime! And I'm sure even more options will crop up... Bottom line: electric utilities are on the way out. As a bonus, every item that consumes power is using less and less! Perhaps the time is coming when the only electricity needed will be DC? Solar makes that a possible idea. No more need to run miles and miles of cable, generating the need for AC to begin with. Interesting: Mr. Tesla convinced everyone of AC back in 1910 and if everyone uses solar and batteries, then, no need for AC!
SOLAR is Already a Requirement of NEW HOMES in California as well as NO GAS Service. 100% Electric home. this is a MODEL for homes in the United States.
Sadly many of us are living pretty much paycheck to paycheck. I also have kids to send to college so no power wall for me. I think its a great idea. It seems though everything made today is not really meant to last for a long time. I dont see people having 16 year old Model S. I could be wrong, who knows.
When you do a followup video, I would be really interested in understanding how participation in a virtual power plant affects the longevity of the Powerwall. In other words, how much does it increase the number of charge/discharge cycles, and how does that compare to the projected lifetime cycles of the Powerwall? Thanks!
My participation in a virtual power plant in New England resulted in a $730 check Eversource paid me for helping with peak shaving for one year. At that rate the power wall will pay for itself pretty quickly.
that would really depend on if the power is drawn from the tesla pack, or from the solar panels on the home, as well as the amount of load and duration of the load. In short, it depends on where you live and how underequipped your local grids are on a peak load.
As someone that works in the solar industry (in Australia) a lot of it appears to have come down to having an installer that either didn't care or didn't know. Maybe they were just a regular electrician? If someone already has a PV system here, installing a battery is considered a fairly straightforward and simple process and we're usually talking days, definitely not months between ordering and installing. The price you mention for installation is also surprisingly high. That's more than companies here charge to install an entire PV solar system. Glad you're still happy with it now that it's installed though. Batteries are awesome. Unfortunately they're still very expensive, which is surprising given how cheap the same type of battery packs have gotten in EVs. I
The grid is virtual. With 100 plus years of family experience in grid management, the "spyder web" we call the grid is a shared connection and resource. With my electrical system management hat on, & 40 plus years of personal experience to reflect on, I think we should have been generating our own power since I installed the first solar system I designed & installed in 1981. The grid should share, balance and manage load/demand. Our various PUC's have allowed the larger power providers to dominate grid "services" to hold us hostage. As registered voters, we can own "the power". We have to want to involve ourselves. I think the work is worth it.
@@coloradochildrens5449 Speaking from the IT side of it (dealt with lots of protective relaying and a fair amount of remedial action schemes before I retired) I feel safe in saying stability is the devil in the system. I don't even recall a blackout that didn't start with loss of a transmission line. Here on the Western interconnection (geographically the largest in North America) stability means shedding portions that can't be sustained. RAS can do that but - outside California - there is not nearly enough of it. California is generating toxic amounts of photovoltaic solar already, and is selling some of it at negative prices in the afternoons. The company I retired from - I won't identify them by name but it is the only Fortune 100 electric company in Arizona - makes millions of dollars every year on the "energy imbalance market." See www.latimes.com/projects/la-fi-electricity-solar/ and www.instituteforenergyresearch.org/solar-energys-duck-curve/
@Jerry Moody well yes of course and that’s called a rip off. Higher price does not always equal higher value. However, generally they are correlated. Always get references and ask to tour prior work so you can see it for yourself.
@@Freedacarlo Unfortunately, there are a lot of rip-offs out there. I’ve not found higher price to generally correlate to higher value with any consistency. Basically I’ve found contractors tend to cut way too many corners unless you’re standing over their shoulders supervising everything they do. In many cases, it’s just easier to just do it myself, even if that includes buying tools and doing a lot of learning.
@@mensaswede4028 The learning is always a good thing, especially when fixing issues that arise later or just having in-depth knowledge about your system, plus you get to keep all the tools and save even more on the next project :D
@@mensaswede4028 I think a smart way to go is to get a contractor to help out the first time you do something large. Make sure to let them know that you want an in-depth explanation of how they are doing their trade and ask them to teach you and have that included in their price since it slows down their work significantly. After you learn from a master, the next time, you can do it yourself.
I have been reading so much about this and the battery system is still evolving to perfection. We don’t know if they are even safe. I just think that the unit is too sophisticated and if it fails, you could be dark for a long time. I delayed my solar install until I am confident it’s not being force feed to purchase. Here in California they change from NEM 2.0 to 3.0 to force you to have batteries. I can sense some conspiracy between the government and battery makers. I will just conserve electricity by minimization.
Thank you so much. This video actually answered a lot of questions for me. I'm still doing more research into this, but your video is so informative. I'll probably look into getting this system by next May 2022. Thanks again.
Another great episode. Before the end I was ready to hit the order button, I want that level of control over my circuits even without a solar array or battery system.
Looking to buy a new house this year, and am tentatively looking into solar panels with a power wall to generate enough power to sell back to the electric companies. Not because it's really profitable, but because I want to make sure I'm self reliant.
That's not really how solar works. Typically you want to have as little excess as possible. Don't forget to consider a simple ground mount if the roof isn't a good option.
If you want to be self-reliant you need to look at some sort of battery like a Powerwall. or generator system, and most important a smart switch, like the Tesla Energy Gateway (TEG) that comes with Powerwalls to detect the grid failure and isolate your house. The issue is when the sun is out and the grid is down, without the TEG your solar must be shut down since there is no place to send any excess electricity. You can't send it to the grid because you could shock any workers working to repair it. So you end up staring at all those solar panels in the bright sun and having no power in your home!! The TEG can detect a grid failure in 1-2/60 of a second and switch to using power from the Powerwalls. Your lights likely will not even flicker or clocks need to be reset. Same thing in reverse when the grid comes back. The only way you know you had a power failure is a message on the Tesla app.
@@JBoy340a Sorry @jk, but "man splaining" gets old. Matt has covered these topics. WADR, he did a better job. Local power providers & electricians, right/wrong/otherwise, need to fill in the gaps. Chive on.
@@monikawaffler3458 because of the high price and the amount of electricity it would save buying from the grid it would take more than a decade to pay for itself
I'd recommend keeping those comm wires out of the conduit. Switching loads can couple from the HV wires into the comm wires causing communication errors or even damage. (wiki EMC)
Keep in mind most of these people are nerds and have no formal education or training in the electrical world. I have watched post by these nerds trying to perform electrical work and their ignorance and aragance is mind boggleing and in most situation dangerous! I'm a Journeymen electricain with of 30 years of experience and taring in both the electical world and IT world.
Most communications are Class II wiring and should have separation from standard power wiring by code, hence the likely should not be in the same conduit with 120VAC power. Exception is if the Class II cables have high voltage insulation.
Good Information. I wish you had put questions about which electric car a new customer might have. With some cars a customer might need fewer or even no powerwall at all. If you have one or two electric cars and they support power outflow you have a lot more power at hand, why not use it. In my opinion all electric cars should double duty as emergency home power.
I live in sacramento, CA and tesla's price was FAR better than the competitors. I went with 2 power walls and 8kw's of solar panels. the tesla team took an EXACT inventory of my entire breaker panel & all devices on the system, also my kwh usage over the previous year. they went with a sub panel for the system to back up and it gets all the essentials minus the electric ovens- I have a gas cook top I can 'make due' with if I lose power. the install happened REALLY fast- they arrived at around 1/4 til 7... and they were rolling out with the system tested & complete just before noon. I've had NO PROBLEMS with the system. it works FLAWLESSLY.
Just found you, and just subscribed! Good News! Bad News... As an electrician this hurts on the inside! Did you explain to the electrical contractor that you were working with that their work would be seen on the Internet?
I feel your pain! I wonder if permits were pulled? And if they were, how did the cables tied to the conduit pass? COMM cables only? Doesn't look like CAT5 wires to me.
@@theheathkitshop2424 I have not installed a power wall, but the Communication cable that he’s talking about I believe are very similar to what would be on a remote clamp meter like for his sense unit. The zip tying and only having PVC mechanical protection is pretty bad, the no grommets through the holes from the power wall to the controller is super sketchy. That means that there’s no protection from the hole that was either knocked out or punched out of the side of those units and there is no strain relief to protect the electronic components inside, but I would have to see the inside to completely confirm that statement. Grommets rubber or plastic are super inexpensive! None of this going into the craftsmanship or lack there of of the first “Electrician”.
I'm a Tesla Solar customer in Cali and while I like the idea of the powerwall, for the cost a NG generator is still the best overall solution to have to ensure uninterrupted power in an emergency.
I LOVE mine. But, I wish I had two instead of just one. It’s fine to just have one in my situation. The good news is, the first is most expensive because of the dependant parts needed. Additinal ones don’t need that. You can start adding more at a okay price.
Worth bearing in mind: if at some future time you want to install a second in front of the first , they both need to be floor mounted (i.e. your first one will need to be floor mounted). Side by side can be wall mounted.
Wow you guys are weak in Texas. I went 60 days without power after hurricane andrew. That was august. In Florida. 95 degree heat, no power. Boil water orders, no stores. No gas. You guys are cold for a week and are screeching. I expect that from Austin, but not outside of it.
Extreme vehicle battery technology is a company selling powerwall batteries. The company is pretty new and last time i checked they were having a presale of their new powerwall battery called Ionix for 1000 dollars. Better specs then Teslas i think. Check it out.
As an installer of all types of electrical equipment, the communication cables should not be located inside a conduit with power lines. The comm outside the conduit preserves the comm signal from degradation by diffusion of the power lines.
I just want to say that I enjoyed this video. Exactly what I was looking for. I also liked, commented and sub'd because you dont like asking folks to do it.
My dad is an elechicken . Their trade is complicated but not that difficult . Most tradesmen could learn it . Not worth the price in my mind . I am a glazier. My trade is just as if not more dangerous and takes just as long to learn. Either I don’t make enough or lechickens are over priced . Not sure
I could have installed my Tesla charger on my own, but part of the cost of paying someone else to do it is the risk of death when playing with electricity. If you know what you're doing you can mitigate that risk, but chances are you don't and people who do still die.
I had a generac generator installed in my house that was fed off of an external propane tank. It was about the same cost as the Tesla power wall once it was all said and done. I thought the same thing. The unit itself was around 6k but the installation was another 4k. At the time I felt the labor costs was way too much money as well.
@@ArchangelChi This is what a few decades of pushing many young students into unnecessary college degrees did. It's great pay for the ones intelligent enough to see the truth and train for a decent career without the need for student debt, but it also has the unfortunate side effect of pricing optional products like this out of reach for many people who would otherwise have it. America's values and trajectory are broken. ruclips.net/video/DZG0lUXjxfY/видео.html
Hmmm... The Tesla Powerwall: It's where you store the family joules.
dude
Indubitably 🤣
Ha!
🤣🤣🤣🤣
very underrated comment
You posted this two years ago and it gained you another Subscriber. Arkansas just changed their solar laws (March 2023), where the local electric companies have lobbied (and won) our state legislature to reacquire more money from revenue lost by customers who switched to solar, so I am researching adding a battery to our home solar system and become even less dependent upon our local services. Thank you for the informative video.
I already did that. Dependable and very reliable.
Let me tell you all something I live in south Louisiana during IDA Hurricane currently going through us. I invested in a Powerwall about three months ago, I also have a Generac Generator. When I tell you my generator never came on yet and the battery has powered my home with my family and in-laws, be mine you have to manage the power by not running AC constantly. I can tell you one thing Telsa power wall is awesome and is the Future and a must-have. Second infrastructure spending is a must and Louisiana will need every bit of it.
Hi Matt. I live in the same area as you. I installed a double setup for 10kw so I didn’t need to deal with shutting down any circuits. I also am part of the grid power when they need extra demand during the year. Mostly during the summer time do they pull power from the unit. One thing I will share is I found the powerwall frequency caused some of my older electronics to go crazy when the powerwall “poisoned” my electrical system to force my solar panels to shut down. As you said in your video if you are in a power outage situation your solar panels will still power the house and any excess power will charge the powerwall. Once the powerwall is topped off, it slowly increases the 60Hz frequency to around 64.5Hz which is outside the operating range of the solar panel inverter causing it to shutdown until such time the powerwall goes below 90% SOC. Then it would shift the frequency back to 60Hz allowing the inverter to startup again. My experience was my UPS devices I had on computers would beep saying there was an incoming power problem, my electric range started locking and unlocking the door because it was turning the self cleaning option on and off. I fortunately have test equipment and checked the frequency and that’s how I found out what they were sending in a off grid situation. A call to my installer got me in touch with Tesla support and they were able to remote in and change the high frequency setting to 62.5Hz which still was outside the solar panel inverters range causing it to shut down as it should, but now my electronic gear and stove were happier with 62.5Hz vs 64.5Hz. I found this out by sheer accident. I simulated an outage by turning the main disconnect outside off to simulate an outage just to see how it all worked. That’s when I found some devices to be very sensitive to the frequency Tesla has as a default to turn off solar inverters as the batteries approach full charge. I’ve been happy with my setup and has an instant backup to my house, I barley notice the changeovers during an outage, just a quick flicker in the lights, but not enough to shut anything down. Hope that info helps anyone.
Jesus. So in other words I need to become a professional electrician to understand and fix my own system.
Great Information, not very well known by many.....Thanks a Million !!
I assume you have solar panels also. Is it enough for you to be completely off the grid year round? I’m also in the northeast and I’m curious about doing this kind of setup when I change my roof.
@@acchaladka honestly I read others experiences and do have a background in electrical engineering, so I am a installers worst nightmare. A homeowner who know too much is the worst 😂. My installer was knowledgeable, but there are things he didn’t know from the Tesla training that we learned together. Fortunately my installer is open to my technical experience so he can go to Tesla and explain what we were seeing vs him having to come out and troubleshoot himself. This technology is so new Tesla is playing it safe for there may be older systems out there that may not comply with today’s standards to shut down as quickly. Last thing your want is a electrical power plant in your house that has no way of offloading it power. That’s how electrical fires start if things overload. Electrical standards for solar install and shutdown have really matured in the last few years which will help reduce the need to be so strict in how Tesla operates its battery equipment to cover a vast array of solar installs out there.
Wait, so the only way the battery has to tell the solar panels to shut off is to deliver an illegally high frequency? that's fucked up
I had Tesla install my powerwall and I would definitely recommend going with them for the install instead of a third party installer. They cam out and it was installed in a single day. No missing parts, no mistakes on wiring, etc.
How much did Tesla install cost?
That Tesla installer probably had a few extra of those "proprietary" parts. Which can be had at any electrical supply house (even Home Despot). The cost for the "independent" installer to go get that part would have likely been 1 to 2 hours. Time that this customer would not have wanted to pay.
How do you deal when a basic part blows and you can't fix it yourself and you're left holding your d**k until Tesla comes out to fix a simple fuse. I will never buy Tesla PW.
Go with 280ah lifpo4
@@itsm3th3b33 Powerwall installation is $3,500, if you don't need a new breaker panel.
I have to say, your verbal presentation is superlative. Absolutely never an ummm or uhhh. And never do you say something inaccurate or unclearly that may or may not get corrected with the next statement. Never any ambiguity or poorly chosen wording. Studio lighting, visual aids, audio quality and volume levels, across all edits are so very well done. And about your editing, it is very professional. Even your sponsor inserts are professionally and tastefully integrated and absolutely interesting- so much so that I continue paying attention (and do not skip ahead). Excellent production all the way around, but did I mention your script writing and presentation… absolutely superlative.
This kind of openness about the process is fantastic! Kudos for being able to express disappointment in a process without demonizing the installer, that shows real maturity. It's part of what keeps me coming back.
It's hard not to demonize an installer who insists that he needs a "communications wire harness" and delays your installation for it, when a simple piece of string would harness it just as easily.🤬
I would just install the damn thing myself, I don't have that sort of patience.
This kind of video is what makes RUclips worthwhile. Have always been interested in a power wall and definitely appreciate the heads up about the potential pitfalls.
I live in Melbourne Australia we never have snow here thankfully. I recently had a solar system installed that comprises 10 kw of panels which is 25 panels and a power wall 2. It has only been in a week sadly we have had overcast days every day. The system has still managed to keep the battery charged over 50% even though this month is the lowest in the year for sunshine. The entire system was installed in a week by a registered solar installer. It cost me $30.000.00 AUD .like you I am fascinated by watching the app showing power going into the grid or battery or just charging the battery. Although it is mid-winter here we have still managed to run the house over 90% off the solar. I have found your videos informative and entertaining you say it as it is . I appreciate the effort you put into producing them.
Gary Melbourne Australia.
Matt, I live in Vermont and our power company, Green Mountain Power, has a net metering program. Any additional energy my PV solar system generates goes out to the grid and I get credit, at the current rate, which I use in the winter months. 3 yrs ago they offered a program to lease a Tesla Powerwall for $15 per month for ten years. $1800 total and that covered the installation and any maintenance or repairs (non so far). The caveat is that they can draw from it at anytime to help them with their green energy goals, unless a storm is pending. It’s a great program and works flawlessly. When power goes out we literally never know it until I get the notification on my phone. I too can’t stop checking the app to see how the energy is flowing and monitoring our power usage and solar production.
Great program! Would love to see that in northern Minnesota, right after we get Starlink!👍🏼😎✌🏼
Like so many install companies they just want to hook up the product instead of educating and working with the customer. Those red wires zip tied to the conduit are telling. Nice explanation.
Compairt to what we have here in Europa is that a joke.
The $2500 fee for everything was an in and out price. Tesla was obviously much more. Others were quoting $7500. He took the cheapest price which I think is very low for a project like this.
@@bryantjenks3598 if $2,500 is just for installation labor say at $60/hr = 41 man-hours. Maybe 2 guys working for 2 1/2 days. Seems fair.
As an electrician for over 20 years and installer of batteries and solar panels also, there is no way I would have done all that for $2500 dollars. It wouldn't be worth it.
@@MGiosparky How was that more than 3 days work? That would be $100/hr
I am in Oz, and my system was installed by the company I purchased it from (Tesla approved) and it took them 1 day to install, including the panels. Part of the install had to be approved by local power company and that took another week, but my basic service was not interupted by this delay. In the last 10 months, this has meant that I have made $1000 profit, due to my use being much lower than what the solar can provide, but like you the peace of mind of having the backup in the event of a power outage is the best thing.
Thanks for being on the bleeding edge so the rest of us can have an easier experience.
Thanks! Hopefully this will help others out there.
I purchased my 2 Powerwalls when I purchased my solar system. I have 52 sunpower panels producing 327 watts each (17KW). During the recent storm issue, between the powerwalls, limited solar, and random grid power, we didn't get any colder, in my house, than the mid 50's. My current setup is to be as self powered as possible. Because of this setup, my average electric bill is -$450 per month (yes, that is a (-) sign).
I love the system.
So what you are saying is you spend 100K to get your setup and now you save 72 dollars a month? Having your house in the 50s when the outside temperature is in the 50s means your setup is crap. Are you stating after spending 100K to get it running, your system only works in great weather? So for 5 months out of the year you just suffer? Gee that sounds GREAT!
@@ernieellan5694 Hey rich gotta act rich
Had our Powerwall for two years now and it’s brilliant so good I’m definitely going to buy another. In the U.K. we get 4 hours of night rate with our supplier at 7.5p per kWh. for the rest of the time it’s 32p per kWh. We’ve ours set to charge up during that 4 hour period and it chargers from the solar panels too. What I love about the Tesla system is it knows if there’s going to be good solar production and will only charge from the grid if it needs to, the algorithm use is really very clever and has only got things wrong on a couple of occasions. In my opinion it’s the best cheapest per KWH domestic battery storage system out there.
Thanks for the headups. I used Tesla to install my Powerwall, and they engineered the system. I had no problems with the install or after.
I design and manage these installs locally in the Bay Area. Your experience nails many key points. But also points out your unique issues. Excellent documentation from your experience. I could go on for a long time adding clarity or depth to everything you said, just from the opposite side of the table but my key takeaway is the customer is suffering while companies figure out how to educate and offer a new product and work out all the kinks. 2020 has also definitely thrown in its own set problems for everyone. I would like to refer customers to this video ahead of time, also the price difference should be in the quality of the company and the education it gives the customer on what they are actually getting. Plus workmanship on the install. I’m sorry but yours looks like three different people at various levels of competency installed it. Keep the videos coming🤙
Employ educators to educate, empower them to do what they do and there will be educated customers, it they choose to be educated. There's always a catch ...
The fact that your electrician did a walkthrough the night before tells me that particular electrician is VERY good at his job.
Great review. I have a 15.2 KW system with 4 power walls in the Austin area. It was installed last summer by Tesla. Its worked flawlessly since day 1. Last week I was never without power. My subdivision was without grid power on and off for about 40 hours based on my backup history in the app. It was eery seeing the whole neighborhood go dark at night and my house was the only one with lights on. I helped my neighbors as much as I could by running some extension cords to my back patio so they could power some things. I have a gas furnace for heat and at night according to the app I was drawing between 0.5-0.9kw which is nothing. I thought the frigid temps in my garage would make the PW's discharge faster or not hold as much capacity for very long but that was not the case. Very thankful for the investment in this system to say the least.
Thankfully lithium ion operates at a pretty big range of temps. Cold doesn't really affect it like lead acid/traditional chems.
How much was it for the install???
living in Austin Texas, 'frigid' temps will not be a problem.
@@gregknipe8772 Thats right!
@@gregknipe8772 As a former Austinite, usually you are correct...but I'm pretty sure this was posted during the winter storm that shut down the Texas power grid a year ago (or two?...I've lost track of time at this point). during then it was, to use the technical term, "cold as fucking hell"
Tesla installed our solar and dual pw2 for all circuits and it was amazingly seamless. Some other vendors didn't even know they existed. Tesla did all the work with the power company and knew all the steps to do. Highly recommended to have Tesla install their own products.
@nexus drexus and whose battery is unmatched in the industry. fantastic product and you known nothing.
Matt, I have solar installed on my house (desert south west, wall to wall sunshine) and installed in my previous house as well. We don't get winter storms with wet, heavy snow that cause wide area blackouts and take some time to repair. Here most blackouts are due to summer storms with strong winds that usually only take out small areas and without deep snow repair crews get there quickly and restore power quickly. Any one residence is likely to go years between power outages that last more than 3 or 4 hours. This makes whole house backup a very low priority. Loads are modest in winter, briefly very low during spring and fall, and then serious AC usage during summer. Here solar homes go onto a none-time based rate structure, so there is not a cheaper time to recharge. That means battery load leveling or time-shifting power usage to cheaper grid rates also does not make a good ROI. My solar is 12KW and hits nearly zero annual payments. With net energy billing I get effectively perfect power storage. I love the idea of a power wall and being able to run partial or full house operations when everyone is dark, but currently it is not worth the investment.
Thank you for sharing your experience. I am in the Southwest desert as well and I was pleased to see a comment that addresses the realities of this region. I have just started considering solar now that I have addressed other priorities in my home.
@@hamyncheese Don't forget that if you mount the array of panels over the roof, and have standard stand-off of 6 inches, the panels will shade the roof, thermal syphon cooler air between panels and roof, and drop your summer cooling load. But the higher summer heat makes the panels less efficient and degrade faster. The shade gain about balances the efficiency loss so plan for full summer load anyway.
So after having a large Tesla Solar and 2 power wall setup - what I wish I would have known before buying is that you don't choose the amount of power walls for total backup power only, you also choose that amount for total concurrent energy usage. For example one power wall is capable for 5 kw, while two is 10 kw, three is 15 kw, etc. Also having more power walls allows for more energy storage if he grid happens be offline. With my large solar system from Tesla, two power wall can fill up and then there is no where for excess energy to go. The solar inverter has to shut off, and I am missing extra energy. Also two, depending on your AC system, you need 2 or more power walls. You gotta look at your LRA rating on your AC to figure out. Stuff I had no idea about until AFTER my system was installed. Tesla installs a sure start, but I think it messed with my capacitor so had it removed. If I had 3 power walls it would start my AC unit WITHOUT a sure start. So that being said Im definitely looking into getting a 3rd. (I realized you covered nearly all of this, so that is great!)
I was reading on the Tesla website today about the Powerwall and LRA was in there. I don't remember seeing it when I had looked months ago. But as you say, it's not really so much about storage capacity as it is current capacity.
Tesla must be software configuring PowerWall 2's different here in Australia... My 6.4kW solar array fills up the PW by mid morning (usually) depending on cloud cover, BUT... once the PW is full, all excess energy is exported to the grid (at 20c/kWh). There is no solar shutdown just because the PW is at 100%
you better be out in the boonies if you're not selling it back to the power co.
@@greghudson9717 sorry I should have clarified there is solar shutdown if the grid is offline.
yes of course you sell to the grid, I meant if the grid is offline in this situation.
I wouldn't have accepted that wiring from the second sparky. Appalling work.
Lazy.
Oh dude, I just had a 10kw solar installation done. All top panels with micro-inverters to max out efficiency. $20K+ system.
They install the main disconnect and breaker box and all conduits on the side of the house under the car port.
Not a single conduit was straight, nothing was level. Not even the box mounted on the wall was straight and level.
And they argued with me on the the apparent concept of "what is straight". I withheld the last 10% payment till they come back and fixed it.
Never would recommend them. So anyone in SoCal SouthBay LA area, if you are looking for solar installer. PM and I'll let you who not to use.
That's stuff you would expect from a non-motivated 1st yr apprentice
Was looking for this exact comment once i seen the work done.
it's common to see communications wires run that way in commercial construction. i see it all the time.
Really good vid and many thanks for the pro level outcome. I have a 15kW gas generator with a breakout panel and mechanical cutover switch. Cost for equipment and sub-panel install- about $3,500. I keep gasoline in steel 55 gal drums with Sta-bil. 1 gallon/hour for fuel use. Rotate the gas into my cars once a year and I have gasoline delivered to refill them. I've used this system in multi-day power outages and it works flawlessly. Just a thought on an alternative to Powerwall- way less expensive, runs the entire house except for air conditioning. No drama on the install either. Again, great work on the vid, and I totally understand why folks use solar/Powerwalls.
Many solar systems pay for themselves after 10 years or so due to savings on energy bills.
LOVE my Sense Solar. We installed our entire solar system ourselves. Everything but 1 box - Service disconnect. When we applied for our RGE power feed certificate we had to have one. Didnt cost too much but its totally worth it. Adds a nice level of safety as well to my system
In addition to powering your neighbors homes, if you don't have the disconnect, you'll also be endangering the line workers by creating live lines where they expect to find only dead ones.
I had my Powerwall 2X installed by Tesla in March, right before COVID shut things down, so things may be more complicated now. The install took most but less than a day. The installers were super and the install itself was flawless. The surprise was that it took more space than I was led to believe but this turned out not to be a big deal and was mostly related to an "outside or inside" question. The two modules were installed back to back so the install was twice as deep as one module but with the same length and height. Quite compact. (You don't need 6 feet of free space when operating BTW). The one surprise was that the Gateway replaces the service panel, which becomes useless other than the main cut-off switch.
Agree that having Tesla do the install would be best. Avoids all the finger pointing issues and probably wouldn't be a huge difference in price. The Tesla install was just really good. Tesla even sent someone out to fix the minor damage to the garage drywall. Don't agree there should be any real questions about how many modules you need. The Tesla website has a simple questionnaire that will give you a recommendation. Just follow it. Basically if you have want to run your HVAC system you should get two unless the system is very small. But the website goes through this.
Agree the software and app are awesome. I would likely not have done things the way the app does but it it clearly smarter than I am. For example, I was surprised to find the Powerwall discharging rapidly on Fridays but then realized that this was the right call since since on my TOU plan Saturday and Sunday are super off peak days.
I used Tesla and my install was super clean and fast All professional with power wall emergency shut off and everything installed I would definitely Use them again on one of my other homes I didnt have any of these problems Thats why your Video is Very Good because its explaining all the things that could go wrong when you use a company that does not install solar everyday and has to order tesla products like power wall thanks for the information
100% installer matters the most. My parents recently added an LG battery system to their existing solar system and the guy who did it ( and also did their solar install) did a perfect install. Plainly laid out the options for cost vs. simplicity of future expansion, and the conduit runs were pr0nographic
Thanks for this Matt. We have remodeled our, new to us, 35 year old home to make it as energy efficient and wildfire resistant (we live in the California foothills where entire, neighboring towns grasslands, shrublands and forests burn down each year) as possible. We insulated, put in new, efficient windows, insulated some more, sealed every leak, etc. The house was almost a tear down and we aren't rich. But, it was one of the few in the area that we, as members of the dying US middle class, could afford, By doing the work ourselves, we have probably doubled the value of our home, or more.
Everything is geared towards going solar, as with the increasing number of firestorms happening in our area, and the increasing number of towns and homes burning down, our electric utility is shutting down power every time we have a big rain, snow, or wind storm, or major heat event. A good idea for them, as the electric utility itself is causing many of these fires.
So, when I rewired the house, I made sure to run wires from our electric panel to where the solar panels will be mounted on our roof. And, we saved space in the garage for the solar equipment and powerwalls or some other battery system.
A big problem for us is that there just isn't enough accurate and detailed information out there about how to run a home with solar and batteries. Even our local electricians, and we've talked to a few, don't have good answers.
So, again, thanks Matt, for sharing your experiences.
No, it's lack of maintenance and a stupid mentality behind forest management that makes wildfires so bad in California.
Since you're not smart enough to leave that parasite state, you deserve to have your property destroyed by it's management.
I’m a new Texas Resident and just in time for that crazy winter freeze we just had a few months ago. I know that freeze was pretty rare, but Texas is definitely a place where weather can get rough. I’m definitely gonna look into this when we get out of this rental and buy our house. Plus the automation part really speaks to my inner super nerd. Thanks for the tips brother.
Sorry to hear about your experience. Tesla installed mine a couple years ago and the process was excellent.
What an insightful comment, @nexus drexus .
That ‘electrician’ who installed that cable on the outside of that conduit should be ashamed of himself appalling...
Seriously, I'm no electrician but even i can tell how shoddy that work is lol..
It's against electrical code to put both data/communication wire and a load bearing wire in the same conduit. Also since the data wire doesn't carry hardly an voltage it doesn't need to be ran in a conduit.
@@mi7chell_572 totally
I think he just did it himself because he didn’t want to pay for the service call,. All good you got it working! Good video. I learned a few things
Not to code to run LV and HV in the same conduit
My array and Powerwall have been in use here in southern NH for a week now and I am super impressed with how I can double or triple my solar use overnight now in late November. I set the reserve every night based on how much power I think I'm likely to generate to refill the battery the next day, Currently, Eversource buys my kWh for .26, but sells my banked power back to me for .32, so they are in essence charging me .06/kWh for using my own power! So I use the battery to minimize how much I send to the grid, which has varied from 0.1 to 0.8 except on one very overcast day when I sent 0 and used more from the grid. I've been able to be self-powered up to 85% on some days -- less so on others. Very pleased so far!
That extra charge in response to storm warning is really cool
I live in South Africa and had one installed about a year ago. Absolutely amazing!! We have power outages sometimes up to 3 times a day and this has been a life saver for us. Trying so save up to add a second one.
Did you have to get it directly overseas or there's a dealer in South Africa?
@@sifisodubazana9931 Rubicon is a distributor but stock availability may vary
@@dawiezeelie6631 Thank you
Had a local installer in a small town in South Australia install our tesla battery with our solar panels - bit pricey, but no problems with the installation and have been very pleased with the system. Even on quite cloudy days am getting some 'solar' input on our 8Kw system - credit in spring and summer hopefully to offset less solar in winter. Feed in credit to the grid is less than half of exporting costs. Hope it pays for itself in about 7 years.
This man deserves a “like” and “subscribe.” Thank you sir!
Watched your first video on battery storage yesterday actually, Tbh i discovered your channel last weekend and have kinda been on a binge
Nice! Glad you're enjoying the videos.
A fellow New Englander! I'm up in Maine and currently getting some solar panel quotes for my home. House faces south and plenty of sunshine to cash in on. I've asked my vendor about the Tesla Powerwall since I like the idea of the 50.50 balance you mention, providing off hours power or backup. A Generac LP backup would be about $5000+ and then there's the giant tank. I don't exactly have a data center to back up but I do have a lot of 3D printers I run. We do get those annoying power blips which the UPS systems seem to help cover. Given the recent rate hikes up here of up to 30% or more, I'm really hoping self generating and some storage helps
Your videos are always so professionally well done.
Everyone from Texas searching this.
Not really because
I have solar and batteries and my 2 days of of power didn't run for 2 days at all.
More like a half day then the polar zone won. Batteries dont like it cold.
I came to find out what I missed
The biggest problem in Texas is still the summer, a hot summer with no AC is worse than a hard freeze. Can take other precautions for freezes and maybe a week of generator use, but summers last a lot longer... and if a freezer goes out in the summer, you lose all the food stored up for shortages
@@TheBomo Thanks. Sorry to hear that. Get a gas or NG powered generator.
Mother Nature can overcome even the best laid plans and preparations... But in the case of our Texas Arctic Freeze last week, there were no preparations Texas power generating plants had never winterized their equipment properly to begin with! People literally froze to death as a result. Betting by Winter 2021 (next winter) there will be a lot more equipment in this state that get's winter upgrades!
@tyler gray Gas will go bad quickly. Diesel has a shelf life of several years. If you have good infrastructure for propane that is also an option.
I do enjoy you videos… your honesty and openness with sharing the good and the bad. You see the online quick commercials for the Powerwalls… but of course you NEVER see any wiring. That of course is not reality.
I am a bit of a a perfectionist and it just kills me to see that you paid someone to install the Powerwall and you ended up having to run wires externally along the conduit. And like you said… hope that can be taken care of later. And why not paint the plywood white before installing everything…. ? I have a Telecommunications and Electrical background and we used to paint the backboards with a flame resistant (code) white paint before mounting anything. Just makes for a real clean job.
Anyway… thanks for sharing about the Powerwall… and again… for being so open and honest.
detecting the incoming storm and fully charging the battery is an awesome feature! I've got a small, older house and it's not practical for me for many reasons, but was interested to hear from your experiences, thanks for the video
Very clear and useful info. Thanks so much for the care you put into covering the details succinctly and in an orderly fashion without getting distracted by them as happens to so many.
Glad you enjoyed it!
In preparation for a Powerwall, last Winter I installed a 200 amp, single phase Honeywell ATO on my home out here in the Country. For now I'm backing up my grids electricity with a 12KW Westinghouse Propane Generator, but I wired it so that I can install a my Solar System & Powerwall easily to work with both the grid and the back up generator. The 14 KW Solar System will also have 600 watt wind generator.
I have the perfect spot to install 2 Tesla powerwalls. Half my home is Propane.
So during August my largest current/ usage draw is 9 KW here in the South.
2 should do it.
I am a retired Power Company Distribution Technician, so I am building my own setup.
FYI, If you folks have a Smart Meter on your house, you can check your power usages easy with your phone with the Power Companies Apps.
My dad always said to get multiple quotes and never go for the cheapest one.
This is good advice, but in my case, I went with the cheapest 2 our of the three major times I hired a contractor for a major project, and the third off time, when I hired someone with good reviews, it turned out Id accidentally hired a copycat contractor who was deliberately using another company's name to benefit off their reputation. Someone who shows up, does the letter of the law, but not the spirit, and costed me thousands to have the actual company come in and fix their screwup. The other two times when I hired the cheapest contractor, those two contractors did a fantastic job and I'll definitely hire them again.
Most contractors charge high on residential because the homeowner is not clear on what they want or expect, and they will not pay for electrical engineering.
Where i live it doesn't matter. Actually in many (most?) part of the world more expensive doesn't mean better
2500 is super cheap. I’m an electrical contractor and 4-5k would be a ball park.
Cheap labor is maybe why it delayed so much.
when I buy a product, I first spend a while looking at my options and doing research. I first figure out what it is that I should be wanting from the product. you can't know what you don't know. once I know what it is I want, I look for the best deal on it. usually mid-range is best. never go for the cheapest, you'll be disappointed.
My 56kwh's of chevy volt batteries has been running off grid system for 3 years. It can be done. With 18000 watts of inverters runs everything.
Inverters are the bane of our existence
@@joeltashinian5888 : Only if you buy by price not by design......Competent engineering
will protect itself from most hazards, cheap, made in China, will blow it's self out.....
My point is we are too quickly just converting to AC when many products actually use DC ! And we don't get in and insist on DC circuit's the house that run before the inverter takes the power and converts it then we are forever losing a lot of power to the inverter and then that power is going to have to mostly be converted back to DC and actually that the most inefficient process of all. so why take it there? Let's not be so quick to invert all this excellent DC power which is powering our lives these days all of our lighting Electronics Etc. but not only that, DC refrigerators Kenmore efficiently use solar energy
@@joeltashinian5888 That is a true statement. It sure was easy to hookup my 12kw 240 split phase inverter and run everything. One circuit breaker and 4 wires AC side and two 4/0 dc wires done.
@@regdor8187 Hmm. I don't think so. What is the source for such an outrageous statement?
11:57 that's incredible automation and smarts, really the kind of tech we need in our lives.
I like that your humble enough to publicly admit where you made poor decisions that resulted in delays ... other people also shift blame on someone else -- & seem to exhibit little if any personal accountability or integrity of character, when something goes wrong they "pass the buck" as its said!
Your right, the energy storage system combined with rooftop solar PV a really cool system when everything working. I would add that is should be able to work without an internet connection to really work well if there is a network outage & power outage, major natural disaster nearby that knocks out high speed internet or similar, or an extended power output, where you can jack into the unit with a laptop via a direct access web portal to "configure on the fly" to have at least some power for boiling water, keeping the fridge cold, using a electric blanket to stay warm, running small low wattage electric space heaters if the centra system fails (see backup indoor electric heating options- cheap small 700 w oil filled or little ceramic 250-500 watt units, to heat a bedroom to prevent dangerous cold harm etc
11:35 "The system detected the storm warning and automatically charged my battery up to 100% the night before the storm, and it kept it there for the duration."
I'm confused as to why the system doesn't keep the battery at 100% at all times. Not all power outages will come with any kind of warning after all. Is there some issue with keeping the battery at 100% all the time? Maybe the life span of the battery, or a safety issue? I can't imagine any other reasons you wouldn't want to have your battery backup at full charge at all times. That's what you bought the thing for, so why keep it at anything other than peak readiness?
degrades the battery. generally speaking for li-ion batteries, optimal charge is around 60-80%
Efficient use of solar… charge during the day, discharge at night
Want to get one eventually. I live in Florida, so winter is not a problem, but hurricanes are. Thank you for the info on what to know and ask. I'll get there someday.
FYI: It is not standard to have one of those giant service disconnect handles installed on the exterior of your home. Though it serves the same function, the disconnect in newer homes and homes where the services have been upgraded are "Meter mains" where the meter socket is on one side of a single metal enclosure and a panel with breaker handles is on the other, always including at least the main breaker.
Just as a by-note, I set up and ran a large house with 8 bedrooms and a recording studio in the late 1970's with battery backup to a windmill and a generator and the battery system was entirely brilliant. Ive designed several and installed them in the intervening years and they have always beaten the odds. Better inverters and smarter controls all help, but the bottom line is all about realizing how a storage system makes all the difference to any generation scenario, be it solar, wind, or mixed media. Things almost always go wrong at some time and having a simple chemical energy storage allows you to find and fix the fault without (for example) losing all your frozen goods, terrifying your kids or missing too many beats in our hectic lives. By the way, I like your narrative style a lot, appreciated.!
Would love to hear more about your battery 🔋 and alt power source experience!
I would love to know more too.
Specs..Amps ..Battery bank desciption ?
After I installed my solar panels I knew that “someday” I would add a Powerwall. However, that “someday” is coming sooner than expected. My service provider (FPL) recently began charging customers who use less than $25 / month, which includes me, as I constantly produce more power than I use, meaning my electric bill is $0. But now I have to pay $29.93 for the privilege of staying connected to the grid, even tho I put surplus power into the grid and never take any out. So I am learning about electric storage by watching videos and reading. Once I get my Powerwall I am disconnecting my FPL service. I am getting nothing for that almost $30 per month. I would rather pay PACE or Ygrene and know I am getting something for my money.
I paid 2k for a dual fuel generator, gas and electrical hookup. But I'm glad you early adopters will bring down the price and lessen installation issues for me.
Thank You
Best detailed video I have come across. Appreciate your time and effort, Matt!
I see Matt has an EGO battery charger on the plywood there. Home Depot really screwed up when they sold the product line to Lowe's. Fabulous lawn tools.
This strongly shows why I like doing all my own work (concrete, steel, plumbing, elect, etc). My experience is hiring things out means almost always dealing with other people’s errors, incompetence and delays.
Really looking forward to getting a house, solar, and powerwall some day.
Same, also a Tesla as well
Hi Matt, I had a Tesla 4.8 kW solar panel system (1 of 4 set sizes from Tesla Energy) and a Powerwall installed in My MA home.
Still waiting for the bi-directional meter to be installed, though...going on 4 months wait.
The panels and Powerwall were installed in one day. Great, clean job. Electrical inspections were good but not as timely as I would have liked. The SMART program is fantastic and should mean an additional $10,000 over the 5-10 years of the SMART program. Add the 30% ITC, and as someone I met at the Y said when I explained the program, It's a no-brainer!
looks like this channel is only about energy
(i like it)
Sustainable tech.
@@UndecidedMF
Sustainable tech from the consumer perspective.
Back when discovery channel and the like showed educational TV I would see all sorts of programs about "upcoming technologies that could revolutionize xyz" and those are fine topics, but it was always disappointing to notice these never come to fruition due to various economic factors.
Your channel is unique in that it examines the real-life-right-now costs of these technologies as they are brought to market - which means we can finally start getting excited about these technologies for the most part as most are either already cost efficient (thanks Chinese solar investments!) or make financial sense is select markets / conditions.
As these products reach the market, this channel can be to sustainable tech what MKBHD is to smartphones.
@@UndecidedMF And home automation toys.
Thanks for being the beta tester of these products. Sounds like a nightmare to get it setup. But glad it was worthwhile in the end.
After learning that he went with the cheapest place he found I’m all the sudden not surprised he had these issues. Sometimes it’s worth paying extra to have the job done right and fast the first time
Research is just as important as price. There are plenty charging through the roof (erherm) and still providing shitty service.
The Solar Roof thing was a clusterfuck from top to bottom.
Thank you for your video. I’m throughly convinced that I will never install a Tesla wall. Just recently, I stopped into a Tesla store and ask them about their battery warranty for their vehicles. The person I spoke with told me if my batteries crap out after my warranty then I would be better off buying a new car and selling the car for parts !!! I asked will Tesla buy the car for parts and he said no. I could not believe what I was hearing. Who else would buy Tesla parts other than Tesla. I really do not know what to believe when it comes to Tesla.
This isn't a Tesla exclusive issue, battery packs and electric drive systems are just still too expensive. I had a Toyota Camry Hybrid which ended up having the battery die and wouldn't accelerate over 5 MPH around 280k miles. They wanted $8,000 for the repair when the entire car was only worth 5-6k just days before. I sold it to a mechanic at the dealership for $100, simply to not have to deal with it anymore. Battery packs and electric transmissions have a tough proving ground ahead with mass adoption, but I do believe companies like Tesla or Ford with their new electric vehicles are putting a lot of time and money into research and creating the best, cheapest, and cleanest EVs possible.
So, do you have a list of questions we should ask the installer before it happens? A list would be great.
👍
Lmao, or you could listen to the video?
Your presentation was great. I don't own any Tesla products, but I'd like to in the future. Keep making the great videos! I'll be watching...
Competent, reliable, experienced people are hard to come by.
a HARD Man is Good to find. some Woman said.
I want a Power Wall and a Tesla Solar Roof ; however, I cannot afford either so I have to live vicariously through you.
If you have a house upon which to install those things, you can easily get a home equity loan to cover it and the money you save on your utilities will cover the payment.
Do you pay an electric bill?
Then you can afford both.
Simple decision: wanna' give money to the utility or pay for your OWN power?
After 12 years (or so) my solar will be paid for.
In the meantime, my payment for the panels is LESS than my previous electric bill.
So, in a few more years, the panels will be paid off, then, no payment, for the life of the panels (30 years?).
Big step now is: battery.
Tesla is a step in the right direction, but, even if you get ANY battery, it would have to last.
And that's a big deal, the life of the battery.
I saw one recently, had a recharge life of 20,000 cycles.
No idea what the cost was, but such extended cycle life would last my remaining lifetime!
And I'm sure even more options will crop up...
Bottom line: electric utilities are on the way out.
As a bonus, every item that consumes power is using less and less!
Perhaps the time is coming when the only electricity needed will be DC?
Solar makes that a possible idea.
No more need to run miles and miles of cable, generating the need for AC to begin with.
Interesting: Mr. Tesla convinced everyone of AC back in 1910 and if everyone uses solar and batteries, then, no need for AC!
SOLAR is Already a Requirement of NEW HOMES in California as well as NO GAS Service. 100% Electric home.
this is a MODEL for homes in the United States.
Sadly many of us are living pretty much paycheck to paycheck. I also have kids to send to college so no power wall for me. I think its a great idea. It seems though everything made today is not really meant to last for a long time. I dont see people having 16 year old Model S. I could be wrong, who knows.
@@mtadams2009 the model S was originally released in 2012. So the oldest model S will be 8 yrs old.
Thanks for your honesty about the pitfalls you encountered in the installation of your Powerwall.
When you do a followup video, I would be really interested in understanding how participation in a virtual power plant affects the longevity of the Powerwall. In other words, how much does it increase the number of charge/discharge cycles, and how does that compare to the projected lifetime cycles of the Powerwall? Thanks!
My participation in a virtual power plant in New England resulted in a $730 check Eversource paid me for helping with peak shaving for one year. At that rate the power wall will pay for itself pretty quickly.
that would really depend on if the power is drawn from the tesla pack, or from the solar panels on the home, as well as the amount of load and duration of the load.
In short, it depends on where you live and how underequipped your local grids are on a peak load.
I don't have the bell set to ring on any channel. but I watch everything from my subscriptions.
I'll take it! Appreciate it.
As someone that works in the solar industry (in Australia) a lot of it appears to have come down to having an installer that either didn't care or didn't know. Maybe they were just a regular electrician? If someone already has a PV system here, installing a battery is considered a fairly straightforward and simple process and we're usually talking days, definitely not months between ordering and installing. The price you mention for installation is also surprisingly high. That's more than companies here charge to install an entire PV solar system.
Glad you're still happy with it now that it's installed though. Batteries are awesome. Unfortunately they're still very expensive, which is surprising given how cheap the same type of battery packs have gotten in EVs. I
Enjoyed this video, looking forward to the virtual grid video.
Glad to hear it!
The grid is virtual. With 100 plus years of family experience in grid management, the "spyder web" we call the grid is a shared connection and resource. With my electrical system management hat on, & 40 plus years of personal experience to reflect on, I think we should have been generating our own power since I installed the first solar system I designed & installed in 1981. The grid should share, balance and manage load/demand. Our various PUC's have allowed the larger power providers to dominate grid "services" to hold us hostage. As registered voters, we can own "the power". We have to want to involve ourselves. I think the work is worth it.
@@coloradochildrens5449 Speaking from the IT side of it (dealt with lots of protective relaying and a fair amount of remedial action schemes before I retired) I feel safe in saying stability is the devil in the system. I don't even recall a blackout that didn't start with loss of a transmission line. Here on the Western interconnection (geographically the largest in North America) stability means shedding portions that can't be sustained. RAS can do that but - outside California - there is not nearly enough of it.
California is generating toxic amounts of photovoltaic solar already, and is selling some of it at negative prices in the afternoons. The company I retired from - I won't identify them by name but it is the only Fortune 100 electric company in Arizona - makes millions of dollars every year on the "energy imbalance market." See www.latimes.com/projects/la-fi-electricity-solar/
and www.instituteforenergyresearch.org/solar-energys-duck-curve/
Summary: had install quotes from 2500 to 7000-went with the 2500-installation was a cluster-fck.
@Jerry Moody well yes of course and that’s called a rip off. Higher price does not always equal higher value. However, generally they are correlated. Always get references and ask to tour prior work so you can see it for yourself.
@@Freedacarlo Unfortunately, there are a lot of rip-offs out there. I’ve not found higher price to generally correlate to higher value with any consistency. Basically I’ve found contractors tend to cut way too many corners unless you’re standing over their shoulders supervising everything they do. In many cases, it’s just easier to just do it myself, even if that includes buying tools and doing a lot of learning.
@@mensaswede4028 The learning is always a good thing, especially when fixing issues that arise later or just having in-depth knowledge about your system, plus you get to keep all the tools and save even more on the next project :D
@@mensaswede4028 I think a smart way to go is to get a contractor to help out the first time you do something large.
Make sure to let them know that you want an in-depth explanation of how they are doing their trade and ask them to teach you and have that included in their price since it slows down their work significantly.
After you learn from a master, the next time, you can do it yourself.
And still ended up costing $7,000 anyway
I have been reading so much about this and the battery system is still evolving to perfection. We don’t know if they are even safe. I just think that the unit is too sophisticated and if it fails, you could be dark for a long time. I delayed my solar install until I am confident it’s not being force feed to purchase. Here in California they change from NEM 2.0 to 3.0 to force you to have batteries. I can sense some conspiracy between the government and battery makers. I will just conserve electricity by minimization.
Thank you so much. This video actually answered a lot of questions for me. I'm still doing more research into this, but your video is so informative. I'll probably look into getting this system by next May 2022. Thanks again.
Be wary, he’s missed a lot of things out. Do some more research first.
Great info! Had ours installed through Tesla with Solar and they went though everything and our options.
Outstanding presentation, even though your speech speed is way over what I could follow as a foreigner. Thanks for sharing!
Does the firewall need internet access to work still?
Hahaha, I started watching this Today, and it caused me to remember to pay my power bill. Thanks Matt. You gained a new sub!
Another great episode. Before the end I was ready to hit the order button, I want that level of control over my circuits even without a solar array or battery system.
Looking to buy a new house this year, and am tentatively looking into solar panels with a power wall to generate enough power to sell back to the electric companies.
Not because it's really profitable, but because I want to make sure I'm self reliant.
That's not really how solar works. Typically you want to have as little excess as possible. Don't forget to consider a simple ground mount if the roof isn't a good option.
If you want to be self-reliant you need to look at some sort of battery like a Powerwall. or generator system, and most important a smart switch, like the Tesla Energy Gateway (TEG) that comes with Powerwalls to detect the grid failure and isolate your house. The issue is when the sun is out and the grid is down, without the TEG your solar must be shut down since there is no place to send any excess electricity. You can't send it to the grid because you could shock any workers working to repair it. So you end up staring at all those solar panels in the bright sun and having no power in your home!! The TEG can detect a grid failure in 1-2/60 of a second and switch to using power from the Powerwalls. Your lights likely will not even flicker or clocks need to be reset. Same thing in reverse when the grid comes back. The only way you know you had a power failure is a message on the Tesla app.
@@JBoy340a Sorry @jk, but "man splaining" gets old. Matt has covered these topics. WADR, he did a better job. Local power providers & electricians, right/wrong/otherwise, need to fill in the gaps. Chive on.
@@coloradochildrens5449 😂✌🏼
I want one but I live in a small, old house. It’d be like buying a super car and parking it on the street.
My neighbor lives in a one story rambler and parks his lambo and mclaren on the street. No solar panels.
but if it saves you $$$$$ ?????
@@monikawaffler3458 because of the high price and the amount of electricity it would save buying from the grid it would take more than a decade to pay for itself
@@Utaheyelid Well if he's single no kids then he's a free agent. Lol I might do the same.
@@THEmickTHEgun not to mention the solar panels you'd have to buy and install with it just to save anything on power.
I'm glad that you recognized you chose your installer poorly. Great review!!
I'd recommend keeping those comm wires out of the conduit. Switching loads can couple from the HV wires into the comm wires causing communication errors or even damage. (wiki EMC)
Keep in mind most of these people are nerds and have no formal education or training in the electrical world. I have watched post by these nerds trying to perform electrical work and their ignorance and aragance is mind boggleing and in most situation dangerous! I'm a Journeymen electricain with of 30 years of experience and taring in both the electical world and IT world.
Most communications are Class II wiring and should have separation from standard power wiring by code, hence the likely should not be in the same conduit with 120VAC power. Exception is if the Class II cables have high voltage insulation.
Good Information. I wish you had put questions about which electric car a new customer might have. With some cars a customer might need fewer or even no powerwall at all. If you have one or two electric cars and they support power outflow you have a lot more power at hand, why not use it. In my opinion all electric cars should double duty as emergency home power.
Interesting! First we need electric cars with 600 km range that can operate at -40° C/F ❄️
I live in sacramento, CA and tesla's price was FAR better than the competitors. I went with 2 power walls and 8kw's of solar panels. the tesla team took an EXACT inventory of my entire breaker panel & all devices on the system, also my kwh usage over the previous year. they went with a sub panel for the system to back up and it gets all the essentials minus the electric ovens- I have a gas cook top I can 'make due' with if I lose power. the install happened REALLY fast- they arrived at around 1/4 til 7... and they were rolling out with the system tested & complete just before noon. I've had NO PROBLEMS with the system. it works FLAWLESSLY.
Just found you, and just subscribed! Good News!
Bad News...
As an electrician this hurts on the inside! Did you explain to the electrical contractor that you were working with that their work would be seen on the Internet?
I feel your pain! I wonder if permits were pulled? And if they were, how did the cables tied to the conduit pass? COMM cables only? Doesn't look like CAT5 wires to me.
@@theheathkitshop2424 I have not installed a power wall, but the Communication cable that he’s talking about I believe are very similar to what would be on a remote clamp meter like for his sense unit. The zip tying and only having PVC mechanical protection is pretty bad, the no grommets through the holes from the power wall to the controller is super sketchy. That means that there’s no protection from the hole that was either knocked out or punched out of the side of those units and there is no strain relief to protect the electronic components inside, but I would have to see the inside to completely confirm that statement. Grommets rubber or plastic are super inexpensive!
None of this going into the craftsmanship or lack there of of the first “Electrician”.
@@theheathkitshop2424 RS-485 communication circuit. Typically THHN wire isn't used for that, but it appears this installer did.
What a brilliant idea, that should make them buck up their commitment to the client!
@@taylorlightfoot Right, It's normally CAT-5
I'm a Tesla Solar customer in Cali and while I like the idea of the powerwall, for the cost a NG generator is still the best overall solution to have to ensure uninterrupted power in an emergency.
If you are in Cali and have an emergency it's going to be earthquake or fire, and natural gas is shut down.
You describe your experiences extremely well.
Straightforward no patronising easy to listen too. Well done
I LOVE mine. But, I wish I had two instead of just one. It’s fine to just have one in my situation. The good news is, the first is most expensive because of the dependant parts needed. Additinal ones don’t need that. You can start adding more at a okay price.
Great point!
👍
Worth bearing in mind: if at some future time you want to install a second in front of the first , they both need to be floor mounted (i.e. your first one will need to be floor mounted). Side by side can be wall mounted.
"I was left in the dark for 7 weeks" hopefully this was figuratively and not literally!
I lived on Guam many years ago. Due to two back to back typhoons, we lost power for 44 days straight. You get creative.
hope you don't expect a tesla battery to help you with weeks of no power
Just bought a solar system. If I had more credit cards I'd buy a Powerwall too.
I didn't realize it had that Storm Watch feature. Very cool!
Matt awesome video I suppose for the $7000 price tag they would include the insulating grommet for the conduit less wiring awesome work..
Doing a parts and required tools inventory prior to starting work is important.
these were all great points. When i had solar installed I used all engery solar and they covered all the things your brought up.
Living in Dallas this week, I DEFINITELY want a powerwall or similar...
Wow you guys are weak in Texas. I went 60 days without power after hurricane andrew. That was august. In Florida. 95 degree heat, no power. Boil water orders, no stores. No gas. You guys are cold for a week and are screeching. I expect that from Austin, but not outside of it.
Extreme vehicle battery technology is a company selling powerwall batteries. The company is pretty new and last time i checked they were having a presale of their new powerwall battery called Ionix for 1000 dollars. Better specs then Teslas i think. Check it out.
As an installer of all types of electrical equipment, the communication cables should not be located inside a conduit with power lines. The comm outside the conduit preserves the comm signal from degradation by diffusion of the power lines.
clearly they've never heard of XT interference
I just want to say that I enjoyed this video. Exactly what I was looking for. I also liked, commented and sub'd because you dont like asking folks to do it.
Man, I'm always shocked by the price of electrical work in the US, almost as shocking as "health" costs...
in a lot of places, electricians earn far more than many college grads - it's value pricing :-)
My dad is an elechicken .
Their trade is complicated but not that difficult .
Most tradesmen could learn it .
Not worth the price in my mind .
I am a glazier. My trade is just as if not more dangerous and takes just as long to learn.
Either I don’t make enough or lechickens are over priced . Not sure
I could have installed my Tesla charger on my own, but part of the cost of paying someone else to do it is the risk of death when playing with electricity. If you know what you're doing you can mitigate that risk, but chances are you don't and people who do still die.
I had a generac generator installed in my house that was fed off of an external propane tank. It was about the same cost as the Tesla power wall once it was all said and done. I thought the same thing. The unit itself was around 6k but the installation was another 4k. At the time I felt the labor costs was way too much money as well.
@@ArchangelChi
This is what a few decades of pushing many young students into unnecessary college degrees did. It's great pay for the ones intelligent enough to see the truth and train for a decent career without the need for student debt, but it also has the unfortunate side effect of pricing optional products like this out of reach for many people who would otherwise have it. America's values and trajectory are broken.
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