1. Attachments are working again! Check out this thread for more details and to report any other bugs.

What range would make you plug in less or not at all?

Discussion in 'Gen 1 Prius Plug-in 2012-2015' started by markabele, Jun 26, 2015.

  1. Trollbait

    Trollbait It's a D&D thing

    Joined:
    Feb 7, 2006
    21,742
    11,327
    0
    Location:
    eastern Pennsylvania
    Vehicle:
    Other Non-Hybrid
    I suspect the Tesla PowerWall is mostly Tesla in name only. It is a way of reaching out to more residential customers for SolarCity, which already installs PV and battery back ups for commercial use.

    Sounds like the salesman was trying to push you into ordering a PV system now instead of waiting for the PowerWall, and/or he was poorly trained on the system's purpose. The PowerWall site stresses shifting solar power use more than basic time shifting for off peak rates, and SolarCity's site focuses more on the back up aspect.
    Backup Power Supply – Home Battery Backup System – SolarCity
     
    mmmodem likes this.
  2. markabele

    markabele owner of PiP, then Leaf, then Model 3

    Joined:
    Mar 27, 2012
    5,084
    1,782
    1
    Location:
    Nebraska
    Vehicle:
    2018 Tesla Model 3
    Model:
    N/A
    Absolutely not. When the gigafactory is up and running they will be the largest battery producer on earth.
     
  3. Trollbait

    Trollbait It's a D&D thing

    Joined:
    Feb 7, 2006
    21,742
    11,327
    0
    Location:
    eastern Pennsylvania
    Vehicle:
    Other Non-Hybrid
    Then why send a SolarCity employee to push a PV system a person doesn't want?

    The goal of the Gigafactory is produce batteries at long enough cost to make affordable, long range BEVs possible. Expanding battery sales to non-cars also helps with that, but Tesla isn't planning on entering the PowerWall business like they did the car one. At the bottom of the PowerWall site, they are asking for distribution partners.
     
  4. markabele

    markabele owner of PiP, then Leaf, then Model 3

    Joined:
    Mar 27, 2012
    5,084
    1,782
    1
    Location:
    Nebraska
    Vehicle:
    2018 Tesla Model 3
    Model:
    N/A
    The gigafactory will make more batteries than they can use in cars at least unitl their $30k+ vehicle is being made. Many people think this is one reason powerwall exists.
     
  5. Trollbait

    Trollbait It's a D&D thing

    Joined:
    Feb 7, 2006
    21,742
    11,327
    0
    Location:
    eastern Pennsylvania
    Vehicle:
    Other Non-Hybrid
    I'm sure it is, but the companies actually putting iPhones together aren't named Apple.

    SolarCity and Tesla are linked.
    Tesla needs cheap batteries in order to make affordable long range BEVs possible. Selling batteries for other purposes helps that. Packing those batteries into a ready made home back up/time shifting unit may even be a better plan to do so. SolarCity already installs batteries for time shifting for businesses and even governments. Using them saves Tesla to resources of building their own distribution and retail network. likewise, SolarCity will probably get a batteries that they use for their current business for a better price from Tesla.

    The PowerWall doesn't come with an AC-DC inverter, and Tesla would probably like you to buy it from SolarEdge or Fronius. The PowerWall and Tesla Energy are simply not a Tesla only thing. Press Kit | Tesla Motors
     
  6. hill

    hill High Fiber Member

    Joined:
    Jun 23, 2005
    19,676
    8,070
    54
    Location:
    Montana & Nashville, TN
    Vehicle:
    2018 Chevy Volt
    Model:
    Premium
    yes, "anti-islanding" is the industry jargon for wind/pv inverters / battery backup inverters that require grid input. I too have not been able to determine from their website whether or not such capabilities will be part of Tesla's power wall. It'd seem to make sense they do, or what'd be their advantage?
    Anyway I've read extensively on 'spoofing' our sunpower anti-islanding inverters, and purchased a surplus cell cite battery backup bank (includes 240v DC/AC inverter) for that very purpose - proof of concept. Long stort short, these inverters aren't so much needing to see 100 or 200 amps of 240v, surprisingly, as much they're looking for a pure 60htz sin wave that they need to sync with. As a prudent electrical hack, I quit messing with it before I fried myself.
    I think what's more important is the kind of battle on the horizon from the utility companies, as such devices can quickly wreck their business model.
    i smell kickbacks
    ;)
    .
     
    #66 hill, Jul 7, 2015
    Last edited: Jul 7, 2015
  7. rxlawdude

    rxlawdude Active Member

    Joined:
    Mar 31, 2011
    701
    219
    0
    Location:
    So Calif
    Vehicle:
    2015 Tesla Model S
    I thought about using a small inverter to "fool" the PV inverter (I have a PowerOne/ABB PVI-6000), but everything I've read suggests that all that will happen is I'll fry the small inverter and possibly the ABB unit, so I'll pass on testing the theory.

    Clearly, the utilities do have a concern - unless there's a failsafe way to isolate PV inverter output off the grid so that a lineman working on a "dead" line doesn't get a nasty surprise.