Can Tesla Powerwalls Power Your House & Cars in the End Times?

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Are my two Tesla Powerwalls enough to keep my house going in an extended duration grid outage, even with two electric cars to charge? Let's find out!
I've changed the title of the video to appease Twitter. Original title: Off-Grid for a Month with Tesla Powerwalls & 2 EVs?
Powerwall installation video: • Tesla Powerwalls Insta...
Tesla solar installation video: • Tesla Installs More So...
2013 solar installation video: • Residential Solar Inst...
EV & Tesla related shirts can be found on my Teespring store: teespring.com/...
Drop me a line on Twitter if you have any questions or whatever: / ptpetra
If you're buying a new Tesla (S, X, 3, or Y) or ordering Tesla solar, feel free to use my referral code & receive 1000 miles of free Supercharging or a $100 award after activation of your solar array: ts.la/alex4511
Jackets by Volante Design
Disclosure: The creator of this video is a Tesla owner and is long $TSLA.

Опубликовано:

27 сен 2024

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Комментарии : 145

@TRYtoHELPyou 4 года назад

Now a 500kWh or 1mWh motorhome with powerwall-like capability when connected at home would be perfect. Dude, this test is great. Over time this will become very useful to several studies and news outlets etc. Thanks for digging up some facts!

@Mongooseman121 4 года назад

Invented a new term - House range anxiety. Love it! Presumably followed by house hypermiling

@AlexVenz 4 года назад

"House hypermiling" is a phrase that would probably earn me a strong glare of disapproval from my wife if I were to suggest giving it a try. I like it, though.

@gobblegobblebarfbarf 4 года назад

Is "range anxiety" for a house when you constantly worry if you have enough power to finish cooking dinner on your electric range?

@guycharles Год назад

Awesome video... I'm about to install a very similar system [7.9 kw w/ 2 PW2s] and your video answered all of my remaining questions... Thanks!

@PremiumElectric 4 года назад

LOVE videos like this. Even if just short updates. Keep them coming.

@dion4037 3 года назад

I live in TX. We were less than 5mins away from a total state wide black out that would have lasted for months. At this point I will be getting 2 to 3 power walls here in the near future. This state is run by complete buffoons and are a national embarrassment.

@SCWgreg 4 года назад

Like a farmer in Iowa, you’re dependent on Mother Nature to rain/water the crops... in this case you’re a farmer managing your home’s energy, reliant on Mother Nature for sun to deliver.

@PorkRoll_F3 2 года назад

This was wonderful, thank you.

@dirtdiver2389 Месяц назад

Great video. It would be very interesting to see you do this test in July or August when you need AC.

@jhchooo 4 года назад

This video proves if every house is has multiple Powerwalls, solar and all houses were interconnected, you don't need a power company.

@clivemitchell3229 4 года назад

Depends where you live. I'm over 50 degrees north and in the middle of winter my 10+ kW array produces nothing for days. A sunny day in the middle of winter produces more than I can use immediately but is often not enough to charge the batteries completely before the next dark day. I'd get a wind turbine if I could connect it. (Tesla don't seem to like wind turbines...)

@cpF01 4 года назад

Thanks Alex.

@nrathod9306 3 года назад

So many different jackets.....I am kind of jealous...

@AlexVenz 3 года назад

I'll admit, I do have a problem when it comes to Volante Design jackets... I just can't help myself.

@robertosantos3683 2 года назад

good work

@cerusa827 4 года назад

Excellent video. My wife and I are considering a two powerwall system for our 9.9kw system up here in CT. We've had some bad storms and some random outages and powerwall seems like a better overall solution than a gas generator. Also, in CT they have a battery capacity program where if we allow our batteries to be used during peak times to soften the grid's demand, we get $ back. We would enroll during the summer only and from the looks of it we could be earning up to $1000/year doing this.

@AlexVenz 4 года назад

Wow, that sound like a pretty sweet program to incentivise the usage of battery storage

@eviloctober Год назад

In a dooms day event, your solar panels would be raided

@qua7771 3 года назад

Gasoline pumps don't work in an outage either. I'm curious if you can use the car in place of a Powerwall since it has a lot more battery storage. At least the car can be charged with a dual fuel generator leaving charging options open.

@AlexVenz 3 года назад

Tesla vehicles do not support vehicle to grid or vehicle to house at this time. So, no, the car won't take the place of Powerwalls.

@qua7771 3 года назад

@@AlexVenz Thanks for the reply. I made a reservation for the Cybertruck and presumably, it will have an output for charging another vehicle. My understanding is that it is a 400v system and I'm not aware of an inverter that will work. It would be a huge bonus if they would come up with a system.

@pvman2 4 года назад

It would be great to have an EVSE software to integrate with the powerwall software. There could then be a rule to either adjust the rate of charge to a vehicle or completely stop charging a vehicle if the powerwall drained to a particular threshold.

@AlexVenz 4 года назад

It's possible that Tesla could integrate their new WiFi enabled Wall Connectors with the Tesla Home Energy Gateway in order to make those sorts of features available right from the Tesla app. The question is whether they will and, if so, when.

@thomasjacques5286 Год назад

Why not just set all the charging perimeters using the car's software? We are getting ready to install a PV system scaled at 114% of our annual usage giving us more headroom for weather, system degradation, and topping off the PWs we'll be installing. We are doing this in two stages, panels this year (2023) and PWs next year and by then I hope we'll be getting the new PW 3's. We are retired and I can drive weeks on a 90% charged Model Y. So I don't even care about charging my Tesla as I usually keep it at 90% every day and my SOC seldom drops below 70%.

@qwe304 Год назад

I thought I recalled hearing somebody say that if they aren't able to connect to the servers they shut off after a period of time, have you tried turning off your internet connection to the powerwalls with these tests?

@offgridbydesign3826 4 года назад

Great video but there is one concern with your scenario. Unless Tesla has changed this in the last 6 months your power wall will shut off if it loses internet connection for continuous 48 hours requiring you to contact them for reset which might not be possible if phone service is down. Most Tesla customers are not aware of this. In a true end of days you will not have internet or phone service. This is one of the reasons I didn't use Tesla for my system. I wanted to make sure that I have power under just about every condition.

@AlexVenz 4 года назад

There have been quite a few software changes in the past 6 months, but Tesla isn't great at disclosing all of the changes made in a given update. This might be an interesting thing to test, though I'd have to temporarily disable the gateway's cellular connection to do it.

@offgridbydesign3826 4 года назад

@@AlexVenz True but it is not something you want to find out if such an event occurs... When I was looking at using their system This was one of the questions I asked them and their response was yes this is true but you can call us and we will give you a procedure to reset. I said great but how do I contact you if phone service down? Said he would call me back. They never did and I moved.

@AlexVenz 4 года назад

Bets on whether their "procedure" is just pressing the reset button in the gateway panel? Tesla's lack of user-facing documentation is so frustrating...

@offgridbydesign3826 4 года назад

@@AlexVenz Even though their product is not geared for the DIY it has spawned a new industry for DIY power wall projects. Even the batteries in scrapped Tesla vehicles are salvaged to make power walls extending the use for years. I love their design and power density ratio. Keep endothelial experience😎

@evlnte 4 года назад

Living in hurricane country, I’m now looking to installing solar with at least 3 powerwalls. Regretfully, I’m finding Tesla’s customer service really lacking in their energy sales team. Communication is 2-3 days behind if they answer at all. I’m going to start looking at other local installers. I may not get the Tesla “total solution” to go with my Model 3, but I’m not going to be strong armed into buying something I’m not happy with.

@AlexVenz 4 года назад

Tesla's customer service and communication is, generally, just bad all-around and has been that way for like half a decade... There's a reason it took months to resolve the issues with my Powerwall installation. You can have a local installer put in whatever solar setup you want and install Powerwalls, but your installer will still be stuck dealing with Tesla to resolve any issues.

@ek9772 4 года назад

If your average production was 42-kWh, and your maximum allowed charge per car was 10-kWh, and assuming you charged both cars daily, then your average home consumption was 22-kWh. This is much lower than most average homes. Do you have an electric water heater and an electric stove?

@AlexVenz 4 года назад

Electric ovens, gas range, gas water heater, and gas furnace--a pretty typical setup for Southern California. However, the Model S was the only car which needed to be charged daily. The Model 3 was charged opportunistically with excess solar generation and/or charged on weekends when the Model S didn't need to be charged.

@ek9772 4 года назад

Alex Venz aha.

@Oldfarmlady 3 года назад

We're off grid and using lead acid batteries for now. I'm really curious to see if I can use a powerwall for a permanent off grid setup. Everything I find is grid tie setups.

@joeshittheragman42 3 года назад

I have two Tesla Power Wall model 2. 29 solar panels. During this last month my solar charge of the Power Wall‘s by 10 or 11 o’clock in the morning. Then for the rest of the day the house seems to be running fine off of off of the solar and the inverter. However the challenge that I’m having is when the sun goes down I start drawing power from the grid around 5 PM all The way till about seven or eight in the morning when the sun comes back up and starts charging the Power Wall again so I’ve gone through different settings and right now I’m on I’ve been on self powered mode and that doesn’t seem to change anything. So I’m kind of perplexed as to what’s going on here why I’m taking Power off the grid all night and nothing out of the batteries

@antoniocepaj7544 4 года назад

What is maximum amount of Tesla Powerwall 2 battery you can connect one to another? How many years of use can I get of Tesla Powerwall 2 + tesla solar titles + electric car if I use it 100% off Grid in a small house 540 sq feet with all the heating, and appliances using only eletricity as power?

@MillionDollarFlipper 2 года назад

You can link together 10 Powerwalls.

@NoOne-jy6mc 4 года назад

I have a really really important question. Does anything in this system (powerwall, circuit boxes, evse webpage, smartphone, app, etc) require wifi, GPS capability, simcard, or household internet? I really need this answer to be a definite "NO." Otherwise, it is not off-grid capable in my opinion. Also does it have to work wirelessly with a smartphone, or can you plug it in to a laptop with a cable and monitor/customise it that way instead? Also, I'm very concerned about a lack of regular software updates that may perhaps cause it to malfunction over a period of several years. I don't mind the updates, but I want it to be capable of running perfectly 100% off-grid for 10 years without a single software update, or simcard/internet connection. Basically I want to put it completely isolated without maintenance in the middle of the desert and live there for 10+ years. Is that possible? Many thanks.

@NoOne-jy6mc 4 года назад

4 powerwalls & 20kW solar, with daily usage about 20kW, but will reduce usage during cloudy/rainy periods to conserve if necessary. Also will have a backup propane generator and 100+ full gas bottles in storage, just for the occasional period when there might be an entire week or two of clouds/rain. Combining that with 2 tonnes of 25-year shelf life vacuum sealed high-protein foods, and a little gardening each week, storing garden harvests in freezers for cold months, you might just be set for life! (...if the powerwalls will last that long, that is.)

@AlexVenz 4 года назад

According to Tesla, the Powerwall system can operate completely off grid and will function without an internet connection. However, you'll need an internet connection (either via WiFi, hardwire ethernet, or the Tesla gateway's cellular connection) for the Tesla app, usage statistics, and controls to function. Granted, the controls won't be particularly useful in the situation you've described and you can still monitor real time usage and Powerwall state of charge over LAN via the gateway's web interface that's accessible from its internal IP address. The downside to operating without an internet connection is that Tesla won't be able to monitor your system or push software updates and, as a result, Tesla won't honor the full 10 year warranty.

@mts982 4 года назад

Look into wind power.

@hogheadrun9139 3 года назад

In an actual end times you probably wouldn’t need to charge your car or cars. Your wife wouldn’t have a job. You probably wouldn’t want your wife to go into the chaos.

@RRooooooNNNN 4 года назад

Whoa just stared the video and you're already cheating having the red powerwalls.😜😜.jk, Good video .

@AllMyHobbies 4 года назад

how often do you get a power outage? i think for a lot of people that actually get power outages this would not work well. my parents get week long outages every few years and day long often in the winter and of corse normally when there is a foot of snow. so a gas generator really is the only and much cheaper option.

@michaelcarr8320 3 года назад

I was looking at a gas generator but it required maintenance and it would also use gas each week with its start up run. So it would continue to cost money and time forever. I went with the solar/power wall setup because it pays you back and maintenance is simple

@DavidBajayo 4 года назад

I read in my tesla app simulation that if the grid is disrupted , the solar panels stop charging/powering as a safety measure. WTH!!.

@AlexVenz 4 года назад

The solar panels do shut down for safety if they're operating in a grid-tied configuration *without* a Powerwall present. If a Powerwall and Tesla home energy gateway are present, the gateway isolates the house from the grid when the grid goes down and that allows the solar + Powerwall system to continue operating safely.

@kellypratt5562 3 года назад

What about the surge in power from AC. My local installer won’t install if the AC unit is attached.

@AlexVenz 3 года назад

The AC units aren't a problem. Tesla installed soft start kits on the AC units to reduce the inrush current spike to a level the two Powerwalls can handle.

@mitchellbarnow1709 4 года назад

Really educational video, Alex! You blurred out your electric meter at 10:00. What personal data could someone have gotten from seeing your meter? Thank you so much!

@AlexVenz 4 года назад

Well, the meter IDs and stuff are printed on the face... It's highly unlikely that there's any real risk from showing it, but I have a habit of blurring things unnecessarily--it's good practice.

@mitchellbarnow1709 4 года назад

Alex Venz You are a very smart man. I learn important things from you, Alex!

@macgreiner 4 года назад

Is that the cybertruck jacket? BTW - how effective are you finding that silver 'bubble wrap" insulation on your garage door? I've been thinking of doing the same here.

@AlexVenz 4 года назад

I didn't wear the Cybertruck event jacket in this video, but I did wear 3 other jackets that I have which were also made by Volante Design. I put the foiled bubble wrap insulation up in 2013 and am glad I did. It's light enough that I didn't have to rebalance the garage door, but that lightness also means that it doesn't offer all that much in the way of insulation. However, it does provide just enough insulation to take the edge off the heat/cold. The door faces South and the garage used to be unbearably hot in the summer. Now, it's just miserably hot (it probably peaks in the high 80's or low 90's now, where it used to peak around 100°F).

@kdkd693 4 года назад

Just found you channel. I like it. Our remote beach town had 3 significant power outages in the past 3 months, so powerwalls are in my sights on our existing holiday villas (6.6kW solar each) Question: is your solar 3 phase or single?

@AlexVenz 4 года назад

Single phase. It's pretty rare to see 3-phase used in residential applications in the states, aside from home machine shops and stuff.

@kdkd693 4 года назад

Alex Venz thanks for your reply. As I will certainly want to charge the future Cybertruck with 22kW, and the model 3 with 11kW (takes 4 hours for SR+) I intend to use the 3 phase capability of the Tesla wall charger. Right now for my 4000km road trip last week, I had my electrician wire a 3phase plug to the HPWC for mobile 3 phase. Takes 1/3 the time, but still slow! I don’t have access to superchargers in Western Australia, sadly

@bayramodeberdiyev3825 2 года назад

Hello Alex, Great content. I have a question. I live in central asia where our grid power is inconsistent and has low power. Sometimes it cannot even start the Aircon compressor. I was wondering, will the power wall work as a supplementary power to the grid power?

@AlexVenz 2 года назад

If grid voltage dipped low enough, I think the Tesla gateway would temporarily disconnect your house from the grid and use the Powerwalls in backup mode. I don't think the Powerwall is going to stabilize power, aside from making use of backup mode.

@RussellHogan Год назад

What phone are you using?

@ElleGeezee 4 года назад

What is the square footage of your home? I think that is important to know.

@AlexVenz 4 года назад

3000 sq. ft.

@MillionDollarFlipper 2 года назад

@@AlexVenz I appreciate your response and the video. You should add the house size to the video description. I had to scroll through a lot of comments to find your square footage. I'm trying to figure out what size Tesla system to order for my 4,500 square foot house I'm building in Los Angeles. We have a Model 3 and Model X and plan on getting electric heat pumps for HVAC. After seeing your square footage and your system size, I'm thinking Tesla's 14.40kW option with 3 or 4 Powerwalls would allow us to be off LADWP's grid for as long as we want.

@AlexVenz 2 года назад

@@MillionDollarFlipper I'll add that info to the description--thanks. As for your project, 3-4 Powerwalls is probably where you want to target. Realistically, 3 would be better for me as 2 cuts it pretty close when off grid.

@ostbob4108 3 года назад

Were you also running an AC/heat pump and if so what size is it. If not do you think it could of handled a 4 ton Heat pump and a 1 HP well pump if you were not charging a car too?

@AlexVenz 3 года назад

The house has a gas furnace that I was running and I've done other tests during the summer with the air conditioner. A multi-Powerwall setup could handle the loads you mentioned, but you'd probably need more than 2 to manage long duration backup with those loads, depending on their daily energy usage.

@LittleMountainXD 3 года назад

Great vid! The way I understand it is that the powerwall needs to have an internet connection to function off grid, is this true?

@AlexVenz 3 года назад

Strictly speaking, they can work without an internet connection, but Tesla requires the internet connection for monitoring and warranty purposes.

@toddr.lockwood843 4 года назад

Alex, do you know what your typical daily household energy usage is in kWh? I'm considering a 2-Powerwall setup like you have. In addition to a Model S, my other big energy items are: an electric dryer, convection oven, and central air. I have 11.6 kW of solar.

@qamarmood1157 2 года назад

Did u ever get the batteries I’m curious to how it held up

@lancebeare8314 4 года назад

The app used is cloud based? If the power is out for a long time, is your app likely to be maintained to control your system? Is there a way to control system if internet is down too, like if the zombies chewed thru the cables!?

@AlexVenz 4 года назад

You can monitor the status of the system via the gateway's web interface by navigating to the gateway's local IP address, but none of the app-related control options or logged data visualizations are there (not that they matter in backup mode, for the most part).

@jimdandy9118 3 года назад

People amaze me. Buy something that you will never break even on and constantly have to stress and obsess over it. But hey, I’m green. Musk is a genius...no rational person would think this is a good idea but somehow he still sells it.

@WJSchmitt 4 года назад

What does your utility co. say when they see you not using any of their energy?

@AlexVenz 4 года назад

They haven't said anything 🤷‍♂️

@tigeroll 4 года назад

I can't wait to do this and then tell my Electric Utility company to take a hike. My utility charges way too much, otherwise I wouldn't care.

@JSmitty33349 3 года назад

Is there any issues that would occur if the internet to the house also went down? Can you still monitor the power wall through the app?

@AlexVenz 3 года назад

The Tesla Home Energy Gateway utilizes 3 network connections: WiFi, Ethernet, and cellular. If your house internet connection goes down, causing the WiFi and Ethernet connections to lose internet access, the gateway falls back on its cellular data connection. If both your home's internet connection and the local cellular networks are down, then you can monitor the Powerwalls via the gateway's web portal over LAN by entering the gateway's local IP address into your browser's address bar.

@NoCampiRush 4 года назад

How many fridge ,electric stove ,freezer, electric water heater or ac did you use ?

@AlexVenz 4 года назад

Since all devices are different, the easiest and most accurate way to answer this is in actual energy usage--keep in mind this was done in February-March timeframe. Our average household energy usage during the test period was about 29kWh/day.

@jasertio 4 года назад

What happened to the new video? I just tried to watch it and it's now private.

@AlexVenz 4 года назад

I've de-listed this week's video due to a flaw in my methodology which inadvertently circumvented at least one of Powerwall's recovery features and, as a result, presented an inaccurate representation of normal system function. I'll try again & reshoot the video. Apologies.

@jasertio 4 года назад

@@AlexVenz oh no, that's absolutely fine. I am glad that you have taken it down upon realizing this flaw. I'll watch the new video whenever it is up, but I don't want you to feel pressured on shooting the new one. :)

@paytufo 4 года назад

Hi! I´m thinking to use PowerWalls but I have a question. Do I use any special inverter? As the PowerWall are AC I supposed that is not necessary, but I´m not sure.

@AlexVenz 4 года назад

Special solar inverters aren't necessary, but there are probably some weird ones that could complicate things. Tesla will let you know during the site survey planning phase (they have you take photos of the information stickers on your existing inverters, air conditioners, and a few other things to verify compatibility prior to installation).

@paytufo 4 года назад

@@AlexVenz Thank you!!

@tommac5411 4 года назад

A tankless hot water heater would also be more efficient for gas usage.

@Chris-ie9os 4 года назад

And wouldn't come even close to working off-grid since they require >15kW and he only has ~10kW. A Heat Pump Water Heater is the way to go.

@idarekorval8077 4 года назад

@@Chris-ie9os Would this work since it's adjustable?: myheatworks.com/products/model-3-water-heater

@ronaldgarrison8478 4 года назад

Definitely the kind of problems you want to have.

@prabhdeepdhaliwal5706 4 года назад

🧐

@casen2007 3 года назад

How large is your solar system and home? If you don’t mind me asking.

@AlexVenz 3 года назад

I have 8.9kW of panels on the roof and the house is 3000 square feet.

@vegasmotoventure2340 4 года назад

How much the 2 power wall cost??

@helives2630 3 года назад

$13,000. For the first, $11,000. For the second.

@CrazyNickOO7 4 года назад

Great video! As a utility engineer I enjoyed your segment regarding the AC clocks and frequency. I was curious how that was going to happen when the powerwalls increase the freq to cut the inverters. Is there a way you have them community better though? Last year I was on a team who engineered a 3.5MW utility scale solar farm and we used some independent relays and a direct transfer trip system to shut off the inverters as we didn’t want to rely on the inverters built in freq cut off system

@PremiumElectric 4 года назад

I LOVE my powerwall. Only have 1. It does enough if I’m frugel. But, I would love to have 2 or even 3 or 4. But, that gets crazy expensive for little gain. I’m also wondering what future versions of powerwall may come. I may add later. I have a 6.2 Kw solar. Fairly small house. Only 1 EV Model 3 long range. Even in winter my setup covers usage. Even cloudy or rainy days are generating. This summer will be my first summer and I’m expecting awesome generation.

@antoniocepaj7544 4 года назад

how much snow do you have in winter, and how do you clean solar panels in order for them to charge powerwall? If you don't mind me asking how small your house is(Square meter)?

@batandball617 4 года назад

Just wait until the virtual grid, autodialer and the 1 MM Batteries are released.

@KJSvitko 4 года назад

Having solar panels with battery storage is a great option for more self sufficiency. Solar energy and a vegetable garden in the yard may become more common in the future. Something to think about. Next - planting a fruit tree in the yard. Stay safe, keep social distancing.

@__SKYNET__ 2 года назад

having pressurized hot water and operating sewer is more important

@TheDrjehr 3 года назад

Great vid! 🙏 Thank you!! Yes, this is something I would love to be able to do. Despite living smack in the middle of the Sunshine State, our local utility generates almost all its power from coal. Need I say more? As a retired, disabled senior citizen, I don’t generate enough income to benefit greatly from tax credits for the installation of the whole system, so I’m planning on re-watching your video to figure out exactly what we would need to get off the grid while still having 21st century power needs fulfilled.

@travisr70 4 года назад

Great info. Thanks

@mts982 4 года назад

You should try to go ALL electric: heating/cooling/hot water, etc.

@AlexVenz 4 года назад

I do intend to slowly switch this house away from natural gas over time, but it'll happen as devices fail. The second house, however, will be 100% electric ( ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-byMASDWsMVo.html ). Unfortunately, the current COVID-19 situation has stalled the second house project.

@NoOne-jy6mc 4 года назад

@@AlexVenz If you haven't yet started on that house yet, may I suggest that California is not a good location to plan a hunker down off-grid house, because it is prone to future earthquakes and tsunami flooding. I would recommend a second safe off-grid house to be located further inland, like Colarado or something of a high elevation above sea level, away from major fault lines, and with a natural water source on the property such as a creek, reservoir, spring, bore well, etc. Best of luck, if you have already started building though.

@JRo250 4 года назад

Regarding the fast clock, there are inverters out there that count the cycles that it operates above 60 Hz (US) and then reduces the frequency by an equal amount to compensate. The end result is that AC frequency-based clocks remain in time. Unless there's a costly patent involved, perhaps Tesla/SolarEdge could add that feature.

@The3DCOMPANIONS 2 года назад

Your have a most favourable existance. Good luck to you. The majority of the world will never be able live like you..

@SanaagSomaliland Год назад

There is a service call SparkCharge that could come to your rescue and charge up your batteries in case you ran out of power.

@t-rocket6381 3 года назад

Good video….weird jackets…but good video

@jldossey45 3 года назад

I use very little electricity in Cincinnati Ohio. My heat is natural gas and only needs a flicker of electricity to LIGHT the furnace. IF I had unlimited FUNDS I would have installed the bigger and better system with a super amount of storage bateries. BUT the batteries were about 60% of the cost. But I had an option to STORE my excess energy on the grid and use it when I needed it. Time will tell. I wonder how many people install a system without the storage battery and use the grid for storage.

@relaxunwind810 4 года назад

I have a 1400 sq. foot house in Los Angeles. I spoke to someone with similiar size in San Diego and their 1 powerwall is all that is needed. Do you have a bigger house? Where do you live? What helped you with the decision to get 2?

@AlexVenz 4 года назад

My house is about 3000sq.ft. in the desert to the East of LA (I also have 2 EVs to charge). I ended up with 2 Powerwalls because that's how many I was awarded through Tesla's old referral program. If I were buying Powerwalls, I'd still probably go with two since it's the minimum number required for whole house backup in a house like mine due to the power output limitations of the Powerwall's integrated bi-directional inverter (5kW continuous, 7kW peak per Powerwall). Also, this experiment would not have been possible, at least not in the 'change almost nothing about our lives' sort of way, in a house like mine with only the 13.5kWh of energy storage that a single Powerwall provides.

@ve7lee1 3 года назад

I have a similar set up to you. Fiat 500E and Soul EV. Should have the PW's install by Spring 2021. I will run the same test to see my results. Plus emergency radio equipment too.

@musicbox4022 2 года назад

Great Video! In a real end days scenario - you need to shut off your natural gas and city water. In a real scenario, you need a water well for domestic water, electric hot water heater, and electric heat. Also, it would be ideal to hack the Tesla main battery to use its battery for the house in a pinch (like having another power wall). I believe in this real dooms day scenario, you’d need more panels.

@musicbox4022 2 года назад

To truly go “off grid” you must unhook natural gas, water, sewer, and yes.. electric.

@razony 4 года назад

You want to charge your Tesla Power walls in the End of Times? So your giving up the NFL package of a life time? Get your priorities straight man!

@TheRTM 3 года назад

Doesn’t it void your Tesla Power Wall’s warranty to intentionally go off grid for an extended period of time?

@jabulaniharvey 2 года назад

wow! that looks like two Powerwalls is optimum

@dirtdiver2389 Месяц назад

Probably not in the summer.

@ashforkdan 2 года назад

Add two more batteries

@alokcs06 3 года назад

Subscribed! your video quality/skills are awesome! Good luck

@biskero 4 года назад

does anyone know how big is a Powewall software update? how many Mbytes, usually ?

@Stone815 3 года назад

I use the Tesla charger is that charger better?

@AlexVenz 3 года назад

Not necessarily better, but different. Tesla has since updated their software to allow for some control over charging during off-grid operation.

@SillyOne90 4 года назад

Hey Alex, thanks for the video. This helped me a lot because I am purchasing 2 powerwall and a "large" solar array from Tesla, being installed in 10 days. I was curious if you could tell me besides charging your car, what else do you use daily? Besides the common stuff like lights, stove, water heater...do you run the AC/heater daily? Do you have a pool with pump, how many TV's/computers do you have running normally? Extra freezer? My system is a 11.34kw (36 panels) but they are projecting it to produce 19.1kw hours a year so I should be plenty fine but I am having a pool installed and we charge our golf cart and possibly a future Tesla Car.

@AlexVenz 4 года назад

The house's heating system was running frequently during the off-grid period and we didn't change anything with our usual half dozen or so computers, projector room, etc. (we don't have a pool). However, some context is important: most modern household devices like computers, TVs, efficient chest freezers, etc. aren't significant loads--even our kitchen refrigerator uses less than 2kWh per day (

@BC-hc5dq 3 года назад

And the biggest 🤓nerd on the West coast goes to....

@Yallquietendown 4 года назад

Is it possible to have an analog system in case there’s an EMP ? 🤣

@AlexVenz 4 года назад

Doesn't have to be digital to be damaged if the transient induces a high enough voltage to reach diode/transistor breakdown.

@joetripp123 4 года назад

House Range Anxiety - LOL. Great video Alex. I wouldn't believe 2 powerwalls would be enough. With powerwalls usually not tied into the whole house wiring what kinds of things did you have to do without if any? You've mentioned the Powerwalls going into that higher frequency before. I hope Tesla has a better way of suppressing the inverters in the future.

@AlexVenz 4 года назад

Two Powerwalls are sufficient to provide whole house backup for most houses, as is the case with my setup. You do still have to contend with the 10kW continuous limit that comes as the result of only having 2 Powerwalls, but that's pretty easy to work around. Everything in the house works when on backup power, we just have to be mindful of when we use the car chargers, what max power the chargers are set for, not firing up both electric ovens in the kitchen at the same time--simple things like that.

@qamarmood1157 2 года назад

@@AlexVenz can it run your heat unit and ac?

@AlexVenz 2 года назад

@@qamarmood1157 Yes

@dmac2890 4 года назад

Is the cost on the Tesla website accurate? or are there hidden costs?

@AlexVenz 4 года назад

As it specifically relates to the Powerwalls, there aren't really any hidden costs. You will have to pay for installation and permitting, the cost of which can vary quite a bit. In my case, the total installation cost was about $2500 with an additional $500 in permitting, but I also had a $1000 installation credit from Tesla as part of the referral program award which brought that installation cost down to $1500 + $500 in permitting.

@jamesellis4899 4 года назад

Aside with opense car charger crazy codes this is great video-

@AlexVenz 4 года назад

I was debating whether I should include that part, but I had several people ask me how I was limiting the energy delivered to the Model S at night and how I was fine tuning the value. It was a critical part of accommodating nighttime charging.