Powerwall Operations During A Utility Outage

If you face a grid outage, solar, and Powerwall automatically become your home’s main energy source. You will be notified on your App, with a push notification, when outages occur. 

Each Powerwall can provide up to 5 kW of continuous power. You can back up any number of appliances, so long as their combined power usage does not exceed the total power rating of your Powerwalls. The best way to extend your usage of Powerwall during a utility grid outage is to monitor your use of energy-intensive appliances like air conditioners, EV chargers, or dryers.

 

In some cases, due to electrical codes and existing electrical conditions, we must install systems to provide whole-house backup.  If this is done, we recommend during outages to turn-off the circuits that feed appliances that will quickly drain your battery or cause it to shut-off due to overloading its power capacity.  

If your home is wired for whole-home backup, we recommend you turn off any circuits that are feeding high usage appliances during an outage:

The following examples may apply:

• Level 2 and above EV car charging
• Electric ovens/range
• Electric dryer
• Electric floor and space heating 
• Electric water heater (exception for Heat Pump water heater)
• Air Conditioner (unless variable speed heat pump or slow-start control installed)
• Pond/fountain/pool pumps
• Sauna
• Air compressor
• Well pump
• Water pressure pump (if possible) 

In the event that you use more power than your Powerwall can handle during an outage, the Powerwall will turn off (trip).  If this occurs, please review all the appliances that were on in the home and turn-off anything that may be using a high amount of energy.  You may then need to toggle your on-off switch on the Powerwall and your system should turn back on.  Please reference the troubleshooting guide in your User Manual to perform this toggle or see here:

https://swellenergy.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360001304727-Troubleshooting-Tesla-Powerwall-

STORM WATCH

When a storm or severe weather is on the horizon, increasing the likelihood of a utility power outage, Powerwall triggers Storm Watch. This mode automatically charges Powerwall to maximum capacity so it can provide backup power. The Tesla app sends a notification that Powerwall has activated Storm Watch. The mode remains active until the weather event ends, at which time the system returns to its previously selected mode. It is possible to disable this mode by going to the Tesla app, selecting ‘Customize’ and then ‘Storm Watch.’

MONITORING FROM YOUR HOME NETWORK

If you lose connectivity to the Tesla app, you can monitor your Powerwall power flow and charge level through the Gateway. If your system is already connected to your home network with a wireless or a wired connection, you can navigate to the Powerwall Wizard landing page from a standard web browser.

Launch a browser using any device connected to your home network.

Enter https://teg-xxx, where xxx is the last 3 digits of the Gateway serial number.

If your system is not connected to your home network, you can connect to the Wi-Fi network hosted by the Gateway.

Using a Wi-Fi capable computer, tablet, or phone, connect to the Gateway Wi-Fi network, which appears as “TEG-xxx,” where xxx is the last 3 digits of the Gateway serial number.

Wi-Fi Password: Enter the full serial number of the Gateway. If the serial number starts with an “S,” enter the full serial number of the Gateway as it appears on the serial number sticker (without parentheses or colon). If the serial number does not start with an “S,” enter an uppercase “S” and follow with the full serial number of the Gateway as it appears on the serial number sticker.

Launch a browser and enter https://teg-xxx, where xxx is the last 3 digits of the Gateway serial number.

NOTE: If the connection to the Gateway fails repeatedly, try clearing the browser cache, deleting cookies, and relaunching the browser before connecting. When you first connect, you may see a privacy warning, which only indicates that the browser does not recognize the Gateway certificate. It is safe to click through this warning and proceed with the connection to the Gateway.

The serial number of the Gateway is located on the inside of the Gateway door.