https://photos.google.com/album/AF1QipMnz-GWvdVQr5h0ydePEY98Zf08mgM0KQ7-yRFZ
https://photos.app.goo.gl/UUxRuYNTcxWFw8Ut8
First two photos:
The "North Yard Rail"; house meter. Rail has room for 28 panels. My immediate goal is to install and get working 14 panels. These 14 panels are from the recent shipment of 60. I've completed about 80 feet of trenching to bring the power connection to the rail. 6 of the 14 panels are in place.
Next three photos:
The "Two Faced Rail Prototype"; pool/barn/guesthouse meter. Single joint of pipe will hold 10 east facing and 10 west facing panels. Panels also from recent shipment. 3rd photo has well, which will be be power connection point, in the background. Zoom in for enough resolution to see the well. Photos show the first pair of panels in place. Holes are drilled near the tops of the panel framing so that pairs of panels can be wired to each other, the adjacent pair of panels, and to the rail. At this time, I'm using repurposed salvage 12 or 14 gauge copper from romex cable. I hope that single panels can be propped up to facilitate access to rear of panels.
Last three photos:
The two rail powered from well project; also pool/barn/guesthouse meter. The first 14 panels shown have been operational for several weeks. The pool and guest house are shown in background of the first two photos. The markers near the panels are the well and the well power. 3rd photo is intended to show the Two Faced Rail Prototype in the distant background. Visible only if you zoom in. At the time of the photo, two pairs of panels are in place. The vertical PVC pipe marks the swimming pool drain outlet. This area was first intended to host two 28 panel rails with the hope that only 28 panels at a time would produce significant power. If the Two Faced Rail concept works well, I'll probably change that pair of rails to a single Two Faced Rail.
The Two Faced Rail shows promise of holding panels at a steeper angle and holding them more securely. The steeper angle is desirable to maximize early and late day production and, therefore, better share the limited wiring resources. The draw back of the Two Faced Rail is limited and difficult access to the backs of panels to confirm functioning. With a single rail, I can use a golf cart to drive behind the panels and check functioning with a clamp on DC amp meter.
The single pipe joint Two Faced Rail Prototype, with 20 panels, can likely deal with produced power as a single string even though the panel limit on the 12 gauge drop cable is 17. This is due to only 10 panels at a time having maximum production. My "standard" 3 joint rail feeds two 14 panel strings from the center of the rail.
The next Two Faced Rail, not yet under construction, with two pipe joints and 36 panels might work with one run of drop cable that has power connected on both ends. That is, in a "U" configuration.
The pool/barn/guesthouse meter has the same type of service problem that is present at the house. At times, I'm trying to push over 20kw into the grid through a 15kva (15kw) transformer. Voltages rise. Inverters shutdown. Energy is lost.
Sunday, 6/23/19
I'm in the process of populating the Two Faced Rail. It is working out extremely well! But much slower than with a single face rail. It is much like closing a zipper in slow motion. VERY slow motion. Put two panels near their home place. Drill four holes, both sides of one end of both panels. Thread ~14 gauge copper wire through holes in previously placed panels. Thread two wire ends through new panel holes while sliding new panels to the older ones. Wrap a length of stiff 12 gauge steel wire around the rail so one end hangs down; push looped wire near the center of the new panels. Plug two inverters into the drop cable and the panel wires. Crawl under the two new panels and cinch down the copper wire holding four panels together and to the rail. Hang the two inverters from the steel wire and bend so inverters are 1+ foot above the ground. Crawl out from under panels. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.
So far, I have about 10 or 12 panels producing and hope to do the other 8-10 this afternoon.
I'll configure a loop of single conductor AC wire at the power end of the drop cable so I can measure current/power. Maybe put a plug receptacle at the other end of the drop cable so I can plug in an AC voltmeter.
7/11/19
Perhaps an update?
The "north yard rail" has been complete for some time. 14 panels have been installed and are producing. That is half the rail; there is space for a 14 more panels. On the house meter, I have a pretty severe service capacity insufficiency. Adding more panels gives more production only early and late in the day; mid-day production is capped at around 15kw. So, I will install more panels only when I get more service capacity; that is, a larger transformer.
The "TwoFaced Rail Prototype" has also been in full production for several weeks. 10 panels faced east and 10 face west, both at about 45 deg. I have the same capacity problem on that bigbarn/guesthouse/pool meter. Adding panels gives additional production only early and late in the day with a mid-day cap of about 15kw. So, no more panels on that meter either until capacity is increased.
The next TwoFaced Rail is complete "across the road". This successor to the prototype has a steeper slope; near 60 deg. Today, I start to install panels. I expect that rail of more steeply sloping panels, 18 east facing and 18 west facing, may hit my capacity limit on that 3rd meter. That will put a total of 77 panels on the meter. About 18kw on the 15kw transformer. Plans are for a second parallel rail also supporting 36 panels. Since the TwoFaced Rails are intended to give early and late production at the expense of mid-day production, I may find I can use that 2nd rail. Both rails, if completed, would give total rated power of about 27kw.
If my utility upgrades all three transformers, I should be able to eventually more than double my production on all three meters.
7/13/19
Some photos
https://photos.app.goo.gl/zHSQb55p67wGeCtQ6
First four photos are of the 2nd generation TwoFaced Rail. Two joints of pipe should hold 36 panels; 12 are in place and producing. Rail height is about 5' giving steeper panel angle than the prototype. Rail is supported by three posts.
First photo: labor housing RV trailer is just to the left of the power pole. Old barn just beyond the power pole which holds a 15kva transformer. "Party Shed" is in the distance. "RV Building" on right. Sprinter van is used to haul two pallets of panels per load. 6 gauge wire is trenched in from power pole, across the gravel road, to the rail. The 6 gauge wire supplies a breaker box under the rail which will be used to supply a second rail parallel to the first.
Perhaps interestingly, the length of drop cable, with 36 drops, is powered from both ends. I should not be getting max power from both east and west facing panels at the same time but, even when only one side is producing, 18 panels is too long, slightly, a string for the 12 gauge wire in the drop cable. I have hope that powering both ends will allow everything to work under all conditions.
A note on siting. My first intention was to place the rail in better sun near the distant fence in 2nd photo. I have old unused 10 gauge wire trenched in to that fence, placed ~15 years ago when I buried the high voltage fence charging wire. But Ray Menke properly prohibited me from putting the rail there because it is in the spillway for the tank that is just off to the left of the first photo. Then, I decided to use the water well electric supply; the well is shown near the center of the first photo. That wire path would cross the electric supply line to the RV Building. I located that line so that wasn't a big consideration. But, I finally decided to cross the gravel road with my trench and directly access the service panel. An unobstructed path and I plowed the entire length with my chisel plow. The site is less than ideal in that the RV building will give some morning shade to part of the rail and the tree is likely to give some winter shade to the south end of the rail. Trade offs and engineering judgments.
Last three photos are of TwoFaced Rail Prototype. One joint of pipe with a short extension holds 20 panels. Rail height is about 4.5'. Rail is supported by two posts.
Fourth photo: Guest house to far left. 6 panel, two post mount just in front of the concrete ring pool which is in front of "pool building". Near center, a 15kva transformer on a steel pole. South end view of rail. To the far right is a water well which is used to make to rail grid connection. 10 gauge wire is being trenched in from the well to the north end of the rail.
Saturday, June 22, 2019
Sunday, June 16, 2019
Hanging Together
Longhorns, Cattle Egrets, and Turkey. It is the Turkey that is unusual to find associating with the other two.
You will likely have to access the higher resolutions to see the Turkey.
6/25/19
It looks like it is time for me to give up trying to get photos posted. They are hung up in my phone and not uploading to cloud.
Anyway, just use your imagination. I believe the wild Turkeys just happened to be in the same area as the Longhorns at the time I went by; that is, I don't believe they were socializing as the egrets and cattle do. I do see a flock of turkeys almost every time I go to that area. Sometimes, you will see an egret riding on the back of a cow. Presumably picking off ticks or other insects.
This is the first year I've noticed multiple turkey males/gobblers in one flock. They are easy to identify because they spread their tail feathers.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cattle_egret
It is interesting to note that the spread of Cattle Egrets across the globe is fairly recent. I believe Cattle Egrets are near the most wide spread of species.
You will likely have to access the higher resolutions to see the Turkey.
6/25/19
It looks like it is time for me to give up trying to get photos posted. They are hung up in my phone and not uploading to cloud.
Anyway, just use your imagination. I believe the wild Turkeys just happened to be in the same area as the Longhorns at the time I went by; that is, I don't believe they were socializing as the egrets and cattle do. I do see a flock of turkeys almost every time I go to that area. Sometimes, you will see an egret riding on the back of a cow. Presumably picking off ticks or other insects.
This is the first year I've noticed multiple turkey males/gobblers in one flock. They are easy to identify because they spread their tail feathers.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cattle_egret
It is interesting to note that the spread of Cattle Egrets across the globe is fairly recent. I believe Cattle Egrets are near the most wide spread of species.
Sunday, June 9, 2019
PV reflections and commentary
I've settled in on standard "hitching rails" of three joints of 33' oil field pipe. Though I have several shorter rails installed, I consider ~100' to be my "standard". Those rails support 28 panels each. Total cost, excluding labor, is about $3k/rail. Rated capacity is just under 7kw. I would be pleased to find that I'm averaging 25kwh per day. If BlueBonnet continues to pay me $.06+ /kwh, that would be $1.50/day, $45/month, $500+ per year. I've estimated pay back periods as low as 4 years. The above indicates 6 years. Time will tell. Clearly, I'm no where near that right now. An estimated 31kw worth of production capacity is yielding less than $100/month. One lives on hope.
HOUSE
Today, I took inventory of panels supplying my house electric meter. I am overloading my level of electric service but have high hopes of a resolution in the next month or so. The effect of trying to push more power than the service will accept is rising voltage on my side of the transformer which, in turn, causes inverters to shut down, losing power that might otherwise be delivered/sold. My current transformer is a 15kva which places my production limit at about 15kw though I start seeing inverter shut downs as low as 10kw. I have hope of getting a 37.5kva transformer with lower static voltage, my request is for 230 volts. Current "static", no production, voltage is 245-248. Inverters seem to shut down at 260-262 volts.
So, here is what I have now:
1) 26 300w roof top panels on a single string inverter. Though there is about 8kw in panels, the inverter is 5kw. That is, power is limited to about 5kw. Being very near my service entrance, this inverter almost never shuts down. All my other panels are on micro inverters, one inverter for each panel.
2) My ground mount additions in the south yard: 30 240-245w panels.
3) Four rails in the "south field", two east facing and two west facing. All panels are about 245w. The west most two rails are east facing, 25 and 26 panels with space for 2 more. The east most two rails face west, 21 and 1 panels with space for 7 plus 27 more. I have suspended additions in this area due to inverter shut downs.
4) Newly planned and under construction in the north yard: one rail with space for 28 panels. It will be about 100 unobstructed feet from an existing ~6kw wire.
It looks like my total panel count is currently 129 panels with space and planned space for 64 more. Right now, my production capacity is about 31kw. Due I hope mostly due to lack of service, I never see much more than 15kw with typical being 10-12kw for a few hours after noon. Under good conditions, I hope to see my production capacity rise to about 45kw.
As a cost saving strategy, I have been installing PV at locations that are already close to 240vac wiring. The ~15kw worth of wiring in the "new garage", I installed about 35 years ago mainly to supply a welder and a well. In other locations on another meter, I am putting rails in near water wells and using the well supply wire.
I read "somewhere" that panel pointing did not make a great deal of difference in total year round energy production. Any not much shaded site with pointing from due east to straight up to due west should produce within about 90% of optimal. Tradition has it that panels should point about south with a 20-30 deg tilt. With more cloudy mornings than cloudy afternoons, pointing a bit west of south might be a bit better than due south pointing. I took that "pointing is not very important" to heart and started installing both east and west facing panels for a couple of reasons:
1) Avoiding ANY grid consumption by using battery power at night makes both early day and late day production attractive.
2) With wiring restricting my peak power I can produce more total energy by having some panels produce better early in the day and some later in the day.
In the midst of construction, I am running through supplies far faster than I envisioned. I bought about 48 33' joints of salvaged oil field pipe from which to construct rails. I am now down to less than 15 joints and am shopping for another batch. I use old metal roofing between the ground and the panels that rest on the ground. That is to make keeping the weeds a bay easier. I am near out of old roofing material and seeking more sources. I've exhausted my supply of 10 gauge romex wire which feeds rails. I'll need to go buy more next week. All in stock panels are in place and producing. 60 more are in the delivery pipeline. I recently received drop cable for 240 panels; that should be a lifetime supply. I have only 48 inverters in stock so I will soon need to buy more.
BIG BARN / POOL
Only micro inverters in this area. This meter has 39 ~260w panels on a roof top, 13 rail panels under the eave of the roof, and two rails recently added at a greehouse site. Each, rail has 17 panels. An older 6 panel on two post install is adjacent to the pool. I am in the middle of installing two rails at a well site about 200' south of the pool. One rail is complete, east facing, and half populated with 14 panels.
Total PV on this meter is about 106 panels and about 20kw. 14 more panels will be added as soon as panels are available. I am not monitoring this power as closely as at the house. There is no power wall and no Curb energy monitor. All the monitoring is via the Enphase online system. I recently noticed I have a 15kva transformer for that meter so it is likely that I am experiencing inverter shut downs that I have not noticed. Though the both east and west facing panels may be minimizing those shut downs. I need to pay closer attention.
6/26/19
I have completed a 20 panel "Two Faced Rail" as discussed in comments. Location is about 150 feet south of the "PV Shed" which supports 39 roof top panels. Power connection is old water well. I'm highly pleased with the first TwoFaced Rail. Access is difficult but panels are at a steeper angle (about 45 deg) and are better secured. I am about to start construction of a 38 panel TwoFaced Rail "across the road" near "RV building". That electric service meter has not had PV additions in 5+ years.
On the house meter, the "North Yard" rail is complete and populated with 14 producing panels. The other 14 panels will not be added until/if my service power issue is resolved.
HOUSE
Today, I took inventory of panels supplying my house electric meter. I am overloading my level of electric service but have high hopes of a resolution in the next month or so. The effect of trying to push more power than the service will accept is rising voltage on my side of the transformer which, in turn, causes inverters to shut down, losing power that might otherwise be delivered/sold. My current transformer is a 15kva which places my production limit at about 15kw though I start seeing inverter shut downs as low as 10kw. I have hope of getting a 37.5kva transformer with lower static voltage, my request is for 230 volts. Current "static", no production, voltage is 245-248. Inverters seem to shut down at 260-262 volts.
So, here is what I have now:
1) 26 300w roof top panels on a single string inverter. Though there is about 8kw in panels, the inverter is 5kw. That is, power is limited to about 5kw. Being very near my service entrance, this inverter almost never shuts down. All my other panels are on micro inverters, one inverter for each panel.
2) My ground mount additions in the south yard: 30 240-245w panels.
3) Four rails in the "south field", two east facing and two west facing. All panels are about 245w. The west most two rails are east facing, 25 and 26 panels with space for 2 more. The east most two rails face west, 21 and 1 panels with space for 7 plus 27 more. I have suspended additions in this area due to inverter shut downs.
4) Newly planned and under construction in the north yard: one rail with space for 28 panels. It will be about 100 unobstructed feet from an existing ~6kw wire.
It looks like my total panel count is currently 129 panels with space and planned space for 64 more. Right now, my production capacity is about 31kw. Due I hope mostly due to lack of service, I never see much more than 15kw with typical being 10-12kw for a few hours after noon. Under good conditions, I hope to see my production capacity rise to about 45kw.
As a cost saving strategy, I have been installing PV at locations that are already close to 240vac wiring. The ~15kw worth of wiring in the "new garage", I installed about 35 years ago mainly to supply a welder and a well. In other locations on another meter, I am putting rails in near water wells and using the well supply wire.
I read "somewhere" that panel pointing did not make a great deal of difference in total year round energy production. Any not much shaded site with pointing from due east to straight up to due west should produce within about 90% of optimal. Tradition has it that panels should point about south with a 20-30 deg tilt. With more cloudy mornings than cloudy afternoons, pointing a bit west of south might be a bit better than due south pointing. I took that "pointing is not very important" to heart and started installing both east and west facing panels for a couple of reasons:
1) Avoiding ANY grid consumption by using battery power at night makes both early day and late day production attractive.
2) With wiring restricting my peak power I can produce more total energy by having some panels produce better early in the day and some later in the day.
In the midst of construction, I am running through supplies far faster than I envisioned. I bought about 48 33' joints of salvaged oil field pipe from which to construct rails. I am now down to less than 15 joints and am shopping for another batch. I use old metal roofing between the ground and the panels that rest on the ground. That is to make keeping the weeds a bay easier. I am near out of old roofing material and seeking more sources. I've exhausted my supply of 10 gauge romex wire which feeds rails. I'll need to go buy more next week. All in stock panels are in place and producing. 60 more are in the delivery pipeline. I recently received drop cable for 240 panels; that should be a lifetime supply. I have only 48 inverters in stock so I will soon need to buy more.
BIG BARN / POOL
Only micro inverters in this area. This meter has 39 ~260w panels on a roof top, 13 rail panels under the eave of the roof, and two rails recently added at a greehouse site. Each, rail has 17 panels. An older 6 panel on two post install is adjacent to the pool. I am in the middle of installing two rails at a well site about 200' south of the pool. One rail is complete, east facing, and half populated with 14 panels.
Total PV on this meter is about 106 panels and about 20kw. 14 more panels will be added as soon as panels are available. I am not monitoring this power as closely as at the house. There is no power wall and no Curb energy monitor. All the monitoring is via the Enphase online system. I recently noticed I have a 15kva transformer for that meter so it is likely that I am experiencing inverter shut downs that I have not noticed. Though the both east and west facing panels may be minimizing those shut downs. I need to pay closer attention.
6/26/19
I have completed a 20 panel "Two Faced Rail" as discussed in comments. Location is about 150 feet south of the "PV Shed" which supports 39 roof top panels. Power connection is old water well. I'm highly pleased with the first TwoFaced Rail. Access is difficult but panels are at a steeper angle (about 45 deg) and are better secured. I am about to start construction of a 38 panel TwoFaced Rail "across the road" near "RV building". That electric service meter has not had PV additions in 5+ years.
On the house meter, the "North Yard" rail is complete and populated with 14 producing panels. The other 14 panels will not be added until/if my service power issue is resolved.
Sunday, June 2, 2019
Screwed by Tesla
I've been surprised by the extremely poor service and customer support coming out of Tesla Energy. That is MUCH in contrast to Tesla Motors.
I ordered a Power Wall shortly after they started taking reservations. That was about three years ago. I've had only minor response from Tesla to queries. After discovering that solar installers seemed to have better access to PowerWalls than individuals, I got one on order from a local installer. That was near a year ago. Within a few months, the PowerWall was installed. I still wait for Tesla to sell me the "reserved" unit.
I was completely blown away by the functionality of the PowerWall. For four months, I have been a very happy PowerWall customer. That is, except for one relatively minor detail: the Tesla Energy people have been unwilling to associate my PW with my Tesla account. That association is needed for control and monitoring through the Tesla smart phone app in the same way cars are monitored and controlled. I did figure out how to get local monitoring of my PW. That has been "good enough".
My installer contacted me a couple of weeks ago and made an appointment to come out and work on my PW. They said Tesla asked them to do that. The installer guy arrived and spent a couple of hours not telling me of what the perceived problem was. Multiple times, I asked if he wanted anything from me. "No". He spent much of his time on the phone with an unknown to me person. As he left, he informed me that my utility's meter was not working correctly. I was astonished and told him there was no apparent problem. My power/energy monitoring closely agreed with the utility's meter reading reporting. I reiterated that I had no complaint; I was completely satisfied with the system except for the lack of app control. He insisted that my meter was not working correctly.
A few hours after the installer left, I discovered my PW was badly screwed up. The four powers presented: house, grid, solar production, and battery made no sense. It took me a day to get a response from the installer. Meanwhile, I discovered that the PW would no longer supply battery power at night. Instead, it started drawing from the grid as the solar power disappeared at dusk. I was forced to physically disconnect from the grid to avoid using grid power.
The installer eventually told me that their guy had made no soft or hard configuration changes. Any changes came from Tesla remotely. I eventually extracted from the installer contact email for the Tesla guy that had requested the visit. That guy eventually responded that he thought he understood what had happened; he did not acknowledge remote reconfiguration. My demand was "put it back the way it was before you screwed it up".
With no further response from Tesla, my power numbers went back to being reasonable. But, the PW continues to try to pull grid power at night.
I have since figured out that the installer was confused because one of my two PV sources comes into my main breaker and is not monitored as "solar generation". At the time of the install, I explained the situation and told the installer that he could reroute the second source and treat it as he desired. He elected to leave it unmonitored as a source of power. The recent installer visit was made by an installer employee that did not know of or remember the two source configuration.
The most egregious aspect is that neither the installer nor Tesla sought any information from me. And Tesla failed to consult me before breaking my system. And Tesla has failed to consult me on remedies. My single response from Tesla has been "we think we know what happened" with no notification "we have attempted <this> fix".
I am about four or five days into this saga. Continuing to manually switch off grid at sundown and back on when solar production builds power about 10 am each day. I know how to do an "installer configuration" which I will attempt if Tesla does not straighten things out in a few days. But, I feel insecure that Tesla can and may come in at any time and screw things up. I need to explore ways to break Tesla's access to my PW.
Short story: the PowerWall is a SUPERIOR PRODUCT! Tesla Energy customer service/support could not be worse.
If someone knows how to reach competent people within Tesla Energy, please leave a comment.
6/5/19
Continued silence and inattention from Tesla forced me to attempt an "installer configuration" yesterday. That went well with only a few stumbling blocks. Last night was the first night where the PW battery automatically took over night time power supply. This sorry episode started last Wednesday, 5/29/19. So, a week of absolutely needless strife and stress due the the miserable Tesla Energy organization.
6/8/19
Here is a not especially productive thread I started on TMC:
https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/does-anyone-else-think-tesla-energy-is-trying-to-destroy-the-sterling-reputation-earned-by-tesamotor.154651/#post-3732843
6/14/19
Apparently most to all the PowerWall magic is off the shelf!
https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/building-my-own-pseudo-powerwall.154473/
I hope someone will put it all together commercially so that Tesla will have some competition.
I ordered a Power Wall shortly after they started taking reservations. That was about three years ago. I've had only minor response from Tesla to queries. After discovering that solar installers seemed to have better access to PowerWalls than individuals, I got one on order from a local installer. That was near a year ago. Within a few months, the PowerWall was installed. I still wait for Tesla to sell me the "reserved" unit.
I was completely blown away by the functionality of the PowerWall. For four months, I have been a very happy PowerWall customer. That is, except for one relatively minor detail: the Tesla Energy people have been unwilling to associate my PW with my Tesla account. That association is needed for control and monitoring through the Tesla smart phone app in the same way cars are monitored and controlled. I did figure out how to get local monitoring of my PW. That has been "good enough".
My installer contacted me a couple of weeks ago and made an appointment to come out and work on my PW. They said Tesla asked them to do that. The installer guy arrived and spent a couple of hours not telling me of what the perceived problem was. Multiple times, I asked if he wanted anything from me. "No". He spent much of his time on the phone with an unknown to me person. As he left, he informed me that my utility's meter was not working correctly. I was astonished and told him there was no apparent problem. My power/energy monitoring closely agreed with the utility's meter reading reporting. I reiterated that I had no complaint; I was completely satisfied with the system except for the lack of app control. He insisted that my meter was not working correctly.
A few hours after the installer left, I discovered my PW was badly screwed up. The four powers presented: house, grid, solar production, and battery made no sense. It took me a day to get a response from the installer. Meanwhile, I discovered that the PW would no longer supply battery power at night. Instead, it started drawing from the grid as the solar power disappeared at dusk. I was forced to physically disconnect from the grid to avoid using grid power.
The installer eventually told me that their guy had made no soft or hard configuration changes. Any changes came from Tesla remotely. I eventually extracted from the installer contact email for the Tesla guy that had requested the visit. That guy eventually responded that he thought he understood what had happened; he did not acknowledge remote reconfiguration. My demand was "put it back the way it was before you screwed it up".
With no further response from Tesla, my power numbers went back to being reasonable. But, the PW continues to try to pull grid power at night.
I have since figured out that the installer was confused because one of my two PV sources comes into my main breaker and is not monitored as "solar generation". At the time of the install, I explained the situation and told the installer that he could reroute the second source and treat it as he desired. He elected to leave it unmonitored as a source of power. The recent installer visit was made by an installer employee that did not know of or remember the two source configuration.
The most egregious aspect is that neither the installer nor Tesla sought any information from me. And Tesla failed to consult me before breaking my system. And Tesla has failed to consult me on remedies. My single response from Tesla has been "we think we know what happened" with no notification "we have attempted <this> fix".
I am about four or five days into this saga. Continuing to manually switch off grid at sundown and back on when solar production builds power about 10 am each day. I know how to do an "installer configuration" which I will attempt if Tesla does not straighten things out in a few days. But, I feel insecure that Tesla can and may come in at any time and screw things up. I need to explore ways to break Tesla's access to my PW.
Short story: the PowerWall is a SUPERIOR PRODUCT! Tesla Energy customer service/support could not be worse.
If someone knows how to reach competent people within Tesla Energy, please leave a comment.
6/5/19
Continued silence and inattention from Tesla forced me to attempt an "installer configuration" yesterday. That went well with only a few stumbling blocks. Last night was the first night where the PW battery automatically took over night time power supply. This sorry episode started last Wednesday, 5/29/19. So, a week of absolutely needless strife and stress due the the miserable Tesla Energy organization.
6/8/19
Here is a not especially productive thread I started on TMC:
https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/does-anyone-else-think-tesla-energy-is-trying-to-destroy-the-sterling-reputation-earned-by-tesamotor.154651/#post-3732843
6/14/19
Apparently most to all the PowerWall magic is off the shelf!
https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/building-my-own-pseudo-powerwall.154473/
I hope someone will put it all together commercially so that Tesla will have some competition.
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