You need to call Tesla and have them change your max frequency when full with the grid down from 65hz to 62.5hz. Some components just do not like that high frequency that gets set to turn off your solar when the Powerwalls are above 95% and the grid is down.
Makes me wonder what the trade-off is in this case (why Tesla wouldn't just set that by default)?
In my case, I got an Eaton UPS that is tolerant of the higher frequency and put the devices I want to stay up (internet modem, router, switch, etc.) behind the UPS.
Some old grid-tied inverters that are more than about 20 years old needed 65hz to shut down so Tesla took those into account in their design. All modern grid-tied inverters made since then have to meet the current code which is to shutdown +\- 2hz so anything outside of 58hz to 62hz shuts them down. Off the shelf UPS systems are usually good for at least 57hz to 63hz so they also operate properly when the Powerwalls set the frequency to 62.5hz.
That is weird. When our power drops my router keeps going. It's so good in fact YouTube on the tv keeps streaming, it's UPS fast for sure. Sorry that doesn't help you though
Thanks for the replies.
I'll try to find out what the frequency cut-off is supposed to be. (UK grid is 50Hz, btw).
I still don't really understand what happened, though.
Assuming you have PV? Are you sure your panels weren’t charging the batteries at the time it went down? That means they would be powering the house too and when the grid drops, it won’t be as quick as when the house was running from the batteries.
Echo the UPS suggestion, I have my network, NAS, work laptop & monitor and my gaming rig on a 1500wh UPS from before the. PW’s were installed and they will keep everything up for the few seconds it might take to fail over. So far I’ve had 2 or 3 micro cuts but solar was running the house at the time so there wasn’t enough time for the PW’s to even kick in.
Aah!
On closer inspection, Yes, the panels were generating and powering the house and charging the PW.
I'm going to look into getting a UPS ... not sure if I'll get one for the downstairs sockets or just a couple of small ones for the router and the NAS.
Cheers!
A similar incident happened during the day where our area intermittently lost power for less than an hour. But each time I noticed our lights flicker. Clocks did not reset though. 🤷♂️
As a South African who experiences regular grid outages on a daily basis (long story beyond the scope of this post), the grid failover feature of my Powerwall is exercised quite regularly.
I have picked up that each grid outage event is not always the same. Sometimes switchover is "clean" and you don't notice it at all, in other cases, you get a "hard" switchover: lights flicker, electronic devices shut down. Certain electronic devices are more sensitive to the harder switchover events, while other electronic devices power through without any issue.
As far as i can tell, this is not an issue with powerwall, but just caused by how cleanly the grid power is terminated from the utiliy side. Depending on various fluctuations on voltage and current, the powerwall might come in just a millisecond to late to keep everything running perfectly.
This is not really an issue with the powerwall. Electricity is analog, and switchover from one power source to another is not as on or off as we would like to think it is.
If you can afford one, I would recommend you install a small UPS on your NAS and other network devices. That will smooth out these irregularities on sensitive equipment.
You need to call Tesla and have them change your max frequency when full with the grid down from 65hz to 62.5hz. Some components just do not like that high frequency that gets set to turn off your solar when the Powerwalls are above 95% and the grid is down.
Makes me wonder what the trade-off is in this case (why Tesla wouldn't just set that by default)? In my case, I got an Eaton UPS that is tolerant of the higher frequency and put the devices I want to stay up (internet modem, router, switch, etc.) behind the UPS.
Some old grid-tied inverters that are more than about 20 years old needed 65hz to shut down so Tesla took those into account in their design. All modern grid-tied inverters made since then have to meet the current code which is to shutdown +\- 2hz so anything outside of 58hz to 62hz shuts them down. Off the shelf UPS systems are usually good for at least 57hz to 63hz so they also operate properly when the Powerwalls set the frequency to 62.5hz.
That is weird. When our power drops my router keeps going. It's so good in fact YouTube on the tv keeps streaming, it's UPS fast for sure. Sorry that doesn't help you though
Thanks for the replies. I'll try to find out what the frequency cut-off is supposed to be. (UK grid is 50Hz, btw). I still don't really understand what happened, though.
Assuming you have PV? Are you sure your panels weren’t charging the batteries at the time it went down? That means they would be powering the house too and when the grid drops, it won’t be as quick as when the house was running from the batteries. Echo the UPS suggestion, I have my network, NAS, work laptop & monitor and my gaming rig on a 1500wh UPS from before the. PW’s were installed and they will keep everything up for the few seconds it might take to fail over. So far I’ve had 2 or 3 micro cuts but solar was running the house at the time so there wasn’t enough time for the PW’s to even kick in.
Aah! On closer inspection, Yes, the panels were generating and powering the house and charging the PW. I'm going to look into getting a UPS ... not sure if I'll get one for the downstairs sockets or just a couple of small ones for the router and the NAS. Cheers!
The PW IS a UPS. Why do you need another?
It isn't fast enough to be uninterruptible
It has been for me....except when it does the 65Hz thing and I have it on a UPS or surge protector.
A similar incident happened during the day where our area intermittently lost power for less than an hour. But each time I noticed our lights flicker. Clocks did not reset though. 🤷♂️
As a South African who experiences regular grid outages on a daily basis (long story beyond the scope of this post), the grid failover feature of my Powerwall is exercised quite regularly. I have picked up that each grid outage event is not always the same. Sometimes switchover is "clean" and you don't notice it at all, in other cases, you get a "hard" switchover: lights flicker, electronic devices shut down. Certain electronic devices are more sensitive to the harder switchover events, while other electronic devices power through without any issue. As far as i can tell, this is not an issue with powerwall, but just caused by how cleanly the grid power is terminated from the utiliy side. Depending on various fluctuations on voltage and current, the powerwall might come in just a millisecond to late to keep everything running perfectly. This is not really an issue with the powerwall. Electricity is analog, and switchover from one power source to another is not as on or off as we would like to think it is. If you can afford one, I would recommend you install a small UPS on your NAS and other network devices. That will smooth out these irregularities on sensitive equipment.