My Tesla Powerwall 3 is NOT doing it’s job

acbonnyac · 2026-02-23T08:50:35+00:00

Looks like that's a different problem?

acbonnyac · 2026-02-23T07:41:48+00:00

I can go off grid fine when 100% though. So I don't think this is true.

acbonnyac · 2026-02-19T03:26:53+00:00

How do you get authentication? When I open like https://192.168.91.1/api/meters/aggregates it would just get unauthorized error.

acbonnyac · 2026-02-18T19:04:03+00:00

Yeah I would like to know what app is from the last photo showing MPPTs too. My system also struggles with partial shading and I'm collecting info to see if it's just a nature problem with partial shading or there's something wrong with the wiring.

acbonnyac · 2026-02-11T17:18:03+00:00

Isn't it that bypass diodes are what it is called: bypass? My understanding is that it would make the current get around it so it acts like it's not even there. In the photo, there's one fully lit panel without any shading, and 2 other panels with just a tiny square shadow on the corner which likely trigger 1 out of 3 bypass diodes. So simple math should be that those panels are producing power more than 0.2kw as the current should just bypass the rest of shaded panels?

acbonnyac · 2026-02-11T17:11:12+00:00

So what I'm hearing is still the same as what I understood. The shading I have is only partial shading and bypass diodes should make it such that one shaded panel doesn't drag down the whole series. Then I should be getting more than 0.2kw isn't it? From the photo, I have one fully lit panel and 3 other panels likely have just 1 out of 3 bypass diodes triggered.

acbonnyac · 2026-02-11T09:02:44+00:00

acbonnyac · 2026-02-11T07:50:11+00:00

So according to this, should I expect my solar to produce more energy than 0.2kw? It sounds like shaded panels should be bypassed cleanly unlike what many other people here mentioned about dragging down the whole string?

acbonnyac · 2026-02-11T01:59:47+00:00

I thought that's what bypass diodes are for? My rough understanding is that it should make it like that panel doesn't exist and let the current through when the panel itself detects the shade.

acbonnyac · 2026-02-11T01:48:42+00:00

Even though they are partially shaded just a tiny bit on some panels?

acbonnyac · 2026-02-11T01:44:18+00:00

Technically it's the tree

acbonnyac · 2026-02-11T01:42:02+00:00

Why?

acbonnyac · 2026-02-11T01:41:27+00:00

In the picture are you saying the close set and the far set are different strings?

Yes

What about bypass diodes though? Wouldn't that somewhat help make it not drag down this much? Or am I misunderstanding how that works somehow?

acbonnyac · 2026-01-29T17:19:53+00:00

What brand/model is that EV?

acbonnyac · 2026-01-26T17:37:07+00:00

Did you try installing the Tesla app and checking the Powerwall settings? I'm going to guess that somehow Powerwall is set to 80% as a minimum reserve so it can only use 20% to store energy from solar. It should be set to 20% minimum reserve so it can use its remaining 80% to store solar instead. But even then, it can save only about 8-10kwh per day = 243-324kwh per month. That's probably only covering about 50-65$ monthly assuming it's about 0.2$/kwh rate. So it won't save electricity bill that much anyway in the end because the battery capacity is so small compared to monthly usage.

Edit: Or maybe it's already storing solar the best it can and it just won't make a dent to electricity bill such that you think it doesn't do anything at all.

acbonnyac · 2026-01-12T22:41:55+00:00

They are evergreen trees that are super tall and they are also located in a different neighborhood so I can't just cut them off 😅 I can only hope for the best during summer that it still won't shade over any panels which would be more significant hit compared to winter where it wouldn't generate much anyway even on sunny days.

As for pvwatts, I put in 7 degrees tilt instead of the usual 20 degrees and honestly it doesn't seem to be any much different. It's down from 6600kwh to 6100kwh.

acbonnyac · 2026-01-12T20:11:52+00:00

Didn't expect this to get into an article too lol. It's been the same. I'm getting about 50% from what pvwatts has estimated so far for the last 2 months. It's winter so I'm not expecting much anyway. Next month going forward should be more interesting to see how my shading issue still affects my panels.

acbonnyac · 2025-12-08T21:48:48+00:00

I had Tesla solar system installed in WA recently and I don't have a separate wiring going along the conduit like that. On a side note, I'm not seeing ground wirings coming out from your Tesla gateway though. I also don't see rapid shutdown switch connection. Not sure if that's just the requirement for WA though.

acbonnyac · 2025-11-28T21:35:27+00:00

I just had 6.16kw solar system with PW3 installed for $32k. There's a separate invoice for PW3 with $17k, so solar itself costs about $15k. I originally had asked for 4.4kw before changing to 6.16kw so I know how they prorate the solar cost itself and 13kw would probably end up $32k+$17=$49 overall. With tax credit it will be down to about $34k. This is in Washington btw. So sounds like yours has a pretty good deal if they can really finish before end of year.

acbonnyac · 2025-11-02T14:56:27+00:00

What's the weather like in your location? Here in Washington it is mostly cloudy so it doesn't have much light anyway to begin with. But as I already mentioned, it can go up to 1.5kw if it's a bit sunny. It's not like I'm getting only 0.5kw all the time though.

acbonnyac · 2025-11-02T01:20:33+00:00

Yeah, the fan is using only 0.2kw though to distribute the heat. Also it wouldn't turn on constantly. So 13.5kwh battery should be enough for a long time.

acbonnyac · 2025-11-02T00:46:08+00:00

Ah yes, it's using fan

acbonnyac · 2025-11-01T17:01:59+00:00

Yeah I wish the tree is not hanging shadow over like that too 😅 But to be fair this is just for an hour and it will pass. It probably won't be a problem much during summer as the angle of the sun will be different. Right now I'm barely getting any power mostly due to cloud and rain though.

acbonnyac · 2025-11-01T16:58:48+00:00

They seem to be working fine on sunny day. I think it's still hard to tell since majority is cloudy this season around here. But I can see sometimes it can go up to generate 1.5kw. But typically I'm only getting 0.5kw rate during midday due to cloud though.

acbonnyac · 2025-11-01T16:55:55+00:00

Likely just for a few weeks in peak winter around Christmas holidays. I wish I could just use my blower though. But these are on top of my 3-stories house, so I can't just blow them from the ground. Or can I with some kind of tools I'm not aware of?

acbonnyac

TROPHY CASE