DIY Tesla powerwall

[John Frum]

What's p to r?

plug to receptacle.

 

[sed6]

Backfeeding from p to r means the potentially exposed pins are energized.
That is dangerous.

I addressed this earlier, it's only temporary. Plus everyone does it, proven pretty safe, no real risk from a GTI as opposed to a regular inverter with a suicide cord. But again a hammer is dangerous in the wrong hands...

That wall outlet goes straight to my breaker box and there is nothing else on that circuit. I'm going to take the power going into the wall outlet box, bypass the outlet itself and hook it to AC IN on my MPP for grid connection. The AC OUT on my MPP will then go into that wall outlet box and power the outlet.

 

[Yankeroo]

Here's some info on the MPP LV2424 Hybrid Inverter. It's not perfect, but for the price there's nothing else that comes close to its features. They also make a line of high voltage hybrid inverters for anyone running lots of panels in series.

View attachment 12036

I am close to clicking the buy button on this myself, however, do you know if this can be used 100% off grid? I'm going to be powering a standalone shed

 

[sed6]

I am close to clicking the buy button on this myself, however, do you know if this can be used 100% off grid? I'm going to be powering a standalone shed

I am pretty sure it can. The manual clearly shows a battery only mode where no power from the grid is available and your PV can charge your battery, run your loads or both!

 

[sed6]

It arrived, a month early! I just ordered this last week! That $100 shipping charge seems worth it.

I am close to clicking the buy button on this myself, however, do you know if this can be used 100% off grid? I'm going to be powering a standalone shed

I'll have mine hooked up tonight or tomorrow and I should be able to answer definitively then.

 

[Yankeroo]

It arrived, a month early! I just ordered this last week! That $100 shipping charge seems worth it.

View attachment 12650



I'll have mine hooked up tonight or tomorrow and I should be able to answer definitively then.

Thats awesome! I just went ahead and pulled the trigger so hopefully I don't have to wait until July for mine

 

[sed6]

Thats awesome! I just went ahead and pulled the trigger so hopefully I don't have to wait until July for mine

That's great! Bet you won't wait long. I looked again and it was 10 days but 4 of those days were weekends.

Fresh solar equipment calls for some fresh paint. Once it dries up it goes. Stay tuned...

 

[sed6]

Painted, hung, next up wires!

 

[Yankeroo]

Painted, hung, next up wires!

View attachment 12684

That's a sweet looking setup! Can you provide links for the batteries? Also I just checked my shipping status and its scheduled to arrive tomorrow morning?!?

 

[sed6]

That's a sweet looking setup! Can you provide links for the batteries? Also I just checked my shipping status and its scheduled to arrive tomorrow morning?!?

Tomorrow? That would be impressive! Here's the link to the Ebay listing where I got my batteries. https://www.ebay.com/itm/173744320608
Edit: I just checked my shipping records, it left Taiwan Monday and arrived Tuesday, so one day indeed, good for you!

She's installed and wired and running! More later I'm going to bed.







Everything hides nicely behind one of my rolling work tables. You can guess by it's proximity to the door it collects a lot of junk day to day. Squeezing the powerwall in behind it was a stroke of genius on my part. ?

 

[sed6]

Got an extra laptop hooked up temporarily. The Solarpower program MPP provides looks pretty decent. The feed to grid from battery and schedule are what I want to tweak. I hope I can set it up to charge the batts from solar and discharge to grid during peak use times. We'll see.

 

[Yankeroo]

Got an extra laptop hooked up temporarily. The Solarpower program MPP provides looks pretty decent. The feed to grid from battery and schedule are what I want to tweak. I hope I can set it up to charge the batts from solar and discharge to grid during peak use times. We'll see.

Very cool! I am going to be using this device 100% off the grid. (I could have grid access however, it is quite inconvenient)

 

[sed6]

I've run into a stumbling block. Seems the LV2424 isn't capable of feeding the grid from the batteries like their software shows. Their tech support basically said it was a generic manual. Ugh! The whole reason I bought this was to charge my batts by day and feed the grid during peak hours to offset some electric use. Without the ability to feed the grid (my house) from batteries during peak billing it will take 4x as long to recoup my investment. Does anyone have any suggestions?

 

[jwu_cc]

You should be able to power a set of outlets like what Will is doing in his solar shed. How are you connecting the AC output from LV2424?

 

[John Frum]

I've run into a stumbling block. Seems the LV2424 isn't capable of feeding the grid from the batteries like their software shows. Their tech support basically said it was a generic manual. Ugh! The whole reason I bought this was to charge my batts by day and feed the grid during peak hours to offset some electric use. Without the ability to feed the grid (my house) from batteries during peak billing it will take 4x as long to recoup my investment. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Do you want to send energy back to the poco transformer or do you just want to energise the panel in your house?
Its not really clear from your post.
If its the former then you need to use a poco approved device.

 

[Ampster]

Plug to receptacle.

 

[Marco]

Awesome set up.
Doing something similar but in an RV. I do not need the "feed to grid" option of the MPP LV2424; so I'm looking to get either the PIP2024LV-MK or the PIP2424LV-MSD . Will only be using one Tesla battery and 4x100w panels.
Do you know if the PIP2024LV-MK or PIP2424LV-MSD will work in charging and maintaining the Tesla battery?
Thank you, any information would be very helpful.

 

[Ampster]

I've run into a stumbling block. Seems the LV2424 isn't capable of feeding the grid from the batteries like their software shows. Their tech support basically said it was a generic manual. Ugh! The whole reason I bought this was to charge my batts by day and feed the grid during peak hours to offset some electric use. Without the ability to feed the grid (my house) from batteries during peak billing it will take 4x as long to recoup my investment. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Regardless of what the marketing information says the operative issue is what your utility and local building department will require. Most likely they will require UL certification and I could find nothing that says this is UL certified. The particular UL certification for grid tie is UL1741. My only suggestion is that you run this standalone as you had originally planned. Be aware of the risks if you are connecting to your permanent wiring without a building permit. This is a good lesson for others if that is any consolation.

 

[sed6]

You should be able to power a set of outlets like what Will is doing in his solar shed. How are you connecting the AC output from LV2424?

AC out will go thru a 20amp breaker to my critical loads panel.

Do you want to send energy back to the poco transformer or do you just want to energise the panel in your house?
Its not really clear from your post.
If its the former then you need to use a poco approved device.

My original plan was just to have some solar stored in batteries for emergencies, that was my portable Tesla generator. That idea evolved into using some solar to offset my utility bill. That idea evolved into charging my batteries for free and feeding my house during peak billing times to increase my offset savings by about 4x. And that's where I'm at now. My plan going forward is to install a critical loads panel.

Awesome set up.
Doing something similar but in an RV. I do not need the "feed to grid" option of the MPP LV2424; so I'm looking to get either the PIP2024LV-MK or the PIP2424LV-MSD . Will only be using one Tesla battery and 4x100w panels.
Do you know if the PIP2024LV-MK or PIP2424LV-MSD will work in charging and maintaining the Tesla battery?
Thank you, any information would be very helpful.

Not 100% positive about the PIP but I'd guess yes since the 2424 Hybrid works great on mine!

Regardless of what the marketing information says the operative issue is what your utility and local building department will require. Most likely they will require UL certification and I could find nothing that says this is UL certified. The particular UL certification for grid tie is UL1741. My only suggestion is that you run this standalone as you had originally planned. Be aware of the risks if you are connecting to your permanent wiring without a building permit. This is a good lesson for others if that is any consolation.

Good lessons for all. I am not seeking permits by the authorities. Here in OK I cannot even apply for a permit unless I'm a licensed electrician or hire one. Forget that. I'm trying to save $1-2 per day with a DYI setup and the bureaucracy of our modern world makes it difficult, expensive or too difficult to follow the rules. So I guess the lesson here is DON'T do it like I do it.

 

[sed6]

Time to install a critical loads panel! My initial hesitation was finding 2k worth of constant loads. It's a real balancing act, finding circuits that will use all of the 2400 watts my inverter can provide but not go over. I've settled on 4 circuits; front fridge, back fridge, kitchen lights and kitchen outlets. Those first four should stay well within my limits. I have room in the critical loads panel for 8 breakers or 16 circuits, so I'll add more until I reach my 2.4k max. I'm pulling wires now so more to come soon!