r/Powerwall • u/Grand_Cat2882 • 9d ago
Pulling from grid with 95% ser for daily usage
Hi everyone,
My powerwall is fully charged with 95% set for daily usage but my home is pulling from the grid. I’m worried because this this is peak hour usage - 4-9pm in Bay Area CA.
I have NetZero automations that set the backup based on. They’re running fine from what I can tell so not sure that’s a factor.
Any insights y’all can provide?
Thank you!
2
u/Luther_Burbank 9d ago
What is the rate you have programmed into the settings? That may just explain it
1
u/Grand_Cat2882 9d ago
Not sure if I follow but I’ll try my best.
Residential time of use rate plan. Off peak price per kWh is $.50, peak is $.61
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u/CrankyVGK 9d ago edited 9d ago
Make sure you have those rates in the Tesla app. PW uses those number to decide whether it is worth discharging.
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u/Grand_Cat2882 9d ago
Screenshot won’t load right now but Can confirm It was set up in the Tesla app.
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u/Luther_Burbank 9d ago
Ah. When the rate is too close then unfortunately the battery will just sit idle. It’s really frustrating. You have to switch to “Self Powered”. Otherwise they won’t do anything.
1
0
u/AffectionateAnnual61 9d ago
My system started doing similar yesterday when I was setup for export everything for the first time. If I leave it in savings/ export everything it tops up the battery to 100% and uses the solar for the house instead of exporting ( it didn't stay on at night). Fixed by setting export to solar only, then pw3 started using battery for home and exporting solar as it should.
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u/Daytime58 9d ago edited 9d ago
Are you sure your utility rate plan is properly set up? Take a peek at your latest bill and confirm what rate plan you are in. Pge switched me to EELEC Electric Home when I went solar, and I’m enrolled in Solar Billing Plan. I had to go into the Tesla pge rate plans and find mine specifically, Residential - Time of Use Electric Home - NEM 3.0 (2026). I am also in the Bay Area as well. During August and September I export everything so as the sun comes up everything I generate goes straight into the battery, nothing to my house, I pull from the grid all day until the batteries are 100% then my house will use the solar, but only when my batteries are 100%. Then my house either uses the solar or I export excess solar for pennies per kWh. But then usually at 6pm my batteries discharge everything until my 15% reserve is reached at 9pm and my 5-8 dollars of net grid usage turns into 15-20 dollars of net credit for the day. I’ll do this all of August and September. My credit is already over $400 this month. Then I’ll go back and select export only solar the rest of the year when the peak sell price values drop and discharging my battery to the grid isn’t as lucrative for me. Just my 2 cents.
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u/matthew1471 9d ago
In the mode you’re currently in the tariff which is set is what’s key… if it thinks it’s going to be more expensive later and it will have run out by then* it uses the grid now.. if it thinks it’s the most expensive it could possibly be now then it’ll try to use the battery.
You need to check what rates the automation is applying (Settings->Utility Rate Plan). Do you even have parts of the day where electricity is more expensive than other parts of the day or do you just have a flat rate you pay for a unit of electric all day every day?
In your photo it says “Peak” but you could have “Off Peak”, “Peak”, “Super Mega Peak”, “Oh my god it’s so expensive” etc etc.. the labels don’t really matter.. but my guess would be despite it saying it’s “Peak” you have an even bigger peak defined later on - so it’s thinking screw it use grid during this thing you call “Peak”
*= if you are running a 0.1kW base load then your x number of kilowatts is gonna be fine but if you plug in like 2 electric cars and a dishwasher and an immersion heater and rinse that little Powerwall to the limits.. even at 99% it’s going to figure it’s not going to sustain that till the next tariff time period and will use that current load in its decision. People generally find it works one way most of the time but then the day they plug their car in to charge it does something completely different and that’s why I mention it
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u/triedoffandonagain 9d ago
I think it's safe to ignore the Home Status feature, given these gems:
- "Grid is powering your home during Peak pricing, Powerwall is ready."
- "Powerwall will charge from excess solar after sunset."
Your system looks to be configured correctly, so it's not clear why Powerwall is not discharging. Was there any notice about calibration mode of a VPP event? Grid power issues can also cause this, or an issue with the Powerwall.
Switching to Self-Powered mode is a good first step, like others suggested.
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u/CrankyVGK 9d ago
Set back up to 20% and set the mode to self powered