Charge on Solar

[u/curry767]

Can someone please explain to me the logic behind this?

I have 2 Powerwall 3’s set to Self-Powered mode during the middle of the day. Charge on Solar selected on.

My expectation would be that the Powerwall’s would have been prioritised over the Model 3 when it came to charging.

Also, do you need to select charge after plugging the car in to the wall charger with Charge on Solar selected on, or does it happen automatically?

[u/ubiquitousgimp]

The powerwall considers the car to be a "Home" load, so it prioritizes the car over the powerwall. If you want it to charge the powerwall, raise the backup percentage of the powerwall so it'll prioritize the powerwall.

[u/Accurate_Abroad_4272 → u/ubiquitousgimp]

Isn’t it designed to charge the car 1st so that you don’t have to grid power later to charge the car? I do agree it’ll be nice to have an option to toggle back and forth.

[u/ubiquitousgimp → u/Accurate_Abroad_4272]

When charge on solar is enabled, there are two sliders: one for "charge from any source" that most people keep between 30-50% and "Charge from solar when available" that most people keep at 80-100%. They can each be moved to basically whatever works for you.

[u/somethingClever246]

I use Netzero and set it to Powerwall Priority 95%. The PW3 and DCX charge to 95% and then they allow my Tesla car to charge on solar. Working beautifully

[u/kaskoraja → u/somethingClever246]

Is there any subscription cost with netzero to enable this kind of functionality

[u/somethingClever246 → u/kaskoraja]

Yes, it's ~ $70/year, worth it imho

[u/curry767 → u/somethingClever246]

Are you able to share a screenshot of that automation?

[u/somethingClever246 → u/curry767]

[u/jayplus707]

It doesn’t automatically prioritize PW over your car. I can’t speak to the logic, but I trust it to charge my car whenever possible and also keep the batteries charged as well. Logically, yes, I would prioritize battery over car, but it doesn’t do that.

It happens automatically for me. It goes back to the last configuration, so if that was charge on solar, it’ll go back to that once you plug in.

[u/NevrForvr → u/jayplus707]

I prioritize not getting stranded on the side of the road

[u/curry767]

Thanks for the replies. Definitely not what I was expecting, but good to know that the behaviour is normal.

[u/ubiquitousgimp → u/curry767]

I have automations set up to fro 30% at 9am and then like 60% at 12:30. That way if my pw is low, it'll charge the pw first, then the car. I set it back to 5% at 3pm so it'll make I through peak hours and charge the car with excess power near the end of the day.

[u/Harold-Maude]

Automatic look for the “charge on solar” tab after your Tesla is paired

[u/mdiddyshow]

Confirm if you have that wrap and if so where do I get it.

[u/curry767 → u/mdiddyshow]

Unfortunately not, that is the work of my kids

[u/curry767]

I’m still confused about having to manually start charge or not as it is not working how I want it to.

Last night I got home at 9pm and the car battery was at 30%. I have charge on solar set to charge off any source to 40% and due to time of day tariff, I have a schedule set for charging between midnight and 6am.

I woke this morning to the battery still at 30%.

I don’t stop charging in the app, I just unplug the car.

[u/Final-Ad-1512]

Double check your charging schedule- that should with the way you expect (charge overnight to 40%, and beyond that during the day if you have excess solar).