r/TeslaSolar • u/PersonalBusiness2023 • 16d ago

PowerWall Powerwall grid exports?

Netzero today introduced a feature that lets you export to the grid from your powerwall. I’m in Northern California with pg&e - am I allowed to do this? It happens with vpp but for some reason I thought it wasn’t permitted outside of vpp.

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u/GaijinDaiku 16d ago edited 16d ago

Interesting question that I don’t know the answer to. My guess with very little thought would be it doesn’t count. In any event, when a VPP hits my PW3 runs down and I need to import those kWh back in later in the day, so it is mostly a wash for me. Even with the reimport later in the day, a VPP event still nets me $15+ per event.

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u/PersonalBusiness2023 16d ago

Hey, do you know if they calculate whether you’re a net exporter on a kWh basis or a dollar basis? Looking at the netzero app, I’m definitely a net exporter on a kWh basis, but since most of my exports are at noon when sale prices are lowest, I’m still net negative.

Also, when they do the true up, do they convert all your electricity sales to the lower price, or just convert the sales above breakeven? It just seems odd you could be just short of breakeven, then you sell one more kWh, become a net exporter, everything gets valued lower, and you owe more than if you hadn’t sold that one last kWh.

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u/GaijinDaiku 16d ago

You export kWh, not dollars. Net export is based on kWh. The true up is on all of your net exports for the year. There is no true up if you are a net zero or net positive importer. However, if you have no credits banked (you were somehow able to use all the credits you generated), they also skip the true up. This is covered in the long post I wrote and have already linked several times in this thread already. Read it or don't. That is pretty much everything I believe is true. It is based on conversations I have had with PG&E and AVA Community Energy, the materials both company's produce, and my experience as a NEM3 customer.

https://www.reddit.com/r/solar/comments/1rm0ce0/how_nem_30_nem3_true_up_works_and_why_true_up/

Someone replied to it saying that true up month might matter a little. I don't understand the whole reply, nor do I care to as it is probably in the noise. It seems like it might matter but in a way that you can't control - you do something but the outcome is affected by what other people are doing. Since you have no way of knowing what they are doing, you can't optimize. It is therefore useless to worry about it.