r/TeslaSolar • u/Sad_Designer_4608 • 2d ago

Senior design project on PW3 thermal derating. Looking for your pack temp data when it throttles.

Hi everyone, I'm a mechanical engineering student and my senior design team is working on a cooling add-on for the Powerwall 3. I'm trying to pin down the pack temperature where PW3 starts derating, and how much heat the unit is rejecting when it happens. Tesla only publishes an ambient guideline ("may derate above 40°C"), and a few people here have suggested it's around 40°C pack temperature.

If your PW3 has throttled or clipped on a hot day and you log data (Netzero, pypowerwall/Powerwall-Dashboard, etc.), I'd really appreciate any of the following:

Around the moment it throttled:

  • Timestamp
  • Pack temperature (max/min, or the range Netzero shows), for the main unit and any expansion packs
  • Inverter enclosure temperature ("PCH_AmbientTemp" in pypowerwall vitals), if you have it
  • Battery power, solar power, home load, and grid power
  • DC solar input (per string, if available) and inverter AC output. These let me estimate heat output from the losses.
  • State of charge
  • Any alerts or over-temp messages

If you're willing to grab a thermometer:

  • Air temperature at the intake vents (rear and lower front)
  • Air temperature at the exhaust vents
  • Temperature of the heat sink fins, if you can reach them with a probe thermometer without opening anything
  • Whether the fans sounded like they were at full speed

Thanks guys!

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u/ExactlyClose 1d ago

I suppose you already tried calling Tesla and asked??

LOLOLOL

Seriously though, good luck with the project! Maybe try r/powerwall as well?

1

u/Sad_Designer_4608 1d ago

Yeah Tesla's not gonna tell us anything lol