1960’s home. Everything was stuffed into the abandoned fireplace. I ran a new quad coax from the utility drop through a weatherproof cable gland box into the attic. I terminated it in a 42” Leviton SMC in the entryway closet.
Someday I’ll have it looking super neat and tidy, but until then, this was a big improvement.
Posting this in case it saves someone else some frustration.
For a while, my Powerwall settings kept changing themselves after I changed them in the Tesla app.
Specifically, I wanted:
Grid Charging: Yes
Energy Exports: Solar
I could select those settings and they would appear to save normally. But after a few hours, I would check again and find that they had changed back:
Grid Charging → No
Energy Exports → Everything
I tried changing them repeatedly, reinstalling the Tesla app, etc. Same behavior. At first it looked like an app/firmware bug because there was no obvious explanation for why my selections wouldn’t stick.
The culprit ended up being a Virtual Power Plant (VPP) enrollment.
Turns out I had been signed up for a VPP through my installer (Sunnova which became SunStong) it was separate than the VPP offered by my utility (PG&E). I didn’t realize I was in their VPP. Tesla Tech support recommended unenrolling from any VPP, so I did.
After confirmation from SunStrong of my unenrollment from their VPP I was still was seeing my settings change on their own. It turns out it takes weeks for all the systems to sync up after unenrolling (Sunstrong, Tesla, utility). Eventually they did and now I have full control of my settings again.
So if your Powerwall keeps mysteriously changing Grid Charging, Energy Exports, or possibly other settings on its own, especially if you’ve ever participated in a VPP, I would contact Tesla and specifically ask them to check whether your system is still enrolled in or associated with a VPP
I spent quite a while thinking I had an app, Gateway, or firmware problem when it appears the settings were actually being overridden remotely.
I’ve seen quite a few posts here from people asking whether they should shade their Powerwall from direct summer sun, especially from people in Arizona, Nevada, inland California, etc. I haven’t really seen a purpose-built product, so I decided to make a simple prototype to see how well the idea works.
The goals were pretty simple:
Block direct solar radiation
Maintain unrestricted airflow around the Powerwall
Be inexpensive and easy to build
Be completely removable
I built it from:
1/2” PVC
(6) three-way fittings
(2) 90° elbows
Shade cloth
Zip ties
Spray painted the PVC gray so it blends in a bit better
The side ventilation remains completely open, so I’m hoping it reduces radiant heating without trapping hot air around the batteries.
Is there much interest in buying a product like this? I was inspired by the AC shade cover kits you can buy to increase efficiency and wanted a similar product.
I’m trying to figure out whether this is expected behavior or if something is wrong with my system.
System
2× Powerwall 2
Tesla solar system
PG&E EV2-A rate plan (California)
Operational Mode = Savings mode (not self powered)
30% backup reserve
Here’s what’s happening
I’ll manually set:
Energy Exports = Solar
Grid Charging = Yes
Everything works as expected. The batteries happily charge from the grid and only solar is exported.
Then, about 3–4 hours later, without me touching anything, both settings automatically change to:
Energy Exports = Everything
Grid Charging = No
This has happened repeatedly over several days. I called Tesla Powerwall Support. They had me delete and reinstall the app, which didn’t help. They escalated it to Level 2.
Level 2 reviewed my system and emailed me saying they don’t see any system faults, and they believe the changes may be coming from my PG&E Virtual Power Plant (VPP) enrollment, since those settings are typically associated with VPP control.
A couple things make me wonder, though:
The settings change even though there is no active VPP event. They consistently change back after a few hours.
Has anyone else enrolled in Tesla’s PG&E VPP seen these exact settings change automatically?
Does the VPP intentionally override Grid Charging and Energy Exports even when there isn’t an event?
If you’re enrolled in the VPP, can your Grid Charging setting stay on permanently, or does it always revert to No?
I’d appreciate hearing from anyone with a similar setup. I’m trying to determine whether this is normal VPP behavior or whether I should keep pushing Tesla Support.
Thank you!