Powershare: Configurations, Availability Timeline, Install Requirements & How It Works

[JayJay]

Cybertruck Owners:

I have encountered many people that have questions about the Powershare feature, what is currently required for install, and how it works.

At the time of this writing, to use the Powershare feature, a Universal Connector and Powershare Gateway must be installed. No other gateway or connector will work. Also, the home cannot have A/C coupled solar or battery. The reason being that Tesla has not yet fully developed the metering required to monitor frequency shift during an outage, which would potentially cause a hazardous direct short. This will change as hardware compatibility develops.

When using a Gateway, the loads that are being backed up will need to be moved from the existing electrical panel to circuits within the gateway or to a new load center connected to the gateway.

As always with Tesla, the best is yet to come. As they develop the required hardware and software compatibility across their components later this year.

One of the biggest improvements in home energy is Tesla's Backup Switch. The Backup Switch is an islanding contactor that is installed between the utility meter and the utility meter socket. This isolates the whole home in the event of a power outage and negates the need to move all of the home circuits to a backup load center as shown above. It has been approved by some utilities in the US and many people in Southern California are awaiting SCE approved implementation of the Backup Switch. This will reduce Powershare/backup installation cost drastically.

Here is a timeline of expected configuration availability from Tesla

I hope this helps.


If you are in the Southern California -Orange County area and need a Certified Installer for your Powershare System, Universal wall Adapter or are interested in Solar, please call or message me.

Thank you,

Neal Maurer
714-298-7880
www.mytrinityenergy.com
CSLB #870804

From Tesla https://www.tesla.com/support/powershare



For Customers With Powerwall

If your home is equipped with Powerwall and home charging, you do not require any additional equipment. Powershare Home Backup functionality with Powerwall is expected to be available later this year through an over-the-air update. All Powerwall models will be compatible with Powershare Home Backup in the future.2

Also:
"If you are adding a Powerwall to your home, we recommend installing Powerwall first to avoid any additional hardware and installation costs later. "

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[resellpanda88]

Thanks for the write up. I think I made a mistake just now and wanted to see if powershare would still be possible. I purchased the gateway 3 instead of of the gateway 3V. I would like to use my cyber truck to power my home in the event there is a power outage. I have solar panels but no powerwall/battery backup. Would it be possible or do I need to buy the powershare bundle from Tesla instead?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Trinity Energy]

Thanks for the write up. I think I made a mistake just now and wanted to see if powershare would still be possible. I purchased the gateway 3 instead of of the gateway 3V. I would like to use my cyber truck to power my home in the event there is a power outage. I have solar panels but no powerwall/battery backup. Would it be possible or do I need to buy the powershare bundle from Tesla instead?

Thanks in advance.

You will have to use the Gateway 3v version from Tesla. It contains a neutral forming transformer in the unit.

 

[oisiaa]

Is Powershare + existing solar working yet? That's the only thing holding me back. I have a Tesla (Tesla inverters) solar system already installed.

 

[resellpanda88]

You will have to use the Gateway 3v version from Tesla. It contains a neutral forming transformer in the unit.

Can I add the neutral forming transformer to the gateway 3?

 

[hemiarch]

Hoping someone here can educate me.
I have a powerwall 3 solar system that was installed by a third party vendor, not Tesla. I’ve had it since before I bought my truck. I haven’t yet installed any PowerShare stuff.
My EV charger is also not a Tesla product, but I have both a universal and regular Tesla wall charger currently sitting on my garage floor uninstalled.
To my surprise, the “charge on solar” feature works great so it seems like this has to do with the truck or our model-x communicating directly with the powerwall and is independent of the Tesla wall charger. I actually think this is an incredibly cool and thoughtful way to engineer this.
I don’t have a PowerShare gateway because everything I read including this thread has led me to believe you don’t need one if you have a powerwall. It also says, implementation is likely by the June of 2024.
How does this work? Is this feature implemented yet? Is this what the SCE approval discussion stuff above is referring to?
Is there a special way I need to install the universal wall charger to make this happen or do I just swap my current EV charger wired to a 50amp breaker on 6awg cable for the Tesla device?
Seems intuitive to me that two way power flow would be more complicated than that, but I have zero electrical background.
Does anyone here actually have this setup working who can help me understand the next step?
I don’t really want to call someone like qmerit without first understanding what it is I’m asking them to quote me on.

Thank you and sorry if these are rudimentary questions for this thread.

 

[AlmostHuman]

Hoping someone here can educate me.
I have a powerwall 3 solar system that was installed by a third party vendor, not Tesla. I’ve had it since before I bought my truck. I haven’t yet installed any PowerShare stuff.
My EV charger is also not a Tesla product, but I have both a universal and regular Tesla wall charger currently sitting on my garage floor uninstalled.
To my surprise, the “charge on solar” feature works great so it seems like this has to do with the truck or our model-x communicating directly with the powerwall and is independent of the Tesla wall charger. I actually think this is an incredibly cool and thoughtful way to engineer this.
I don’t have a PowerShare gateway because everything I read including this thread has led me to believe you don’t need one if you have a powerwall. It also says, implementation is likely by the June of 2024.
How does this work? Is this feature implemented yet? Is this what the SCE approval discussion stuff above is referring to?
Is there a special way I need to install the universal wall charger to make this happen or do I just swap my current EV charger wired to a 50amp breaker on 6awg cable for the Tesla device?
Seems intuitive to me that two way power flow would be more complicated than that, but I have zero electrical background.
Does anyone here actually have this setup working who can help me understand the next step?
I don’t really want to call someone like qmerit without first understanding what it is I’m asking them to quote me on.

Thank you and sorry if these are rudimentary questions for this thread.

Software is not out year to support this. You are correct that you will not need a Powerhare backup gateway assuming you have a backup gateway on your system now with the Powerwall’s which I think you must have for it to work correctly.

 

[resellpanda88]

What do you guys think about just installing a manual switch? I would have a black out once every 18-24 months. Would last about 30 minutes to 4 hours. I researched a manual switch and it seems to be a good option for me. Parts and labor would be about $1,000.

 

[AlmostHuman]

What do you guys think about just installing a manual switch? I would have a black out once every 18-24 months. Would last about 30 minutes to 4 hours. I researched a manual switch and it seems to be a good option for me. Parts and labor would be about $1,000.

I think it is a good option for many that don’t care about the automatic failover of Powershare or ever plan to have a system with solar and/or Powerwalls that Powershare could integrate with. You do get less power from the NEMA 14-50 outlet than what Poweshare can provide but it may not an amount that matters.

Powershare = 11.5 kW @ 48 amp
NEMA 14-50 = 9.6 kW @ 40 amp

 

[hemiarch]

Another significant advantage to a manual transfer switch is that you’re open to adding other non-Tesla home backup options at will.
For example, if you have Ecoflow/bluetti/jackery/pecron type stuff or even a fuel generator,, you have a way to connect them to your whole home or
Critical loads panel.
If you have a system you use for camping or RV’ing that also has portable solar panels of significant power (which you do if you’re also using them to charge your truck away from home), then you don’t have to let them sit idle while you’re at home and using the truck as a daily driver.
Yet another option which is perhaps a little less clunky than a manual switch is something like the Ecoflow smart home panel 2 and then using the truck to top off the Ecoflow batteries in the event of a power failure.
That would also allow you to “import” power
from a supercharger or unaffected part of town in the event of an extended power failure/natural disaster.

 

[resellpanda88]

Another significant advantage to a manual transfer switch is that you’re open to adding other non-Tesla home backup options at will.
For example, if you have Ecoflow/bluetti/jackery/pecron type stuff or even a fuel generator,, you have a way to connect them to your whole home or
Critical loads panel.
If you have a system you use for camping or RV’ing that also has portable solar panels of significant power (which you do if you’re also using them to charge your truck away from home), then you don’t have to let them sit idle while you’re at home and using the truck as a daily driver.
Yet another option which is perhaps a little less clunky than a manual switch is something like the Ecoflow smart home panel 2 and then using the truck to top off the Ecoflow batteries in the event of a power failure.
That would also allow you to “import” power
from a supercharger or unaffected part of town in the event of an extended power failure/natural disaster.

I'm just trying to figure out the best option for me. I have solar panels but not from Tesla. I do not have a battery backup at the moment and would like the idea of having the cyber truck as the battery.

Fortunately/unfortunately I al.kst never experience a blackout and would almost never get the opportunity to use it. I just thought it was a cool idea to be able to.

Not exactly ure what the best option would be for me.

 

[hemiarch]

I'm just trying to figure out the best option for me. I have solar panels but not from Tesla. I do not have a battery backup at the moment and would like the idea of having the cyber truck as the battery.

Fortunately/unfortunately I al.kst never experience a blackout and would almost never get the opportunity to use it. I just thought it was a cool idea to be able to.

Not exactly ure what the best option would be for me.

FWIW I was in a very similar position and even
though it was costlier than a simpler
solution, adding a powerwall 3 was the best value proposition for my use case
In the end.
1). A powerwall install got me a 30% tax credit. That may also be true of a manual transfer switch, I don’t know.
2) I live in Arizona which has significant difference in energy cost between peak and off-peak hours. A powerwall is very impactful cost-wise here.
3) the charge on solar feature makes my home EV charging on both the truck and our model x essentially free.
4) I needed a panel upgrade anyway for more usage and the powerwall provides a big inverter and a bunch more mppt’s for extra solar.
5) It allows me to plug in all my portable solar when I’m home so that the flat roof of my garage is not just a storage area but an always working solar field. I keep a delta pro 3 and enough portable solar to charge the truck in the back of the bed when we go camping and that would just be sitting around if I didn’t plug it in while we’re at home. (Which is the vast majority of the time)
5) the Tesla software is really smart and sl with some useful features that make my solar system much more impactful . It can take a pretty dated system and immediately polish it.
6) I got a really good deal on my powerwall install from a non-Tesla third party installer
7) the automatic collar or backup switch or whatever you want to call it provides backup power for the unpredictable. Like if you’re not home and the power goes off, everything just happens automatically and the end result is your fridges stay on and such.
With a manual transfer switch, if you’re not home you’re SOL

Hope that helps. It may not be the best answer for you, but these are most of the reasons why it was the right answer for me.

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