buckeyefarmer
Epic Contributor
PG&E wasn’t maintaining their grid before solar, don’t expect them to start now. $86 is a normal monthly bill, if you gotta pay that for just being connected, why bother getting solar.
A newbies DIY solar install
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coldsteelva
Veteran Member
Has anyone in California purchased a whole house battery backup without solar to get through the safety-shutoffs? California is against all internal combustion it seems, so not sure if you can get traditional whole home generators.
cqaigy2
Super Member
There's a guy on youtube Ray Builds Cool Stuff, lives in Northern California, building a whole house battery backup. At least, from my understanding, that's what his initial purpose was. To tied them over when the grid is turned off because of high winds.
beowulf
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I chatted with a Tesla battery vendor at a home show a few months ago. After I explained my needs - including the ability to run a well pump - he said their batteries could not do that - i.e., could not "start" my well pump. I assumed that is correct as he is in the business of selliing batteries and I was a potential customer.
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Only solar I have is a multi panel Zamp unit on my RV. Keeps the house batteries topped off and I'm good with that.
LittleBill21
Elite Member
well pumps can easily be started with soft start and certain inverter setups. just depends on how much money you want to spend, I can't speak to the product he was using though
ponytug
Super Member
Tesla batteries can certainly start well pumps. Like air conditioners, well pumps have large startup amperage draws, and are therefore hard on battery systems. I believe that the current Powerwall LRA (locked rotor amperage) rating is 118A. If you need more than that, there are a variety of pump soft start options out there, or you could just buy a second Powerwall which would boost your start capacity to 236A.
I think that sizing a battery system comes down to figuring out your peak draw (well, AC, etc.), minimum viable energy (what do you absolutely have to have on), and how long you expect to be without power. Our worst case events are fire, earthquake, and severe winter storms. For the first two, we expect to be without power indefinitely. (Weeks to months)
I know of a couple folks who have Tesla Powerwalls without solar, but they are all urban. Even in the wintertime, having solar enables some recharging without resorting to generators, so almost everyone that I know with Powerwalls have solar to recharge the Powerwalls. Time of use power charges in California make the use of batteries to shift solar production to cover peak charge time periods desirable. (Solar to battery/house during the day, battery to house in the evening, with the grid getting any excess solar.)
We are quite happy with our battery system, though it took awhile to get it installed as Tesla was/is selling so many Powerwalls.
All the best,
Peter
beowulf
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Thanks Peter for the info. I am not certain what information the Tesla sales person at the home show asked me for re the well start-up issue. Possible that I shared info about the well (1.5 hp, 420 feet down). I don't know if it was important to his statement that the battery would not work for us (he seemed very certain and answered immediately). I know I had a lot of questions as we were interested in the product. I will revisit the issue and do a bit of checking online.
We do okay with short power outages as we can hook a generator up for fridge and freezer and light duty - lights, etc., and we can do without water for a while, but for longer outages a battery system would be nice to have as we have solar and could recharge that. Otherwise, a wired in whole-house generator is another option.
Carl_NH
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Beowolf,
I got the same feedback from Tesla on the Power Wall to hook into our solar - we have the same pump size 1.5 HP, down 375' - it draws 22-23 amps on start up 13 amps running.
We had a 6500W starting, 5500W (or 24 AMP 240V) continuous genset, which really struggled with the pump so we barely used water during an outage, so I upgraded to a 7500W (32 Amps 240V ) continuous 9500 starting and it handles it fine.
I got the same feedback from Tesla on the Power Wall to hook into our solar - we have the same pump size 1.5 HP, down 375' - it draws 22-23 amps on start up 13 amps running.
We had a 6500W starting, 5500W (or 24 AMP 240V) continuous genset, which really struggled with the pump so we barely used water during an outage, so I upgraded to a 7500W (32 Amps 240V ) continuous 9500 starting and it handles it fine.