ponytug
Super Member
Yes, it sounds bad, but it is not really that bad.
The internet loop is data from the local system to the cloud storage, and from the cloud storage to the control app, so the local system doesn't need the cloud for operation. However, like all IOT items, there is the risk that the company would dump support for the model, or go belly up, which is why none of our backup generators have WiFi on them, and all can be easily manually started.
You can control the Tesla Powerwall locally in the event of an internet outage, but the process is different, and not the easiest. OTOH, one would only need to do that to adjust the control settings, almost all of which are irrelevant in an outage, e.g. no need to adjust backup reserve, nor the times that you want to "peak shave" time of use loads, etc.
The one time it acted up for us had more to do with Tesla's lack of documentation on how its remote CTs functioned and how they were connected to the master control unit. The documentation required one network setup, but I discovered that network configuration is used only at power on. It uses a different communication method in normal function, one that has some special requirements. In the end, the lack of cloud interaction was ok, but silence from our remote CT was not. As so much of Tesla's setup is software and software control, plus Musk's known dislike of supporting customer service means that the Tesla documentation is rarely complete, even for installers, and installer configuration software is a moving target. There is a really good 3rd party app, NetZero for complex control automations and for extensive data analysis and configuration setup. It's way better in my opinion than the Tesla's app.
However, I'm not looking a gift horse in the mouth. The system was 1/10th the cost of competing systems, and it has always backed us up when needed, like last evening when we had a really "terrible storm" event (sunny, 68F, still air, no ice or snow) and the power kicked out. (Based on what died, I am pretty sure genius at the utility hit the wrong switch for the umpteenth time and knocked our whole distribution circuit off line. Yes, I am of the opinion that the local crew couldn't arrange a piss up in a brewery, based on their performance history. There are some great people there, but organization is beyond dysfunctional in my opinion. It took me three or four months of my complaining for them to admit that they had an overvoltage issue here and to fix it. At the very end, I spoke with a nice tech, who had all the data proving and supporting my complaint. It turned out that they had three minute voltage reads from our smart meter going back years, so they should have been able to acknowledge the overvoltage issue on the first call, or before that. Inability to arrange a piss up in a brewery competence.)
All the best,
Peter
