Having a major senior moment.... what is this PV/PW component and what does it do??? Help

[nyprepper]

I just cancelled my cable ISP and switched to Starlink and now i'm scratching my head..... I had a Tesla/Solar City solar and Powerwalls installation in late 2018 and i've forgotten how this all works now.

If you take a look at the pictures I had both the little black SolarCity box AND the white plug shown in the outlet connected via ethernet cable to my cable ISP router.

Starlink only has one ethernet port available and I have now plugged the white plug into it. I have completely disconnected the black box with the SolarCity stamp on the top.

My system is still fully operational..... I have checked on my mobile app and I also connected directly to the powerwall wifi to confirm (TEG). Via the TEG network browser interface I connected to the Starlink wifi under network settings.

NOTE: I do not have a cell phone signal at my house so if I were to lose my internet connection via Starlink my system would be cutoff from the Tesla mothership.

THANK YOU IN ADVANCE!!!!

What is the purpose of the black box I disconnected? Do I need it??? Thanks!!!!

 

[jjrandorin]

The black box is a Tesla Solar Gateway. Its function is to provide data back to tesla to display in the tesla app for solar installs, and (allegedly) allow Tesla to update firmware if needed on Tesla / Solar city PV inverters.

Since you have powerwalls, the "data back to Tesla" portion is covered by the Tesla Energy Gateway that gets installed with powerwalls. The "update inverter firmware" piece isnt, but frankly its likely not that necessary.

With that being said, Since you have it (the black box) its assigned to your account, so if you disconnect it, it will show up as a disconnected gateway on Tesla's end and they will send you emails about disconnected hardware, and that you need to re connect it back, etc. I am not sure if you can call tesla and get them to remove any notifications on it since you have powerwalls.

So, in effect, everything will still work, but you will get notifications about disconnected hardware, or "a problem" etc, Perhaps you can get tesla to remove it from your account, I dont know the answer to that though.

 

[nyprepper]

THANK YOU!!!.... what is the purpose of the white plug with the green lights? I took a picture of the one that was connected to my cable router via ethernet in my living room. I have another in my basement underneath the living room that is plugged into an outlet with an ethernet cable running directly to the powerwalls or inverter I believe. I can't tell where it goes because it's all hidden in conduit.

 

[jjrandorin]

It appears to me to be a power line ethernet exender. Based on your description, you are / were using that to provide an ethernet wired connection to your powerwalls / inverter for internet connectivity.

 

[Vines]

I recommend using an ethernet to wifi adapter instead, this way you can get rid of the wired connection entirely. This would replace the PLC that is plugged into the outlet and providing internet to the remote location.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00TQEX8BO/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 is what I typically use.

Here are some instructions to set it up as a wifi bridge. TP-Link powered USB Wi... | eGauge Support Library

 

[jhn_]

I’ve also had great success with Ethernet to WiFi dongles like these.

IOGEAR Universal Ethernet to Wi-Fi N Adapter - https://a.co/d/jdTSONY

Plug the usb cable into a computer to join the dongle to a WiFi network. Unplug the usb cable from the computer. Plug the Ethernet cable from your wired-only device into the dongle, plug a usb cable from a power source in the other end of the dongle, and then the Ethernet device is on WiFi. Ta-da.

 

[nyprepper]

quick update, I completely disconnected that Solar CIty black box over a month ago and there has been no loss of functionality/visiblity in my system and I have received absolutely no alerts from Tesla. at this point i'm 99.9% certain it was not needed for anything.