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PTO from PG&E for PW2
- Thread starter llngoc
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- powerwall 2
Your other best bet is to look at other PG&E folks on the SGIP realtime worksheet, and calculate what their average PTO time was.Does anyone know what is the realistic time for PG&E to grant PTO for my PW2? It was inspected about 1 week ago and the Tesla rep told me it can take up to 4-6 weeks but it can be as quickly as 2 weeks.
So tempted to turn it on and start harvesting the energy.
Interesting. My installers left the PW2 turned on when they left. Do you have a standalone installation (no solar)? My PTO took about 6 months (Feb 15 to beginning of August), but I didn't push the process at all because my system was already working. As I understand it a large part of the delay was because PG&E was waiting for Tesla to submit different documentation.
Mine was switched off by the installer and he told me to wait for the PTO before turning it on. However, the system is fully commissioned by Tesla already with TBC on. So tempted...
I also have existing solar. What will PG&E do to you if it finds out it is on before PTO?
I also have existing solar. What will PG&E do to you if it finds out it is on before PTO?
:shrug:
I received a PTO for a system that wasn't installed yet (that was funny). Then when PG&E sent a new PTO a couple of months after the proper install Tesla responded saying that system wasn't installed (which was wrong). In both cases I never heard about an inspection being scheduled nor did I see the inspector.
Paperwork doesn't change the physics of what is out there. The system needs to be installed properly (inspections should have checked that), the controls/software need to disconnect from the grid when it is supposed (PTO doesn't change that). You're not going to export more power than what the solar already could do at the their limit so nothing different there.
SGIP | Resources -> "Real-Time Public Report".
It's a huge Excel sheet, and probably best to column sort by approved/PTO date. Filter by Residential, utility PG&E.
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Shygar
Member
Mine was installed Sept 26th and I got PTO around Nov 15th (solar and powerwall together). I had to call my local PG&E rep to get them to follow up, and I actually gave Tesla the number of the local PG&E person so they could communicate. I think I was the first in my area so they were concerned about my 7.5kW system dumping 6.6kW plus 5kW from the powerwall back to the grid, because there is nothing physically stopping the powerwall from sending power back to the grid. I eventually got special consideration and got my PTO, but had to do some running around. I called the PG&E solar team to get my local PG&E contact.
In my case, I already have existing solar which has been operating for the last 6 years.
I did my own interconnection application with PG&E. The process was:
Application Submission (via egi-pge.com) -> Engineering Review -> Initial Review -> Final Inspection -> PTO
Advancing beyond Initial Review requires submitting the completed city inspection card, but if Tesla is on the ball, you'll have reached Initial Review prior to installation. In my case, it took 5 days from my submission of the paperwork requested after the Initial Review to getting my PTO, and that was after PG&E asked me for corrections on one of the forms I had filled out.
This recent efficiency of PG&E (last month) contrasts with the earlier stages (at the beginning of the year), where PG&E was very slow to process my submissions.
Cheers, Wayne
Application Submission (via egi-pge.com) -> Engineering Review -> Initial Review -> Final Inspection -> PTO
Advancing beyond Initial Review requires submitting the completed city inspection card, but if Tesla is on the ball, you'll have reached Initial Review prior to installation. In my case, it took 5 days from my submission of the paperwork requested after the Initial Review to getting my PTO, and that was after PG&E asked me for corrections on one of the forms I had filled out.
This recent efficiency of PG&E (last month) contrasts with the earlier stages (at the beginning of the year), where PG&E was very slow to process my submissions.
Cheers, Wayne
Shygar
Member
I think the same (although unwarranted) concern would still apply. If your solar system was rated at a certain kW for the transformer, they could theoretically think the powerwall could exceed that by 5kW per powerwall back to the grid. That's what the PG&E engineers told me, even though Tesla explained to them that it's not going to send power back to the grid from the powerwall.
Not only that, but most Powerwall interconnections will be under a "Non-Export" agreement which means that the system is designed to never export to the grid from the Powerwall. If you have a non-export agreement it would be ridiculous for PG&E to consider otherwise for other purposes like transformer sizing, etc. If Tesla ever implements a Virtual Power Plant scheme in California, there would probably be some new paperwork and negotiations with the utilities to account for that.
During the installation, my installer asked if I would agree to let PG&E to use my Powerwall as temproary storage for the grid to smooth out the grid. Is that a mean of VPP? I did not think much of it and checked the "yes" box.
I wonder if that will affect my ITC from IRS.
I wonder if that will affect my ITC from IRS.
The ITC only cares how your charge the batteries. I would say that allowing the utility to discharge your batteries into the grid to support the network would be a type of VPP. However, I would personally only agree to it if there were specific compensation for every kWh fed out in that manner.
I believe that this is a standard part of the installation process and if I recall correctly it both said it was a future feature and mentioned that owners will be compensated. I'm looking forward to hearing the details as there's potentially a significant compensation possible, judging by what OhmConnect is paying out for a fairly primitive version of this kind of feature. I'm not holding my breath since it probably involves a negotiation between Tesla and PG&E as well as CPUC approval.
I think this is more "Grid Stabilization" than "VPP." VPP implies generation as well as storage. I believe someone found a reference to "Grid Services" in one of the recent release notes.
I think this is more "Grid Stabilization" than "VPP." VPP implies generation as well as storage. I believe someone found a reference to "Grid Services" in one of the recent release notes.
Shygar
Member
It makes sense to do. Lots of little places you can draw power from. Guessing the PG&E grid would need to be updated to dynamically manage something like that. I'd participate in it if I could limit how much they draw from my battery for any given day.
PG&E has all the information they need to make this work. From the interconnection docs they know where you are on their network and they know your Powerwall serial numbers. They could easily give Tesla a signal and a batch of serial numbers and Tesla could command the desired action.
However, something so conceptually simple will undoubtedly take PG&E forever to negotiate and implement. They can't even do Powerwall account billing in a sensible way.
