How would home solar panels with powerwall batteries works with charging the Rivian?

[Chewy734]

I have solar with two of the Tesla Powerwalls. Basically it’s enough power storage for us to easily live off grid (home only) through the summer. In the winter when it’s more cloudy, I have to pay for some power from the grid. Over the past two years my net electricity bill has been -$250/year (yes, the power company owed me money).

Fast forward to now, where I charge my R1S at home.I don’t nearly generate enough solar to charge this beast. So, when I charge (typically overnight), it uses up to 80% my Powerwall batteries first (I have it set to keep 20% as a reserve in case the power goes out), and then all grid power.

While it’s charging the vehicle, it actually maxes out the throughput of the batteries and uses like 2-2.5 kWh of grid as well.

Now I’m paying like $50-$150/month, depending on how much I charge. That’s how my system works.

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[SANZC02]

I have solar with two of the Tesla Powerwalls. Basically it’s enough power storage for us to easily live off grid (home only) through the summer. In the winter when it’s more cloudy, I have to pay for some power from the grid. Over the past two years my net electricity bill has been -$250/year (yes, the power company owed me money).

Fast forward to now, where I charge my R1S at home.I don’t nearly generate enough solar to charge this beast. So, when I charge (typically overnight), it uses up to 80% my Powerwall batteries first (I have it set to keep 20% as a reserve in case the power goes out), and then all grid power.

While it’s charging the vehicle, it actually maxes out the throughput of the batteries and uses like 2-2.5 kWh of grid as well.

Now I’m paying like $50-$150/month, depending on how much I charge. That’s how my system works.

You should set your powerwall to run the house from 4pm to 9pm, then when you charge overnight it will pull from the grid and not the powerwall using the NEM credits. That works well for me, only paid SCE 12 dollars in the last 12 months and had my Rivian for 8 of those months.

Edit, one other benefit is you send anything generated between 4 and 9pm straight to the grid with that configuration getting higher NEM credits, not a lot in winter but a decent amount in summer.

 

[TeamDavid]

You should set your powerwall to run the house from 4pm to 9pm, then when you charge overnight it will pull from the grid and not the powerwall using the NEM credits. That works well for me, only paid SCE 12 dollars in the last 12 months and had my Rivian for 8 of those months.

Edit, one other benefit is you send anything generated between 4 and 9pm straight to the grid with that configuration getting higher NEM credits, not a lot in winter but a decent amount in summer.

Great tip, I'll have to keep this one in mind.

 

[Whataboykie!]

As far as payback goes, it's a no brainer getting solar and batteries for that matter. As I mentioned before, My system after the tax rebate was about $51,000.
Guess what, my house's value just went up $50,000.
There are more and more people going solar, and a house already equipped with solar will be more attractive to buyers wanting the piece of mind that solar brings.
I've been asked many time, how long will your batteries last during an extended outage?
My answer is, "well usually 3 days using them sparingly with only the fridge and a few other items running". That's with zero sunshine.
The sun will always shine. I will never be in the dark and have spoiled food in my freezer. Think about that.

 

[ev_fanatic]

In the bay area as well, waiting for my R1S. We currently have a Tesla and a Bolt, and during the summer we almost exclusively charge off solar + battery (only need to charge on weekends and wife has some workplace charging). This only works because the Tesla has adjustments for what amperage to use and the bolt maxes at 32A which solar + batt is able to supply.

During the 4 winter months our 10KW system doesn't produce enough so we just charge overnight and use the NEM2 credits that were produced during summer weekdays.

 

[superfly_snook]

Now I’m paying like $50-$150/month, depending on how much I charge. That’s how my system works.

good to know. I am basically net zero (NEM 2.0) and was figuring I’d be looking at around $100/mo when I get the R1S so good to get some validation on that. Obviously it may change based on driving and charging habits.

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