Cornwall’s 1st Tesla Powerwall 3 – How did it go?
Naked Solar are in the top 3% of Tesla Powerwall installers and have the coveted ‘Tesla Premium Certified Installer’ status, giving us early delivery of Tesla Powerwall 3. We’ve already started supercharging the first homes in Devon & Cornwall to benefit from Tesla Powerwall 3’s cutting-edge technology.
In line with Naked’s ethos of complete transparency, we reveal the first Tesla Powerwall 3 install to help answer any questions and give insight in to this extremely popular and versatile battery.
Tesla Powerwall 3 Arrives
Our initial delivery of five Tesla Powerwall 3s arrives.
The Powerwall 3 is shipped in its reuseable ‘clamshell’ packaging, another great example of Tesla’s innovative approach. Naked Solar’s HQ is a collection point where other installers can drop off their used clamshells for collection, helping keep the circular economy going.
Getting ready
Shifting the 130kg battery is made much easier with Tesla’s innovative dolly. We’re already feeding back to Tesla some ideas to make the dolly even better as there may be some outlier situations that could be awkward. We’re confident Tesla will make improvements, they always do.
The unit is moved inside ready for mounting in the customer’s desired location. In this case, it’s our MD, Tony who’s benefiting from the first install as The Sampsons recently moved house.
Mounting on the wall
Attach your powerdrill to the dolly and whizzzzz, lifting the unit made super easy. Something we all cheered for at Tesla’s High Level installer meeting in July 2023. Another great idea from the extremely innovative Tesla Energy team.
Being a Solar Geek, Tony was happy to have the Powerwall 3 on display in the front porch.
“One thing we’ve noticed is how quiet Powerwall 3 is. Powerwall 2 would make a bit of noise sometimes. Tesla removed the liquid heating/cooling and its pump, replacing it with a direct cell heating system. Powerwall 3 doesn’t get any louder than a PC fan.
Install Gateway 2
The Gateway is currently where the ‘brains’ and the backup switch for powercuts are housed. Tesla plans to move the brains in to the main unit meaning the powercut cover will become optional, enabling Tesla to offer a lower priced version for those who don’t mind the occasional candle lit evening. ETA: sometime in 2025.
Wiring The Tesla Powerwall 3
The cables needed to run to the Powerwall 3 are:
- Solar DC Strings – Knowing Powerwall 3 was on it’s way, The Sampsons had their solar installed with 2 x String inverters earlier in the year. The DC strings were all ready to go so Neil wired the DC cables into the Powerwall’s built-in hybrid inverter. The Powerwall 3 can handle solar panels on 3 different aspects of the roof. Normally you’d need multiple solar inverters to cope with this.
- AC connection – This connects the Powerwall 3 to the consumer unit, delivering power to the house and grid. Naked Solar are installing all Powerwall 3s with cables and components capable of handling the full 11kW. Even if current grid allowances restrict their power, our customers are future proofed if their grid allowance increases.
- Earth Cable – This ensures safety in the event of a powercut. The earth cable is connected to an earthing rod hammered in to the ground and tested, ensuring a safe connection.
- Ethernet – Being connected to the internet is essential: firmware updates that improve performance, monitoring to provide proactive maintenance, feedback to Tesla to inform improvements and , of course enabling customers to geek out on their solar, battery and grid energy data. Helping owners make the most of their precious energy.
Finalising the Installation Process
Our first Tesla Powerwall 3 complete! A huge thanks to our amazing electricians, Neil and Beau for their patience during filming.
The final steps included:
- Fitting the toughened glass front to the Powerwall unit.
- Commissioning the system to ensure the Powerwall is operating correctly.
- Ensuring Tony is able to access the new battery on his Tesla app (below you’ll see a screengrab showing the Powerwall 3 delivering 11kW to the property, powering their EV Charger, Toaster, Washing Machine and Kettle with no help from the grid!).
Tony’s thought’s one week on:- How easy was that! It’s quiet, beautiful and has a lovely ‘Tesla T’ glowing in the front porch to welcome us home. We’re absolutely stoked with the results as we’ve been waiting to get ‘off-grid’ since March. We’re still topping the car up with excess solar after the Powerwall has been filled up first. I’ve quickly got back in the habit of checking the app too often – I suppose it’s better than doom scrolling. We haven’t used the grid all week so it’s going to be interesting to see how far we get in to the Autumn before we need the grid again.
We’ve learned an incredible amount over the years from being solar owners which helps us to inform our customers. We’ll be running Powerwall 3 with our 7kWp of solar spread over 3 aspects for a few months to see what new lessons we learn before we start looking at the Solar Grid Trading options that are now available on the Energy Market.
More installations have gone in this week and while we always prepare for teething problems with new products, so far, everything has gone smoothly with all our Tesla Powerwall 3 installations. Great work Tesla Energy Team!
