It's payback time!

​September is an exciting time for grid-tied battery owners in California! Thanks to recent changes in utility rate schedules, those with batteries can now benefit both the grid and their wallets. By optimizing your battery settings, you can significantly reduce your energy costs. Here's how to do this on Tesla Powerwall systems:

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• Verify Utility Rate Plan: Ensure your battery's settings are aligned with your utility provider's rate schedule. For PG&E customers, that's E-ELEC-NEM3. For Sonoma Clean Power, it's SCP-E-ELEC-NEM3, and for Marin Clean Energy, look for MCE-E-ELEC-NEM3.

• In Settings > Powerwall:

  • ​​Adjust Battery Reserve: Set your battery reserve to the lowest acceptable level. While a 0% reserve can maximize savings, it also means no backup power during grid outages until the battery recharges.

  • Operation Mode should be Time-Based Control.

  • Energy Exports should be set to Everything.

  • Permission to Export should be set to Yes.​

• Tip: Minimize heavy electrical usage during the hours of 7-9PM​

• How much? More than $3/kWh, over $40 for the energy in a Powerwall each day!

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By following these steps, you can take advantage of the new rate structures and enjoy the financial rewards of your battery investment.

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For more details on Tesla Powerwall settings, see their support page.

For Enphase system settings, see their support video.