Tesla Powerwall FAQs

How much will I save?

With Tesla Energy Plan, solar panels and Powerwall, you could yield significant savings versus average UK market tariffs. Your individual savings will depend on several factors, including your current energy supplier and tariff, consumption and solar panel installation.

Am I eligible for this new offer?

You are eligible if you have:

• One or more ‘Powerwall 2’ batteries and an MCS-certified Solar Panel installation (any size, up to 9 kWp per Powerwall installed – e.g. 5x
• Powerwall batteries on-site could allow for up to 45kWp solar panels)
• Residential electricity supply
• Compatible smart meter
• Daytime consumption (from 07:00-19:30) less than 9,500 kWh per year, per-Powerwall-installed

How do I know my daytime consumption (from 07:00-19:30), per year?

Typically, a total daytime consumption of 9,500 kWh per year equates to a total annual consumption of 15,000 kWh. Your existing bills should show your total annual consumption (if not, you can request more detail from your current tariff provider). For most households, total annual consumption is far below 9,500 kWh per year in total (not just during 07:00-19:30)

This consumption limit will only take into consideration kWh imported from the grid rather than solar consumption and each extra Powerwall installed will allow a further 9,500 kWh per year of daytime consumption. For example, if you have approximately 15,000 kWh daytime consumption per year, you would need two Powerwall batteries installed in order to be eligible for Tesla Energy Plan, as combined they would cater for up to 19,000 kWh per year, in total.

If your daytime consumption exceeds 9,500 kWh per Powerwall installed in a 12-month period, you will need to choose another smart tariff that is better suited to your needs.

What happens if I join Tesla Energy Plan, but my usage increases and I exceed the daytime consumption of 9,500 kWh per year, per-Powerwall-installed?

If your daytime consumption (from 07:00-19:30) grows beyond 9,500 kWh per year, per-Powerwall-installed, you will be prompted to choose an alternate tariff that better suits your usage.

Please note, if you own electric vehicle(s), scheduling your vehicle charging to occur outside of the daytime hours (I.e. charging any time between 19:31 and 06:59) will transfer a significant amount of your household consumption to off-peak hours. Whilst this reduces your daytime usage as a Tesla Energy Plan customer, this practice is also helpful for reducing the peak demand on the national grid, which further helps reduce national carbon emissions.

Do I need a smart meter?

Yes, Tesla Energy Plan involves import and export tariffs; therefore, you need to have a smart meter installed. If you do not have already one, investigate installing one. There are some issues with smart meter availability in certain areas so please be aware it may take up to three months to get one installed in a small minority of cases. To get a smart meter installed, you must first sign up for Tesla Energy Plan.

I already have solar and Powerwall. What is next?

You can transfer onto the Tesla Energy Plan straight away by switching your retail plan. You need a smart meter in your home.

What if I don’t have solar panels and/or Powerwall installed?

To be eligible for the Tesla Energy Plan, you must have both solar panels and Powerwall installed.

To install solar panels, you will need a minimum clear space of 24m2– about the size of a parking space – available on your roof. The area should be free of shading from trees, chimneys or other buildings for most of the day to get the maximum energy generation from your panels.

Your local Tesla Powerwall Certified installer can help assess system sizing and provide a quote for solar panels and/or Powerwall.

Do I have to own a Powerwall to sign up?

Yes. The Tesla Energy Plan combines solar with Powerwall to maximise your savings. Powerwall must be the only battery system installed in the property. Both versions of the Powerwall 2 gateway are compatible with Tesla Energy Plan (I.e. Non-Backup Gateway 1, and Backup Gateway 2).

If your Powerwall installation is already scheduled, you can begin your switch and smart meter installation ahead of time by completing the switching form.

What happens if solar or Powerwall can’t be installed at my property?

Unfortunately, you require solar panels and Powerwall to be eligible for the Tesla Energy Plan.

I have a ‘smart’ immersion heater controller installed with my PV system. Is it compatible with the plan?

To support the national grid and therefore allow for the great tariff rates, Tesla Energy Plan requires your Powerwall to export energy to the grid.

This exporting to the grid can cause a conflict with ‘smart’ immersion heater controllers (or any other ‘smart’ loads that also look to utilise your excess solar generation). For example, some ‘smart’ devices can monitor a house for solar energy being exported to the grid and then switch on a load to absorb that excess. In the case of the Powerwall exporting to the grid, these smart devices might not be able to distinguish between solar exports or battery exports.

There is no troubleshooting available for ‘smart’ device compatibility, so to avoid such conflicts you must turn off any diversion of excess solar to smart devices when joining Tesla Energy Plan; joining with such devices enabled risks the plan being unable to operate as intended.

I have a ‘smart’ electric vehicle charger installed. Is it compatible with the plan?

Electric vehicle chargers that use solar excess to trigger vehicle charging could also create a conflict with Tesla Energy Plan, so to avoid such conflicts you must turn off any diversion of excess solar to smart vehicle chargers; joining with such devices enabled risks the plan being unable to operate as intended.

My house has a three-phase electricity supply, can I still sign-up for the plan?

Yes, the Tesla Energy Plan can also work on three-phase households once a vector-sum three-phase smart meter is installed.

Backup power from Powerwall 2 during grid outages is single-phase only, to a phase of your choosing at time of installation. Your local Tesla Powerwall Certified installer can help assess your specific case and give further advice regarding three-phase installations.

What if I rent my home, can I still access this offer?

Yes, you do not have to own your home to access the Tesla Energy Plan. However, you will need to obtain approval from the property owner to have Powerwall and solar panels installed and be able to demonstrate the property owner’s consent prior to installation.

Will I lose my feed-in tariff (FiT) on my existing solar system?

Your installation provider will require a Microgeneration Certificate Scheme (MCS) certification to get you onto the Tesla Energy Plan.

Moving to the Tesla Energy Plan means:

• Generation Tariff – your payments for energy generation remain the same. You will not lose your generation tariff and it equates to the majority of your FiT income.
• Export Tariff – you will be required to permanently opt-out of your ‘deemed export’ payments. Instead, you will receive 24p/kWh-26p/kWh (depending on your location) for every kWh actually exported, as measured by your smart meter.

If leaving Tesla Energy Plan your ‘Generation Tariff’ will remain the same and your ‘export tariff’ will be the Smart Export Guarantee (SEG) rate offered by your new tariff/tariff provider.

I’ve just signed up to a retailer, can I switch to this plan instead?

Yes, the standard 14-business day cooling off period applies between retailers.

How long are the tariff rates fixed for?

The full terms and conditions for the tariff are available in the switching form.

What happens if I sign up now but then want to cancel later?

If you want to change your offer or move to a different energy retailer at any time, there will be no Powerwall hardware impact (as it will default to normal operation), as well as no tariff exit fees or contract lock-ins.

Do I need to get a separate supplier for gas if I want to sign up for the Tesla Energy Plan?

When it comes to gas supply alongside Tesla Energy Plan you have full flexibility. You can contract your gas supply from a different supplier.

How is Tesla involved?

Tesla Energy Plan integrates Tesla’s products with an innovative retail electricity plan. Building on its world-leading hardware, Tesla is now using software to ensure you automatically optimise the use of your Powerwall battery system so that you save on your energy bills.

Why do Tesla need control of my Powerwall?

Tesla needs to control your Powerwall to manage how and when you use your solar and stored energy. This helps reduce the wholesale market cost of the electricity you consume, giving you the best rates available, as well as supporting the grid during peak periods.

Together with all other Powerwall owners signed up, you become part of Tesla’s UK virtual power plant.

How does Tesla Energy Plan impact my Tesla smartphone app as a Powerwall owner?

Tesla Energy Plan customers will have the same visibility as a normal Powerwall owner (i.e. battery percentage, ‘Power Flow’, ‘Energy Usage’, ‘Performance’ and (if you own a Backup Gateway) ‘Backup History’).

However, Tesla Energy Plan customers will not have the ‘Customise’ menu available – the intelligent, automatic management of the battery by Tesla supersedes all manual controls in order to enable the grid support and great tariff rates.

How will you manage grid import and exports?

Import and export activity will be determined by our software and will happen automatically. We base this on factors like historical energy use patterns, solar generation forecast and wholesale energy prices and will constantly optimise grid imports and exports to maximise your electricity bill savings.

Why are the incoming and outgoing electricity figures in my customised Tesla Energy Plan quote so high?

Tesla’s software uses combinations of your historical energy use patterns, solar generation forecast and wholesale energy prices. This includes:

• Topping up your Powerwall with surplus solar energy from your roof and 100% renewable energy from the grid when prices are low
• Selling excess energy from your solar and Powerwall to the grid when demand is high

This will likely result in higher import and export energy volumes than those you see now with standard solar self-consumption and Powerwall, but with ‘symmetrical’ import and export rates per kWh both to and from the grid, the valuable support you offer the grid comes at no cost to yourself.

How does Tesla Energy Plan affect Powerwall’s warranty?

The Powerwall cycling expected under the Tesla Energy Plan is higher than the cycling triggered by other less intensive applications such as solar mode or back-up only, however, the Powerwall warranty from Tesla should provide peace of mind:

• Powerwall will still be free from defects for 10 years following the initial installation date.
• Powerwall will still have an energy capacity of 13.5 kWh on its initial installation date and will retain 80% capacity for 10 years following such initial installation date (Operating limitation of 37.8 MWh aggregate energy throughput)

Tesla’s full warranty policy is provided within Tesla Powerwall´s purchase contract.

What happens during a power outage?

Individual Powerwalls have back-up capability as a standard feature to keep customer´s lights on and appliances running when there is a power outage. As part of Tesla Energy Plan, customers will have 20% of the energy capacity reserved per-Powerwall for backup. This level of energy reserve provides the typical customer with 2-4 hours of power per-Powerwall. For this functionality to be enabled, customers must have a Powerwall Backup Gateway installed along with their Powerwall – without one, there will be no capacity reserved for backup in their Powerwall.

Under Tesla Energy Plan, the 20% reserve per-Powerwall is fixed and cannot be adjusted, however if a grid outage occurs with more than 20% available, the property will be able to use all of the available capacity at that time.

If the grid has been unavailable for at least five minutes, the Tesla app will alert you so you can manage energy usage accordingly. A second notification is sent when power is restored. To ensure you receive this alert, go to ‘Settings’ and select ‘Notifications’ in the Tesla app. Here you can set preferences for receiving all notifications, including power cuts. Ensure that your device settings allow notifications from the Tesla app.

Is Tesla Energy Plan compatible with Tesla Powerwall ‘Storm Watch’ mode?

If joining Tesla Energy Plan with ‘Storm Watch’ already enabled in the Tesla smartphone app, this functionality will continue by default.

Please note that once under the plan, Storm watch mode can not be enabled/disabled from the Tesla smartphone app.

For more information about Storm Watch, please click here.