Go Off-Grid

Go Off-Grid allows you to disconnect your Powerwall from your utility grid to simulate the experience of being off the electrical grid. With the ability to disconnect using the Tesla app, your Powerwall puts you in direct control of your home energy ecosystem, improving your energy independence and security.

Use Go Off-Grid to simulate an extended outage on renewable energy and become familiar with how your Powerwall system behaves during an outage.

Go Off-Grid also allows off-grid vehicle charging, so you can dynamically charge your car using excess solar stored during daylight hours, maximising your use of renewable solar energy to drive. The Tesla app tracks how long your system remains off-grid, allowing you to view how much backup power is available. View your off-grid backup durations in the ‘Backup History’ screen.

Go Off-Grid is a feature that works exclusively with paired devices to help ensure stable system operation and more reliable power for your home. Note: You'll need to pair your Powerwall with each phone that you use Go Off-Grid on. Ensure your Powerwall is nearby when phone pairing.

Step 1: Open the Tesla app and switch to your energy site.

Step 2: Tap ‘Configure’.

Step 3: Scroll down and tap ‘Phone Pairing’.

Step 4: When prompted, toggle the enable switch (located on the right side of your Powerwall) off, then back on.

Step 1: Open the Tesla app and switch to your energy site.

Step 2: Tap ‘Configure’.

Step 3: Scroll down to ‘Go Off-Grid’.

Step 4: If you’ve not yet paired your phone to your Powerwall, you’ll be prompted to do so in this step.

Step 5: Tap ‘Take Me Off-Grid’. Note: Transition may take a few minutes. You'll receive a notification when your system is off-grid.

Once your Powerwall transitions off-grid, your system will behave as it would during an actual grid outage. Consider the best practices during power outages to maximise your time off-grid.

Step 1: Open the Tesla app and switch to your energy site.

Step 2: Tap ‘Reconnect to Grid’.

Step 3: Tap ‘Take Me On-Grid’.

While in a simulated grid outage, your Powerwall will automatically reconnect to the utility grid when it’s too low on energy, or if you use high-power loads that exceed what Powerwall can support. You'll get a notification when Powerwall is back on-grid, and you can review details of the event in the ‘Backup History’ screen.

Partial Home Backup

Powerwall will only power essential loads on partial home backup systems. Your non-essential home loads will remain grid-connected, and Powerwall will discharge to power your critical loads. To fully simulate a grid outage on a partial home backup system, switch off your service disconnect breaker.

Details and Troubleshooting

Go Off-Grid opens the relay in the Backup Gateway to disconnect your home from the grid, as it would during an actual grid outage. It does not open or close breakers or disconnect your service. Your system will reconnect to the grid when you either reconnect via the app, your Powerwall runs out of energy or your Powerwall is unable to support your essential loads while off-grid.

Note: There’s no need to be concerned with additional risks of using Go Off-Grid to disconnect your system from the grid. Your Powerwall will charge and discharge just as it would while in Self-Powered mode.

Transition Rejected

If your system is not ready for the virtually seamless transition off-grid, such as during high power usage, your Powerwall may present error notifications when you tap ‘Take Me Off-Grid'.

Note: Your Powerwall is operating normally and ready to take over with your stored energy during a grid outage.

Go Off-Grid is built to recognise power disruptions at your home, so your Powerwall will not allow transition off-grid if it expects even a minor power disruption while your system disconnects.

Overloads

While off-grid, each Powerwall can provide up to 5 kW of continuous power. You can use Go Off-Grid to identify the kinds of heavy loads your Powerwall system can support. When you've taken your home off-grid, and you exceed your system's capabilities, Powerwall will automatically reconnect to the grid to support these loads. Learn more by considering the best practices during power outages.

Solar Curtailment

When your Powerwall is fully charged while using Go-Off Grid, excess solar production will have no available destination, as it would otherwise be sent to the grid. To prevent overcharging or other system damage, your Powerwall will raise your system frequency to turn off your solar inverter. If you wish to maximise solar production, use the Tesla app to reconnect to the grid before Powerwall fully charges.

Non-Seamless Disconnects and Load Drops

When using Go Off-Grid, your Powerwall attempts to seamlessly disconnect from the utility grid, but you may encounter flickering lights in your home during a disconnect or reconnect. Load drops may occur due to factors such as high power use, high solar production or a full charge on your Powerwall. We monitor non-seamless disconnects and routinely improve Powerwall's backup behavior with software updates.