Storm Watch

Severe weather is the leading cause of grid outages. Storm Watch ensures that your Powerwall has enough stored energy to power the home in the event of a grid outage. You can maximize savings by keeping a low backup reserve percentage in Self-Powered or Time-Based Control mode, while still having peace of mind that Powerwall will automatically react to protect you during a severe weather event.

Storm Watch is currently available for the U.S., United Kingdom, Thailand, Japan, Taiwan, Australia and New Zealand.

How It Works

Storm Watch mode is triggered only during severe weather events that are more likely to damage power lines and cause power outages. Storm Watch mode activates when the weather event has advanced in severity, and one of the following watches or warnings has been issued in your local area:

When Storm Watch is activated, you will receive a push notification, and Powerwall will charge to maximum capacity to automatically maximize your protection from grid outages. This remains active until the weather event ends, and your system will return to its normal behavior afterward. If Storm Watch hasn’t activated based on your local weather conditions, and you prefer additional energy security, set a higher Backup Reserve in advance of an anticipated grid outage.

Note: To better prepare yourself for everyday weather events or other grid instability, visit your utility provider’s website for updates. If your system has been affected by a natural disaster, learn more about what to do following a force majeure event.

How to Use It

Enabling Storm Watch

Before enabling Storm Watch, your phone must be paired with your Powerwall and Grid Charging must be enabled.

Note: Once enabled, your system will continue to operate as normal, and your Powerwall will begin monitoring for severe weather events that may impact your home.

To pair your phone, open the Tesla app and complete the following steps:

From the home screen, open the ‘Settings’ menu.
Tap ‘Phone Pairing’ > ‘Begin Pairing.’

To automatically activate Storm Watch during severe weather events, open the Tesla app and follow these steps:

From the home screen, tap ‘Settings’ > ‘Storm Watch.’
Enable the toggle next to ‘Storm Watch.’ You can disable or re-enable Storm Watch at any time.

To manually activate Storm Watch, open the Tesla app and follow these steps:

From the home screen, tap ‘Settings’ > ‘Storm Watch.’
Enable the toggle next to ‘Storm Watch.’
Select ‘Schedule Event.’
Select the duration of how long you want Storm Watch to be activated for.
Tap ‘Schedule’ to activate Storm Watch.

Note: To manually activate Storm Watch, your phone must be paired with your Powerwall and Grid Charging must be enabled. The availability of the Grid Charging setting in the Tesla app is set by your Certified Installer by default. Learn more about Grid Charging.

To cancel a scheduled Storm Watch event, follow these steps:

From the home screen, tap ‘Settings’ > ‘Storm Watch.’
Find the scheduled event and select the ‘x’ icon to cancel.

Updating Storm Watch Location

Storm Watch uses your home location to determine if a weather event will impact your home. You can verify and update your home location in the Tesla app by following these steps:

From the home screen, tap ‘Settings’ > ‘My Home Info.’
Review the information in ‘My Address’ and verify that your listed address and pin on the map are accurate. If not, tap ‘Edit’ and follow the screens in-app to update your address.

Opting Out of a Storm

You can also opt out of a Storm Watch during a severe weather event by following these steps in the Tesla app:

From the home screen, tap the ‘Storm Watch’ banner.
Tap ‘Opt out for this storm.’ Storm Watch mode will deactivate during the current weather event, and your system will return to its previously selected mode.