{"id":78682,"date":"2023-09-12T11:05:24","date_gmt":"2023-09-12T01:35:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/?p=78682"},"modified":"2024-10-01T12:53:50","modified_gmt":"2024-10-01T03:23:50","slug":"tesla-powerwall-3-specifications","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/tesla-powerwall-3-specifications\/","title":{"rendered":"Decoding Tesla Powerwall 3’s Electrical Specs: Implications for Australia"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Tesla

There she be…\u00a0 Powerwall 3<\/p><\/div>\n

Photos are doing the rounds of a Tesla Powerwall 3 installed in the wilds of Burgeristan (the USA) , so I thought I’d add a few words to the stream of excited comments.<\/p>\n

Update<\/strong>: see our latest information on the Powerwall 3 for Australia<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Hopefully, my guesses are a little better-educated than some who still confuse kilowatts with kilowatt-hours<\/a>. There are many people, even in the electrical and solar industry, who should know better. This is why I’m waging a private campaign to have kilowatt hours<\/em> expressed as koalas instead.<\/p>\n

Here are some of the specs from a grainy photo of the side of the Tesla Powerwall 3 battery:<\/p>\n

\"tesla

Let us be thankful the Americans don’t describe batteries in British Thermal Units or Freedom Eagle per Bushel Cubed.<\/p><\/div>\n

Powerwall 3 Mechanical Specifications<\/h2>\n

Weight<\/strong><\/h3>\n

We should start with the part that makes installers like me wince. It weighs a hefty 130kg compared to the Powerwall 2’s 114 kg1<\/a><\/sup>. Not everyone has a picture-perfect concrete garage and easy trailer access, so many electricians rail against this monolith-type form factor. Just imagine carrying the thing up some stairs. Some solar battery manufacturers<\/a> such as Sungrow and BYD really have the competition nailed when they use scaleable stackable storage with each module weighing as little as 30 kg.<\/p>\n

Dimensions<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The Powerwall 3 takes up less wall space, but is 3cm thicker:<\/p>\n

\"Tesla<\/p>\n

It has a die-cast aluminium body and glass front plate. Unless this can be removed, it suggests these units won’t be stackable like the Powerwall 2.<\/p>\n

Electrical Specifications<\/h2>\n

Storage Capacity<\/strong><\/h3>\n

13.5kWh is a decent number of koalas, matching the Powerwall 2 exactly.<\/p>\n

Ambient Temperature Range<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The temperature limit of 50\u00b0C at least makes sense in hot and sunny Australia. We don’t even have to convert it from friggenheight.<\/p>\n

Inverter Topology<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The Powerwall 2 had an integrated battery inverter. The Powerwall 3 has an integrated battery interter and an integrated solar inverter.<\/p>\n

From an electrical perspective, it’s interesting that the Powerwall 3’s solar<\/strong> inverter is non-isolated<\/strong>, so there are only some semiconductors standing between energy sources; with smoke, fire and calamity assured if they fail. Whereas the battery<\/strong> inverter is isolated<\/strong>, so there must be a transformer in there to magnetically but not physically couple the sources.<\/p>\n

Maybe that has something to do with American electrical rules, which also dictate rapid shutdown<\/a> for solar power systems, plus metal conduit, knife switches and other stuff that’s state of the art for the twenties… the nineteen twenties.<\/p>\n

Frequency<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Just like its predecessor, the 60Hz frequency of the Powerwall 3 will be easily adjusted to an Australian 50Hz.<\/p>\n

AC Voltage<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The AC voltage matches Australian Standards well. Some people ask how something designed to suit a quaint North American 110VAC\u00a0 system can work in Australia. The secret is that 2W<\/strong>ire +<\/strong> N<\/strong>eutral +<\/strong> E<\/strong>arth means they have a split phase supply, so the 110v peasants actually have 220v in their house, but they need dedicated wiring to run things like clothes dryers.<\/p>\n

No Three-Phase<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Where this cuts both ways is that almost nobody outside an industrial factory with a dedicated street transformer has a 3-phase supply in the US. So they see no need for CCS plugs<\/a> to charge EVs, and they have no market for 3-phase inverters. The upshot is that when the grid fails, PW2 has never been able to form a 3ph 120\u00b0 supply, so I don’t expect Powerwall 3 will be able to offer 3-phase backup either.<\/p>\n

Is Tesla Powerwall 3 Black Start Capable?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The other Achilles heel for PW2 was the fact they were rendered useless if the battery went flat overnight during a grid outage. Whether Powerwall 3 offers black start capability (so the unit will restart itself without the grid) is an open question, but I can’t see why it wouldn’t.<\/p>\n

Inverter Output Power<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The Powerwall 3 seems to offer 4 power configurations:<\/p>\n