Introducing the Powerwall Manager SmartApp for SmartThings
After 6 months of operation, I’ve been quite pleased with the new Tesla Powerwall II. The Powerwall coupled with our home solar has almost completely squashed our electric utility peak demand charges and has eliminated all net electric usage during peak hours.
While the Tesla mobile app’s Advanced Time Control settings do a decent job working with my electric utility’s rate structure, I wanted the ability to further monitor and automate the Powerwall’s operation.
I wrote this SmartThings smart app so that I could not only monitor and control the Powerwall through the SmartThings Hub, but could also fully leverage SmartThings to send mobile notifications and to automatically command smart devices and Powerwall functions based on the current status of the Powerwall and other smart devices.
In addition to basic SmartThings integration hooks, the app provides a simple menu for receiving mobile push notifications or text messages based on Powerwall state changes and battery level conditions. The app supports custom schedules for operational mode changes (Backup-Only/Self Powered/Advanced Time Controls) and battery reserve level % settings. The app also provides the option to select devices that should automatically be turned off in the event that a grid/power outage is detected by the Powerwall.
A description of application features and installation instructions are included below.
If you have comments, issues, questions, enhancement suggestions, or wish to provide general feedback, please comment below or use the contact menu selection above.
Powerwall Manager SmartApp Features
- Monitor and View Status:
- Battery % level & Reserve % Level
- Current power readings for Solar, Grid, Home, & Powerwall
- Operational Mode Status (Backup-Only/Self Powered/Advanced Time Controls)
- Optimization Strategy (Cost-Saving/Balanced)
- Stormwatch Enabled Status
- Grid/Power Outage Status (added 13-Aug-2019)
- Control:
- Set Reserve % Level
- Set Operational Mode Status (Backup-Only/Self Powered/Advanced Time Controls)
- Set Optimization Strategy (Cost-Saving/Balanced)
- Define Schedules and Automations:
- Schedule Operational Mode (Backup-Only/Self Powered/Advanced Time Controls) and/or reserve % changes to occur at specified times and days of the week
- Select smart devices to automatically turn off in the event of a grid outage (added 13-Aug-2019)
- Customize Built-in Notification Options (receive push and/or text notifications) when:
- Powerwall battery level approaches the reserve level or a user-defined notification % value
- Modes change
- Grid/Power outage status changes (added 13-Aug-2019)
- Firmware version changes
- Integrates Powerwall status and and controls with the SmartThings Hub and ecosystem
- Supports sophisticated monitoring rules and automated control of Powerwall functions through scripting and rule engines such as the phenomenal WebCoRE.
Mobile UI Images
Installation Instructions
The instructions below assume you have basic familiarity with the SmartThings IDE and custom code installation techniques.
- Powerwall Manager Smart App Code (required)
- Powerwall Manager Device Handler Code (required)
Install the Powerwall Manager Smart App
- Open the Powerwall Manager Smart App code and select edit->select all” followed by “edit -> copy”. Selecting the “Raw” button may make this a bit easier.
- Navigate to the SmartThings IDE “My Smart Apps” tab
- Select “+ New Smart App” (upper right)
- Select “From Code”
- Paste in the Powerwall Manager Smart App code and select “Create” at the bottom
- Select “the Publish” button and select “For Me”
Installing the Powerwall Device Handler
- Open the Powerwall Manager Dashboard Device Handler Code, and select “edit->select all” followed by “edit -> copy”. Selecting the “Raw” button may make this a bit easier.
- Navigate to the SmartThings IDE “My Device Handlers” tab
- Select “+Create New Device Handler” (upper right)
- On the “Create New Device Handler” page, select the tab “From Code”.
- Paste in the code for the Powerwall Manager Dashboard Device Handler code and click the “Create” button at the bottom
- Click the “Publish” button and select “For Me”.
Activate the Powerwall Manager Smart App from the SmartThings Mobile App
- From the SmartThings Classic mobile app on your phone or tablet device, select the Automation -> SmartApps tab
- Scroll to the bottom and select “+Add a SmartApp”
- Scroll to the bottom and select “My Apps”
- Select “Tesla Powerwall Manager” from the list
- Scroll through each of the setting options and menus and select “Save” when done. You can always go back and add/change your settings.
- The Powerwall Manager is now operational and its status can be viewed from the Tesla Powerwall Device on the SmartThings Classic mobile app “Things” tab.
Configuring the App
Once installed, the Powerwall Manager can be configured from the SmartThings mobile UI “SmartApps” tab. Current configuration options include Powerwall mode and reserve % change schedules, notification preferences for device, battery level, and state changes, as well as actions that should be performed during a grid/power outage.
Credentials are currently required to be entered into the app’s preferences to allow interfacing with the Tesla servers. Due to a current limitation with SmartThings support of self-signed certificates, this SmartThings app cannot interface directly with the local Powerwall gateway’s interface at this time.
Changes to Powerwall settings made from this app may not immediately take effect at the time they are commanded. While settings from this app are reflected almost immediately in the Powerwall server settings (and the Tesla native app) after being sent, they are subject to the same Powerwall processing delays as changes made from the Tesla native app.
Warnings and Disclaimer
****** WARNING ****** USE AT YOUR OWN RISK!
This software was developed for my personal use and is provided here in the hopes that it will be useful to others, however, it is beta software and use of this software may result in unforeseen side effects to your equipment and related accounts.
Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the “License”); you may not use this file except in compliance with the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at: http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0 Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software distributed under the License is distributed on an “AS IS” BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations under the License.
Tesla referral code: ERIC78022
Per suggestion from @amphipri0nI, I’ve updated the app and device handler to indicate the grid outage status (onGrid/offGrid) from the Powerwall. I also added grid status push/text notification option as well as an option to select devices to turn off during an outage in the Powerwall manager app itself. If you’ve already installed the prior version, you’ll need to update both the smart app and device handler for all the changes to work properly.
As a side note, the Powerwall performed flawlessly when I cut off grid power to test the update. This is the first test I’ve done on the latest V1.37.1 software version. The Powerwall immediately cut over to power my home, and solar continued charging the battery. I think with a little care and forethought (and unfortunately no air conditioning with just a single Powerwall), my home power could be indefinitely sustainable without grid-power. The Powerwall is just plain awesome.
new to the whole smartThing environment and the basic model – have downloaded your code and have it showing my power wall status – and see a list of switches for when it’s off grid. I have a NuHeat floor heater thermostat – and have installed it in the Smartthings/home/app also – showing status for it also – but the NuHeat Thermostat does not show up as a device that can be switched “off” during a grid outage – I’m requesting some help/tips/pointers as to how we could modify the code to also set the NuHeat thermostats to “off” during an outage also – being new to the IDE and the general model I’m lacking enough context to forge a path forward – the Device Handler for the NuHeat thermostats are listed here https://github.com/ericvitale/ST-NuHeat-Signature-Thermostat – I’m wondering if anyone can take a look and rough out some code or provide me some pointers. I really don’t want to run the electric floor heaters while on battery power.
thank you in advance for any assistance.
Hi David. Looking over the NuHeat device handler code, it doesn’t currently support the Switch on/off capability directly (which the PowerWall Manager currently requires for control), although it does provide on/off command methods. You can add the switch capability by typing in the following line on or around line 49 in the NuHeat device handler code:
capability "Switch"One possible issue with this though is that the NuHeat device handler off() command currently runs a resume function which sets the thermostat to ‘Schedule Mode : 1’. I’m not so sure this is what you want since I’m unfortunately not familiar with the NuHeat device, but maybe it’s a start. Once you add the capability line to the NuHeat code, you should be able to test on and off triggers by using a Smart App like SmartLighting to turn the heater on and off via a physical or virtual switch trigger (if you don’t want to do the full house power down needed to test with the PowerWall Manager).
Hey there – I found you via TMC and I procured a Smartthings hub (the newest one) and was able to install your app into it. Thank You – it’s really awesome and certainly makes the Tesla app much more intelligent in terms of Time management.
In my particular situation, I want to turn off my nest thermostats when there is a grid outage and since Smart Things and NEST don’t talk to each other, I could use IFTTT (which still talks to NEST) if I could set up a trigger from your app that can be used to trigger an IFTTT recipe. Within the IFTTT section of the Classic app, I can only set the powerwall ‘switch’ – it seems that there needs to be some sort of hook from your app to IFTTT. Perhaps the thing to do is to have your app ‘think’ the Powerwall is off when there is a grid outage and then I can use that state to trigger the IFTTT recipe.
Thoughts?
Hi Mark. Thanks for the feedback. What you describe is precisely how the Powerwall manager should currently work. The Powerwall device in SmartThings is considered a switch, and “on” indicates that the Powerwall is connected to the grid and “off” indicates a disconnect/power outage. You should be able to perform IFTTT actions based on this switch state. Please let me know if you run into issues – I can’t say I’ve fully tested the full integration here.
Great! I’ll test once I have a UPS installed for my server.
Here’s another thought- can you set up an internal trigger from the amount of charge in the PW? For example to automate a switch from Backup to Self Power at 75% change, or to Backup at 20%? I don’t trust the Tesla app to figure out how much charge I really need for backup.
You should be able do this with the WebCore Smart App if you’re willing to add it to your SmartThings tool kit. It’s the most sophisticated and simple-to-use (once you get the hang of it) GUI based home automation rules engine that I’m aware of, and you may find it useful for other purposes as well. Here’s a sample WebCore piston that I think would accomplish what you’re looking for:
I agree though, it’s nicer when options like this are directly controllable from the Powerwall Manager, so I’ll try to look at adding more of these types of features in the future.
Interesting – when I have some time I might try that.
In playing around with all the options, it’s not super clear to me how to get the exact behavior I want. I’m TOU in SCE (los angeles) and right now it’s pretty easy to have the PW setup so it’s in backup mode during the off peak times and Self Powered mode (with a high-ish reserve up until Peak) and then at Peak, lower the reserve.
That works fine, but during Peak, ideally I’d want the excess solar going back to the grid. When ever I turn on the Advanced settings, it seems to turn off the powerwall and grab power from the grid which is exactly what I don’t want. 😉
could it be that I have to run in Advanced mode for a few days for it to learn? my biggest concern is that mode won’t reserve enough energy to for TOU peak to end at 8pm or hold on to 10pm when the shoulder is done.
is there a way to force the PW to send to the house during peak and solar to the grid? I figure Advanced/Cost mode would do that but it doesn’t seem to.
I freaking love this, thank you!
You’re welcome! I appreciate the comment.
ok – I have a real feature request. in scheduling, I would like to have finer control of the reserve % amount. 25/50/75 isn’t where I want to set it. for example I was 55 or 60% on backup and 20 or 15% on discharge.
this single thing is the only bit in the tesla app that is better 😉
Yes, I’ll look at changing that so that you can enter any percentage of your choosing. Thank you for the suggestion!
I have a trouble shooting question. I have the schedule set to switch to backup at 10pm and it didn’t do it last night – my pw’s were still on self power at 6am. how do I troubleshoot this?
In the SmartThings IDE, “My Locations” tab, you can select smartapps and devices and view their event history. There might be at least some clue as to what it did or didn’t do last night in either the Powerwall Manager app or the Powerwall device history. You should see the command events in both the smart app and device event history. You can also view the Live Logging tab for more detailed logs, but you can only view real-time logs, there will unfortunately be no history in live logging from last night. The Live Logging information could be useful if you are able to recreate the problem on command.
thanks – I’ll check it out.
In the future, I plan on having the app verify and resubmit the command if it didn’t appear to work – and also then send a notification if the command still doesn’t take after a few retries. It’s been so stable for me, I just hadn’t prioritized that.
yet another feature request – is there a way to automate Storm Watch on and off? We are in a weather service alert and so over night my batteries topped off from the grid (yay!) but during the day I had them in self powered mode and with the batteries dropped below 90% or so it started to pull from the grid. during TOU peak – I’m glad I was watching the tesla app as suddenly I was pulling 10kW. I toggled off storm watch and it stopped. At 10pm when I am off peak, I’ll turn it back on.
Yes – that can be added without too much difficulty. I’ve put that on the list of future potential change requests here: https://github.com/DarwinsDen/SmartThingsPublic/projects/2