Great article! I’m also a fan of Meter Collars. One improvement: the Tesla Backup Switch was released in 2021 to initially be paired with the Powerwall 2. It’s now compatible with Powerwall 3 and Cybertruck PowerShare.
Question, how did you track down that the Meter Collar will be part of the CPUC hearing on the 15th? I'm a big fan of the meter collar as an effective tool for connecting solar, or an EVSE (with the new ConnectDER product)
I writing up a note on CPUC proceedings to help other folks that are interested in tracking them. There is significant room for improvement. Other entities like the CEC, Legislature and CAISO, and our local CAC, PCE, are easier to interact with, but it is important for the public to try to stay engaged.
The topic came up in some discussion forum or other. I am ramping up how to track CPUC activity. I am planning a post collecting active CPUC proceedings; it may be a bit dry to read but it's part of me slowly catching up with the process.
Update - Meter Adapters are part of Agenda Item 47. I looked this morning at the HOLD list and it has been moved to June 12th.
I don't know how to find out these things except by going and looking at the files. The HOLD list seems to be published a few days before the meeting but I suspect anything can be changed at any time.
IANAE (I am not an electrician ... nor do I play one in TV) but... I *think* its like having a large subpanel available.
The big advantage is the installation. Even if the panel had space, this is much simpler. It also moves us towards a story that a friend calls "an energy cabinet": all the high loads go into the cabinet, including the PV and the storage, and the whole thing is self-adjusting and just connects to the existing service via the adaptor/collar. Ideally we would get to the situation where any consumer can just buy the components and plug them in, and everything is self-managed. A Copper stove is already something like that: it has an induction stove AND a battery AND it can do TOU charging, but it behaves just like any other 120V appliance, you buy it and plug it in. That's it.
(credit to Tom Kabat for the energy cabinet concept)
My storage only feeds my "critical loads" panel. AC, Electric Oven and maybe a few other circuits are tied direct to the grid (via a new Main panel) and go out when the grid is off.
It would be interesting if there was some kind of communication between the collar and the load panel that could provide internal load shedding when the grid is unavailable and the storage is being depleted. When I looked at the Tesla collar I couldn't figure out if such a thing was available. I heard that this might be possible but I couldn't confirm this. Otherwise, I wonder if the collars have connections that allow critical and nonceitical loads to be separated.
I think we will see more products with this type of functionality. Yesterday's CPUC Voting meeting was going to discuss the topic of Adaptors but it got delayed to the meeting on June 12th. It's part of the agenda topic on building decarbonization.
1) they can allow whole home backup on a meter combo panel (main breaker and load breakers in the same box common in western and southern states) without relocating loads.
2) they can offer an easy place to connect large loads(AC, EV, Heat Pump) without having to chase a circuit into an interior breaker panel.
Thanks for this article. Super clear and informative!
After learning more about this, I realize I should have separated isolating (micro-grid able) from non-isolating MSAs (meter socket adapters).
Isolating: Tesla Backup Switch. ConnectDER IslanDER. Enphase IQ Meter Collar
Non-Isolating: ConnectDER Solar, ConnectDER EV, SDG&E RMA.
Enphase can also be configured to work as non-isolating; it depends on whether the system has a battery included.
I think FranklinWH will rely on the aGate for the isolating part but, we will see.
The SPAN edge does not seem to have isolating capabilities. It's in a bit of a class of its own... I think.
Info on the SolarEdge Collar is scant.
Great article! I’m also a fan of Meter Collars. One improvement: the Tesla Backup Switch was released in 2021 to initially be paired with the Powerwall 2. It’s now compatible with Powerwall 3 and Cybertruck PowerShare.
Thanks, I have adjusted the post accordingly.
Question, how did you track down that the Meter Collar will be part of the CPUC hearing on the 15th? I'm a big fan of the meter collar as an effective tool for connecting solar, or an EVSE (with the new ConnectDER product)
I writing up a note on CPUC proceedings to help other folks that are interested in tracking them. There is significant room for improvement. Other entities like the CEC, Legislature and CAISO, and our local CAC, PCE, are easier to interact with, but it is important for the public to try to stay engaged.
The topic came up in some discussion forum or other. I am ramping up how to track CPUC activity. I am planning a post collecting active CPUC proceedings; it may be a bit dry to read but it's part of me slowly catching up with the process.
Very interesting and valuable.
Bringing visibility and understanding here is important.
Update - Meter Adapters are part of Agenda Item 47. I looked this morning at the HOLD list and it has been moved to June 12th.
I don't know how to find out these things except by going and looking at the files. The HOLD list seems to be published a few days before the meeting but I suspect anything can be changed at any time.
Other than lower installation costs are there advantages to collar based systems? Are there disadvantages compared to existing ATS based systems?
IANAE (I am not an electrician ... nor do I play one in TV) but... I *think* its like having a large subpanel available.
The big advantage is the installation. Even if the panel had space, this is much simpler. It also moves us towards a story that a friend calls "an energy cabinet": all the high loads go into the cabinet, including the PV and the storage, and the whole thing is self-adjusting and just connects to the existing service via the adaptor/collar. Ideally we would get to the situation where any consumer can just buy the components and plug them in, and everything is self-managed. A Copper stove is already something like that: it has an induction stove AND a battery AND it can do TOU charging, but it behaves just like any other 120V appliance, you buy it and plug it in. That's it.
(credit to Tom Kabat for the energy cabinet concept)
My storage only feeds my "critical loads" panel. AC, Electric Oven and maybe a few other circuits are tied direct to the grid (via a new Main panel) and go out when the grid is off.
It would be interesting if there was some kind of communication between the collar and the load panel that could provide internal load shedding when the grid is unavailable and the storage is being depleted. When I looked at the Tesla collar I couldn't figure out if such a thing was available. I heard that this might be possible but I couldn't confirm this. Otherwise, I wonder if the collars have connections that allow critical and nonceitical loads to be separated.
Need schematics I guess.
I don't know about the Tesla backup switch - I think it does not, unless you set up a subpanel, but I don't know. Check out https://energylibrary.tesla.com/docs/Public/EnergyStorage/Powerwall/3/InstallManual/BackupSwitch/en-us/GUID-DA68E71F-6987-4D93-A2A3-08812724D875.html
My understanding is that the Span Edge is intended for the situation you describe. The adaptor talks to the "Edge", which either controls the load directly or talks to the load to adjust its consumption. https://www.span.io/blog/span-expands-beyond-smart-electrical-panels-creating-new-category-of-at-the-meter-products
I think we will see more products with this type of functionality. Yesterday's CPUC Voting meeting was going to discuss the topic of Adaptors but it got delayed to the meeting on June 12th. It's part of the agenda topic on building decarbonization.
1) they can allow whole home backup on a meter combo panel (main breaker and load breakers in the same box common in western and southern states) without relocating loads.
2) they can offer an easy place to connect large loads(AC, EV, Heat Pump) without having to chase a circuit into an interior breaker panel.