How does it work?
ChargeTesla is continuously reading the smart meter values and whenever there is surplus power available, it charges your Tesla with it.
What are the advantages of ChargeTesla vs a smart charging station with a solar charging function?
1. First of all, there is price. The smart meter costs about 60 – 140 euro (depending if you have 1 phase or 3 phases installed). It can be installed in 30 minutes (by yourself if you know what you’re doing, otherwise call an electrician). The app is free for now. A smart charging station with solar charging function + installation costs from 1,000 euro upwards.
2. Since ChargeTesla controls the car, not the charger, it can charge the car with as low as 1 ampere. That means about 230 watts for 1 phase, 700 watts for 3 phase. A smart charging station can only go as low as 1,380 watts for 1 phase or 4,140 watts for 3 phase. Often, the energy produced by the solar panels falls short of 1,380 / 4,140 watts. Why should we let this excess power go to waste by sending it to the grid?
3. Finally, from testing, it seems the results are better with ChargeTesla than a smart charging station.
How to install the smart meter?
This is a pretty simple procedure, but if you are not comfortable working with electricity, please call a licensed electrician.
You should follow the installation instructions from the manufacturer, but here are the main steps.
Turn of the power from the main breaker and from all the inverters.
Double check there is no voltage left anywhere in the system.
First you need to choose the spot where you install it. Use this scheme.
Make sure there is good Wi-Fi signal for the spot where you install the meter.
Get some electrical wires and strip at both ends.
Connect the voltage wire for each phase.
Connect the current transformer (the clamp) around each phase wire.
Only for 3 phase or split phase systems: make sure the voltage matches with current transformer (ie connect voltage for phase A, then make sure to mount clamp A on phase A, not a different phase).
Download the Shelly mobile app, create an account and add the smart meter to your account.
If you’ve installed your smart meter correctly, it should display negative readings when you’re sending surplus energy back to the power grid and positive readings when you’re consuming energy from the grid.
Once again, make sure the meter displays negative readings when you’re sending surplus energy back to the power grid. If it displays positive readings, you need to disconnect the clamp from the wire, rotate it 180 degrees and connect it again to the wire.
For Shelly EM only: make sure than only one clamp is connected (except for USA, where split-phase is used).
Make sure the meter is setup correctly, otherwise, the app won’t work properly.
After you started charge control, does it stop by itself?
ChargeTesla automatically turns off charge control in the following situations:
– when charging is complete
– if car is unplugged for 5 minutes
– after 72 hours of running continuously
– if Tesla is unresponsive to commands for a while or is offline (the app can’t communicate with car)
– if smart meter is offline for a while (the app can’t read meter values)
Can i use the Tesla app when charge control is on?
Yes, with some exceptions.
Do not try to start charging, stop charging or change amps manually from the Tesla app. These settings are actively controlled by ChargeTesla and if you change these settings, ChargeTesla will just change them back.
Otherwise, you can use your Tesla app as usual.
I have more than 1 car. How can i switch between cars?
First of all, congrats on being rich 😄
Tap on the car name and if there are multiple cars on your account it will cycle through all of them.
Also, you can control charging only for one car at a time.
Help! It doesn’t work!
Over 90% of problems are caused by wrong meter installation or poor internet connection.
The smart meter has to be set up correctly. When power is exported to grid, the meter should show negative values. This is the surplus power that the app uses to charge the car. Double check this value in the Shelly app and make sure the meter shows negative values when the inverter sends power to the grid. If it shows positive values, you need to disconnect the clamp, rotate it 180 degrees and connect it again to the wire. If the meter is not set right, it will not work.
The smart meter needs to be close enough to the Wi-Fi router. Sometimes, when there is a power outage, the meter restarts and fails to reconnect to internet. In this case, restarting the router helps. It also helps to update the meter to latest firmware.
The car needs to be connected to internet via Wi-Fi or cellular. Sometimes, the car is parked far from the Wi-Fi router but it still chooses to connect to Wi-Fi instead of cellular, leading to an unstable connection. You can try to turn off the Wi-Fi in the car in this case.
Finally, the internet connection itself could be unstable.
If you have questions about the app or encounter technical problems, you can contact us at support@chargetesla.app