Generator interlock kit and power inlet receptacle install - thoughts?

[MajorVictory]

Two friends had an electrician hook up their portable generators ( a Briggs gas and an electric battery I recall anker or solis?) to their home in the event of a grid outage.

I asked him for a quote and explained the CT PowerShare/bed outlet.

$800/thoughts?

RE: Generator Interlock Kit
Thank you for the opportunity to bid the above project. This proposal is based on information obtained during our
recent onsite meeting.
This contract proposal includes labor and material to complete the following:
• Provide and install (1) mechanical interlock kit for outdoor Square D 200-amp Homeline main electric panel.
• Provide and install (1) 50-amp generator power inlet receptacle in garage
• Provide (1) 15’ 50-amp generator power cord.
Items excluded from this proposal:
• Any and all drywall, concrete or asphalt cutting, patching, painting and refinishing.
• Any and all permit fees. If applicable.
• Engineer’s Drawings, Construction Drawings and Engineer’s fees. If applicable.
Terms and Conditions:
• This contract proposal is only for the scope of work as described above. Any other work will result in
additional costs.
• Upgrade of any material included will be subject to an increased cost based on the material’s cost difference
and any increase in labor to install.
• We reserve the right to correct this quote for errors and omissions.
• All work to be completed during regular business hours, Monday through Friday 8:00 am to 4:00 pm.
• This proposal is valid for 30 days and is based on present conditions. Any changes to the job conditions
including hidden and unforeseen conditions that affect this proposal will result in an increased cost based on
the impact of the changed condition.

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[theoldguy]

That is a great idea and an excellent price. Just keep in mind that you will need to do your own load shedding since this is essentially a manual transfer setup. What that means is that you will need to physically turn off breakers or devices to mange the load/s connected to your Cybertruck, and you will need a method to know when the utility power comes back on.

I really like the idea of having the option of connecting a 50 amp portable generator, or the 50 amp Cybertruck with the same cord and receptacle. You might want to consider a longer cord so that you could disconnect from the truck and reconnect to a genny if you have an extended outage.

Good luck and let us know how it goes

 

[Feathermerchant]

I installed the interlock myself. I'm planning to use the CT as backup if necessary. It is the best choice for me.
My loads are small and I'm sure the CT can handle them all but I can shed as necessary..

 

[Texarado]

This is consistent-ish with my price. Mine was a few years ago and around 480. Then I had to buy pieces to make a cable. All in I was upper 5s. Factor in inflation and it’s close.

 

[SteelyMcSteelFace]

I had a generator inlet & interlock installed a few years ago for a tri-fuel generator I got, hooked up to my natural gas line. Recently I also got the Tesla gateway/wall connector installed in preparation for the CT. Normally you have two options for backup type when you get PowerShare installed: partial or full home backup. If you want to keep your generator inlet, I was told you need to do the full home backup option. The Tesla gateway is wired up "upstream" of your circuit breaker panel, i.e. between the grid and your circuit breaker.

How it works is if there's a power outage and your CT is plugged in, you'll have brief outage but then the gateway will wake up your CT and automatically start sending power to the house. If you don't want to power the house from the CT (or it's not home during the outage) then you flip the interlock switch which disconnects your house from both grid power and the Tesla gateway (and your CT). Then, you can fire up your generator to power the house and optionally recharge the CT if you plug in a mobile charger directly to the generator.

It's a good system. For short outages you don't have to do anything, the CT kicks in automatically. For longer outages you still have the generator.

 

[MajorVictory]

Thanks for all the feedback so far.

I have a modest sized home with only one A/C unit and no kids at home to flip on the microwave/washer/dryer or hair dryers by accident while on CT backup. Just one a/c, refrigerator and some LED lights should be handled no problem in the event of a storm grid outage, not uncommon here.

The $4k or so quoted by the mandated Tesla installer for my free/included gateway/charger is ridiculous for MY needs at this time, hence the above solution.

If/when Tesla releases the hardware for my reasonable electrician to install if I find this generator solution lacking, I may consider.

For now, going outside to flip off the main breaker over to my CT power and staying conscious of what not to use during the outage seems well worth the $800, if not as convenient.

 

[NoTime]

This may not work depending on how the ground fault protection on the cybertruck is set up. A setup like this won't currently work with the Ford Lightning for that reason.
The neutral and ground are bonded at your service equipment and that bond doesn't allow all of the current flowing out of the inverter to return to it, so the ground fault circuit sees that as a "leak" and trips the protective feature.

 

[MajorVictory]

This may not work depending on how the ground fault protection on the cybertruck is set up. A setup like this won't currently work with the Ford Lightning for that reason.
The neutral and ground are bonded at your service equipment and that bond doesn't allow all of the current flowing out of the inverter to return to it, so the ground fault circuit sees that as a "leak" and trips the protective feature.

I wondered about this but there is a post by Drew Baglino at Tesla on X before his resignation that said you can just use the 50amp outlet in the bed as a generator...in so many words. I will try to find that quote.

 

[Woodrick]

Two friends had an electrician hook up their portable generators ( a Briggs gas and an electric battery I recall anker or solis?) to their home in the event of a grid outage.

I asked him for a quote and explained the CT PowerShare/bed outlet.

$800/thoughts?

RE: Generator Interlock Kit
Thank you for the opportunity to bid the above project. This proposal is based on information obtained during our
recent onsite meeting.

including hidden and unforeseen conditions that affect this proposal will result in an increased cost based on
the impact of the changed condition.

This works if and only if, the generator or truck can sustain the load.
You mention a 50A load, is that a 120V or 240V generator. If 240V, that's a 12kW generator and would be similar in size to what the Cybertruck can provide.
If it is 120V, that's a relatively small 5kW generator that probably can't handle the house.

But if you are expecting to us the NEMA 14-50 on the truck to power the house, I don't believe that it can be done. From my understanding, the Cybertruck doesn't provide the same 240V that's needed for the house. Specifically it ONLY provides 240V and doesn't provide the neutral to provide that two 120V feeds that your home needs. That's actually one of the pieces in the PowerShare equipment.

Seeing that these solutions may be underpowered, you probably won't be able to run your entire house, especially the higher current things like heating and air conditioning or electric stoves and ranges. So you have to make sure that you throw the breakers off for these devices.

 

[CyberTally]

This works if and only if, the generator or truck can sustain the load.
You mention a 50A load, is that a 120V or 240V generator. If 240V, that's a 12kW generator and would be similar in size to what the Cybertruck can provide.
If it is 120V, that's a relatively small 5kW generator that probably can't handle the house.

But if you are expecting to us the NEMA 14-50 on the truck to power the house, I don't believe that it can be done. From my understanding, the Cybertruck doesn't provide the same 240V that's needed for the house. Specifically it ONLY provides 240V and doesn't provide the neutral to provide that two 120V feeds that your home needs. That's actually one of the pieces in the PowerShare equipment.

Seeing that these solutions may be underpowered, you probably won't be able to run your entire house, especially the higher current things like heating and air conditioning or electric stoves and ranges. So you have to make sure that you throw the breakers off for these devices.

The 240 Volt power from the Cybertruck charging port does not have a neutral conductor. It's my understanding that you need a Powershare Gateway and a Tesla Wall connector for this scenario.

However, the NEMA 14-50 receptacle in the Cybertruck vault is marked as 120/240V which would indicate a neutral conductor. I verified the existence of a neutral conductor with a voltmeter.

 

[SoFloCT]

Hey guys, I have this generator inlet at my house. How can I tell if I have an interlock kit?

If I get a 14-30 to NEMA 14-50 generator cord am I good to go? (Will get a electrian involved before blowing myself up but want to understand what I’m working with. Thanks CT fam!

 

[TCT2024]

Two friends had an electrician hook up their portable generators ( a Briggs gas and an electric battery I recall anker or solis?) to their home in the event of a grid outage.

I asked him for a quote and explained the CT PowerShare/bed outlet.

$800/thoughts?

Having done exactly this, my thoughts are "great idea!" and the price sounds very reasonable (and they're throwing in a 15' cable for you!). I have a 50 amp generator inlet + interlock, and it works perfectly well with my CT. Power went out a week ago in mid-90s heat, and the CT powered everything "normal" in the house including TVs, laptops, lights (LEDs), wifi, etc. as well as a 3-ton A/C unit with no problem (CT reported about ~4KW being used out of the 9.6KW capacity).

For me it works really well as I didn't have to bother with expensive transfer panels, picking breakers to move over, and dealing with installation limits for higher-current breakers. I don't mind keeping an eye on what's on, and making sure we're not baking turkeys during power outages.

One callout --> if you do have big things like ovens/ACs/heaters, check the LRA rating before turning on and make sure it's under the CT's 110 LRA rating.

Bonus: If you ever sell your house, you'd be able to call it "generator ready" as you can just as easily plug a gas generator into the outlet.

This may not work depending on how the ground fault protection on the cybertruck is set up. A setup like this won't currently work with the Ford Lightning for that reason.
The neutral and ground are bonded at your service equipment and that bond doesn't allow all of the current flowing out of the inverter to return to it, so the ground fault circuit sees that as a "leak" and trips the protective feature.

I went from an F-150 Lightning to a CT and can confirm both (A) the neutral-bonded ground was definitely an issue with the Lightning for this kind of generator inlet/interlock setup and (B) the CT does NOT have the same issue - I plugged it right it in and it worked just fine.

FWIW, you can get around it with the F-150 a few different ways depending on your views on doing things "by the book" vs. spending money on more equipment.

 

[jameskk]

There is a video I saw on YT recently where a guy is using this method to power an off-grid farm from his CT.

 

[Woodrick]

Hey guys, I have this generator inlet at my house. How can I tell if I have an interlock kit?

If I get a 14-30 to NEMA 14-50 generator cord am I good to go? (Will get a electrian involved before blowing myself up but want to understand what I’m working with. Thanks CT fam!

I'm going to guess that's not connected to an interlock, it's connected to a transfer switch. It could be manual or automatic.

An Interlock is going to be a "contraption" connected to your main panel or possibly outside that you will have to throw to engage the power.
A transfer switch is going to be a box, probably mounted next to your panel and probably having some breakers inside of it.

The transfer switch should switch automatically.

 

[SoFloCT]

Just successfully tested using CT as a generator with a 75 foot cord to my 50 amp inlet. Worked like a charm.

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