PiMatrix
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At least a few of us have given up on Sunrun ever doing a Charge Station Pro, CSP, or Home Integration System, HIS, install so this thread is dedicated to those trying to figure out what we can do ourselves with electrical inspection or hire an independent electrician. I know some of this has been discussed for months but there is a lot of contradictory advice on the boards and most of the marketing material by Ford and Sunrun does not give much technical detail on exactly how the system operates.
So here is my understanding of what each component does and what I see as the options for high rate charging and backup power.
1) Quick and Dirty approach. Use a cord from the truck 240V/30A bed to feed into a generator transfer switch and have 7200 watts available for backup. Least expensive approach for occasional outage. Those that have a generator already probably have this plug but may need to use an adapter or new plug and check wiring/breaker can handle the 7200 watts/240V/30A.
2) Ford Charge Station Pro Only. From what I understand this is not really a home AC to DC charger! The charging is actually done by the built in dual on-board 40 A (= 80 A) 19.2 KW chargers onboard the Extended range or single 9.6 KW charger in the standard range. 19.2 kW onboard gives 32 miles/hour charge. The CSP can be dip switched to take less current at 240v if you don't have 80 A/100 A ckt breaker capacity available. 48 amp will provide 20 mile/hr, 32 amp 13 mile/hr for the extended range. If you have the standard battery the numbers are 80A/19mph, 48A/19mph, 32A/14mph. So the CSP is maybe just a intelligent extension cord for the lightning
that monitors all in terms of charging the batteries.
CORRECTED 7/2: Besides supplying 240AC to the Lightnings built-in dual chargers (ER) the Siemens/Ford designed FCSP is actually bi-directional and will take the direct DC power out of the CCS connector and will feed it directly to the Home Integration system where it can be used for house backup after 400V DC to 240V AC inversion.
3) Home Integration system. The Model E4_BDI Delta-designed HIS takes the DC feed from the FCSP (that is provided by the bottom two prongs of the charging cord), and inverts that to 9600 watts, 240v, 40A. This will automatically happen if the HIS detects a power failure on the AC panel and will then backfeed backup power. The version of HIS sold also has a 2 input, 2 MPPT string inverter (DC to AC) for solar panels included. It also has a small battery to keep the HIS operational in event of grid power failure so it can do it's thing. Additional advantage is that the solar input can theoretically charge the Lightning if you don't already have a solar system. Not clear if one can do this during a grid outage. I think the model you can purchase from AEE or Ford only has 4kW string inverter for solar. The other 6, 8, and 10 kW models disappeared from the AEE website recently. This could have implications if you wish to use the string inverters for more than 4KW solar power. Sunrun is likely keeping those higher solar power inverter models to themselves for solar leases.
The HIS should be compatible with solar panels from anyone if you want to add solar in the future. The big promised advantage to be software enabled someday by Ford is the ability to charge the battery via GRID during low electricity cost usage and go off grid during high cost electricity periods....aka energy arbitrage! Of course this only works while your car is in the house but for the time periods it is this could be quite a profit center in some areas of the country where on and off-peak rates are very different.
If people who have already received delivery have the installation manuals for the CSP and HIS that will be useful. If anyone has clarification on above or more info please add to discussion.. I'm trying to get a tesla solar system installed at the same time so figuring out how HIS could potentially interact with that is another area I'm researching if anyone is doing the same. I'd like to have at least one Tesla powerwall and use the F150 as the energy backup storage of 10 powerwalls. There is a $70K bonus of storage potential in the Lightning if we can figure out how to untap it!
So here is my understanding of what each component does and what I see as the options for high rate charging and backup power.
1) Quick and Dirty approach. Use a cord from the truck 240V/30A bed to feed into a generator transfer switch and have 7200 watts available for backup. Least expensive approach for occasional outage. Those that have a generator already probably have this plug but may need to use an adapter or new plug and check wiring/breaker can handle the 7200 watts/240V/30A.
2) Ford Charge Station Pro Only. From what I understand this is not really a home AC to DC charger! The charging is actually done by the built in dual on-board 40 A (= 80 A) 19.2 KW chargers onboard the Extended range or single 9.6 KW charger in the standard range. 19.2 kW onboard gives 32 miles/hour charge. The CSP can be dip switched to take less current at 240v if you don't have 80 A/100 A ckt breaker capacity available. 48 amp will provide 20 mile/hr, 32 amp 13 mile/hr for the extended range. If you have the standard battery the numbers are 80A/19mph, 48A/19mph, 32A/14mph. So the CSP is maybe just a intelligent extension cord for the lightning
that monitors all in terms of charging the batteries.CORRECTED 7/2: Besides supplying 240AC to the Lightnings built-in dual chargers (ER) the Siemens/Ford designed FCSP is actually bi-directional and will take the direct DC power out of the CCS connector and will feed it directly to the Home Integration system where it can be used for house backup after 400V DC to 240V AC inversion.
3) Home Integration system. The Model E4_BDI Delta-designed HIS takes the DC feed from the FCSP (that is provided by the bottom two prongs of the charging cord), and inverts that to 9600 watts, 240v, 40A. This will automatically happen if the HIS detects a power failure on the AC panel and will then backfeed backup power. The version of HIS sold also has a 2 input, 2 MPPT string inverter (DC to AC) for solar panels included. It also has a small battery to keep the HIS operational in event of grid power failure so it can do it's thing. Additional advantage is that the solar input can theoretically charge the Lightning if you don't already have a solar system. Not clear if one can do this during a grid outage. I think the model you can purchase from AEE or Ford only has 4kW string inverter for solar. The other 6, 8, and 10 kW models disappeared from the AEE website recently. This could have implications if you wish to use the string inverters for more than 4KW solar power. Sunrun is likely keeping those higher solar power inverter models to themselves for solar leases.
The HIS should be compatible with solar panels from anyone if you want to add solar in the future. The big promised advantage to be software enabled someday by Ford is the ability to charge the battery via GRID during low electricity cost usage and go off grid during high cost electricity periods....aka energy arbitrage! Of course this only works while your car is in the house but for the time periods it is this could be quite a profit center in some areas of the country where on and off-peak rates are very different.
If people who have already received delivery have the installation manuals for the CSP and HIS that will be useful. If anyone has clarification on above or more info please add to discussion.
. I'm trying to get a tesla solar system installed at the same time so figuring out how HIS could potentially interact with that is another area I'm researching if anyone is doing the same. I'd like to have at least one Tesla powerwall and use the F150 as the energy backup storage of 10 powerwalls. There is a $70K bonus of storage potential in the Lightning if we can figure out how to untap it!Sponsored
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