Tesla Powerwall Overloaded During an Outage: What to Do
"Powerwall Overloaded" means that during a power outage your home is pulling more power than Powerwall can give. Turning off high-power items may clear it, and Powerwall retries on its own within about 2 minutes.
What it means
During a grid outage, Powerwall is running your home. When the home asks for more power than Powerwall can give, it shows this alert.
Powerwall tries again on its own within about 2 minutes, so turn off high-power items before it does.
What you can safely try
These steps may help Powerwall carry the home again:
- Turn off high-power items.
- Wait about 2 minutes for Powerwall to retry on its own.
- Watch the app. If it shows Low Energy While Off-Grid, the battery is low; cut power use right away.
If the battery runs all the way down, you may see Waiting for Grid (wait for grid power) or Waiting for Solar (see our Waiting for Solar guide).
If the app shows Grid Outage, the grid is down and Powerwall is running the home. Turning off big loads such as a pool pump, oven, dryer or extra air conditioning stretches backup time.
When to stop and call
Stop and call us if:
- Powerwall keeps overloading even with big loads off.
- The app shows Breaker Open, any Backup Switch Fault or Lockout, or Powerwall Disabled.
- A Powerwall 3 shows a flashing red light, or a Powerwall 2 or Powerwall+ shows a flashing light.
- A burning smell, smoke, sparks, heat, buzzing, melting, water on or in equipment, or visible damage: stay away from the equipment, keep children and pets away, call 911 if there is smoke or fire, and book an urgent technician visit.
More error code help
More Tesla alerts are in our guide to Tesla Powerwall app alerts, and every brand is in our solar and battery error codes guide.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does Powerwall Overloaded mean?
During an outage, the home is pulling more than Powerwall can give. Turning off high-power items may clear it.
How long until Powerwall tries again after an overload?
Powerwall retries on its own within about 2 minutes. Turn off high-power items before it does.
What should I turn off during a Powerwall outage?
When the app shows Grid Outage, turn off big loads such as a pool pump, oven, dryer or extra air conditioning to stretch backup time. When it shows Powerwall Overloaded, turn off high-power items.
What does Low Energy While Off-Grid mean?
The battery is low during an outage. Cut power use right away.
What if Powerwall shows a Backup Switch fault or Breaker Open?
Those alerts need a licensed technician, with no homeowner steps. Book a diagnostic visit.
Send Sunny a photo
Not sure which alert you are looking at? Sunny, the chat assistant on this site, can read a photo of the screen. Open the chat on this page, tap the paperclip, and send a photo of your app or the equipment screen. Sunny answers day or night, tells you what the alert generally means and whether there is a safe step to try, and can take your address and a good time for a technician if one is needed.
Book a diagnostic
If the alert keeps coming back, or the steps above do not clear it, book a $395 on-site diagnostic visit. A licensed technician looks at the system and you get a written report with photos. Call or text (813) 285-4505, or request a visit on our solar repair page or our contact page. To keep a working system in good shape, see our solar maintenance plans.
About us: Fused Solar and Roofing is a licensed electrical, roofing and building contractor (EC13014750, CCC1331058, CBC1252064) serving Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco and Manatee counties since 2007, and a Tesla Certified Installer.
