Tesla Powerwall › gateway control board and firmware
Gateway never finishes commissioning, solar output stays zero
reported more than once
Symptoms
- Weeks after installation, with breakers on, Powerwalls showing online with WiFi, and inverters on, a new system still produces zero solar or draws far less combined output than its rated Powerwall count should allow
- Some owners find one of several Powerwalls was simply never commissioned
- Others hit an outright commissioning error ('sitemaster needs a default real mode') that blocks the first system start, or a network-setup screen that never completes
- A related pattern is a site split across gateways or a PV array sized for more Powerwalls than were installed, which shows up as brownouts or repeated shutdowns under load rather than zero output
- On a new Powerwall 3 with third-party solar the app shows a disconnected solar-only layout, excess solar exports instead of charging the battery, and the Powerwall charges only when the site is taken off-grid
Alerts and codes
Unable to start system: sitemaster needs a default real mode
The cause and the fix
Subscribers see the cause, the fixes that worked and who did them, part numbers and recent prices when a part is involved, and the field reports behind this entry.