As those who’ve made the leap can tell you, off-grid power is challenging to say the least. While it is possible to run a home on solar and wind, weather can quickly wreak havoc on your plans and can swiftly bring down even the best off-grid power setup.
One of the hardest things about going off the grid is finding a way to harness enough power to make the lifestyle realistic and affordable. While some people believe the answer is cutting consumption, renewable power billionaire Elon Musk thinks his Tesla Battery could hold the key to realistic Off-Grid Power.
Tesla Introduces their answer to Off-Grid power Storage
Elon Musk’s company Tesla is introducing a new energy storage solution that could revolutionize the renewable energy industry. The Powerwall, or Tesla Home Battery, is a wall-mounted energy storage unit — a rechargeable lithium-ion battery pack– that can hold 10 kilowatt hours of electric energy, and deliver it at an average of 2 kilowatts, all for US$3,500.
The Powerwall, by Tesla, is designed to hold a lithium-ion battery pack, liquid thermal control system, and software that receives dispatch commands from a solar inverter. It can be easily mounted on the wall and can even be integrated with the local grid for those who are just looking for an emergency backup power solution.
While Lithium battery technology isn’t exactly new, this will be the first time something of this scale will be introduced to the public. Musk says the problem with existing batteries is they “suck.” …” They are expensive and unreliable, stinky, ugly, bad in every way.”
Whether this is the ultimate solution to off-grid power storage is yet to be seen, but it is already sending shockwaves through the industry and causing others to bring newer battery technologies to the market – something that will help bring down the price of renewable energy technology and give more option to those who want to go off the grid.
Powerwall Specs:
- Mounting: Wall Mounted Indoor/Outdoor
- Inverter: Pairs with growing list of inverters
- Energy: 7 kWh or 10 kWh
- Continuous Power: 2 kW
- Peak Power: 3.3 kW
- Round Trip Efficiency: >92%
- Operating Temperature Range: -20C (-4F) to 43C (110F)
- Warranty: 10 years
- Dimensions: H: 1300mm W: 860mm D:180mm
Tesla claims their battery can provide a number of different benefits to the customer including:
- Load shifting – The battery can provide financial savings to its owner by charging during low rate periods when demand for electricity is lower and discharging during more expensive rate periods when electricity demand is higher
- Increasing self-consumption of solar power generation – The battery can store surplus solar energy not used at the time it is generated and use that energy later when the sun is not shining
- Back-up power – Assures power in the event of an outage
When can we expect the Powerwall to hit the Market?
The battery is already available for pre-order on the Tesla website, and is scheduled to start shipping within a few months. The Powerwall will be built right here in the United States at Musk’s new factory, the gigafactory, under construction currently in Nevada.
The unit will be available in 10kWh, optimized for backup applications or 7kWh optimized for daily use applications. They will be selling for $3500 for 10kWh and $3000 for 7kWh.