Tesla's Elon Musk introduces 'beautiful' money-saving home battery backup system
Tesla's Elon Musk introduces 'beautiful' money-saving
home battery backup system
The Powerwall for homes and Powerpack for businesses can
store energy from solar panels and help you save on energy bills.
by Wayne Cunningham April 30, 2015 9:43 PM PDT
LOS ANGELES -- Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk on Thursday
officially announced two battery backup products, one for homes and one for
industrial use, at an event at the company's Southern California design studio.
The lithium-ion battery modules can store electricity
from solar panels and serve to balance loads from the grid, charging up during
non-peak energy usage hours, then providing energy to a home or facility during
peak hours.
Homeowners will be able to get the module called the
Powerwall, which Tesla will sell in 7- and 10 kilowatt-hour modules. Musk said
that certified installers could buy the smaller pack for $3,000 and the larger
pack for $3,500. (UK and Australian details were not announced.)
For industrial applications, Tesla will offer the Powerpack,
sold in 100-kilowatt-hour modules at $25,000 each. Musk said that Tesla would
work with industrial customers on these installations. The battery backup
systems come under a new product line at Tesla called Tesla Energy.
To this point, Tesla has been known as an automaker,
producing electric-powered cars such as the Model S sedan, which also use
lithium-ion batteries. In that role, it has proved to be a catalyst for change
in the car business, as a number of major automakers over the last several years
have unveiled their own electric vehicles. Tesla's entrance into the
home-charging business could spark a similar trend in that realm.
Tesla's new Powerwall product comes
in 7- and 10 kilowatt-hour modules, and works as a complete battery back-up for
homes. Tesla surely wouldn't mind if you also owned one of its Model S sedans.
The new power modules could provide energy to a house or
facility during a blackout, and allow home and facility owners to practice what
Musk called "energy arbitrage," buying energy at cheaper rates during
non-peak hours and using it during higher rate hours. Musk said that the
Powerwall will work best for homes with solar panels, as it can store excess
energy captured by the panels and make use of it during night-time hours. A
home with a Powerwall and solar panels could be "grid-independent."
Musk described Powerwall-equipped houses as "micro-grids."
Many homeowners with solar panels currently sell excess
energy to utilities, but Tesla's chief technology officer, J.B. Straubel, said
that it isn't always a financially efficient arrangement, as utilities buy the
energy at wholesale rates then sell it back at retail.
The idea of battery backup systems for homes and industry
is not new, with companies such as Egen, Alevo and Enphase Energy already in
the space. Although the energy storage industry was valued at only $200 million
in 2012, it is expected to grow to $19 billion by 2017, according to research
firm IHS Cambridge Energy Research Associates.
Musk said that Tesla's products come at a lower price
than competitors, and gushed that the Powerwall is "beautiful and is
really easy to fit in your garage or house." He went on to say that it is
an integrated system, combining thermal management and an inverter, "that
just works."
Tesla is already working with industrial customers on
installing its Powerpack modules. The company is now taking orders for the
Powerwall units, according to Musk, and will begin limited production later
this year. Full-scale production will begin after Tesla's Gigafactory battery
manufacturing facility has been completed next year. Homeowners will need to go
through a certified installer to get the Powerwall unit.
Comments
Post a Comment