Tesla founder Elon Musk just unveiled Tesla Energy, an ambitious plan to power the world with a new design of home battery called the Powerwall, with the aim of making more consumers less dependent on the grid.
The newly designed Powerwall, produced at Tesla's new Nevada Gigafactory, will be available in "three or four months" via various installation partners. It will cost around $3500 — and can theoretically be scaled "infinitely," Musk says, all the way up to industrial and utility level. The larger server-sized, industrial-level battery will be called a Powerpack.
The Tesla PowerPack can house up to nine Powerwall modules (Click Image To Enlarge)
Musk told a press conference at the Tesla Design Center on Thursday night.
"Our goal is to fundamentally change the way the world uses energy. It sounds crazy, but we want to change the entire energy infrastructure of the world to zero carbon."
The 10 kilowatt-hour Powerwall, available in a range of colors, functions best as a system of storage for solar power. But Musk points out it will also work for non-solar consumers in cases of power outage — as well as allowing them to avoid drawing on outside electricity during peak periods, when utility prices are highest.
Musk said.
"It provides security, freedom and peace of mind."
Musk added, "all we need" is to roll out 2 billion Powerwalls to meet the energy needs of the entire world, and that the poorest communities with no power lines will benefit the most.
Musk admitted of the 2 billion figure,
"That seems like a crazy number, but it’s comparable to the number of cars and trucks on the road [around the world] — and they get completely refreshed every 20 years."
Based on the Tesla Model S battery, but redesigned from the ground up, the Powerwall is a 6-in. thick, 3 ft. by 4 ft design intended to fit within a regular electricity substation. Must says,
"It looks awesome."
The Powerwall will be connected to the Internet, Musk says, to allow for the creation of local smart grids. Up to 9 devices representing 90 kilowatt hours can be stacked per home. The Powerpack, however, is intended to scale up all the way to maximum industrial usage.
Musk has a stake in a California solar power company called Solar City — but has lined up a number of installation partners around the country including Treehouse, Solar Edge and Green Mountain Power.
These partners will also lease the Powerwall so that consumers don't have to pay the $3,500 cost up front. Musk says the Powerwall is designed to be installed in "under an hour," so labor costs should be minimal.
The product will also be launched in Germany, a solar-friendly country, before the end of the year, Musk said.
For the technically minded, here's a list of specs on the Powerwall:
- Mounting: Wall Mounted Indoor/Outdoor
- Inverter: Pairs with growing list of inverters
- Energy: 7kWh or 10kWh
- Continuous Power: 2kW
- Peak Power: 3kW
- Round Trip Efficiency: >92%
- Operating Temperature Range: -20C (-4F) to 43C (110F)
- Warranty: 10 years
- Dimensions: H: 1300mm W: 860mm D:180mm
COMMENTARY: Tesla's entry into house batteries casts a stronger spotlight on the viability of the huge Nevada gigafactory and the companys business plans.
A house battery in every garage. That's the dream scenario for Tesla Motors — with apologies to Henry Ford — now that the electric car company is expected to officially unveil the newest addition to its product portfolio on Thursday.
The question now is, will consumers bite?
For stock watchers, the Tesla storage batteries' ability to store energy for powering homes and businesses adds another line in the company's list of potential moneymaking opportunities alongside its high-tech electric cars. For Nevadans, the storage batteries further crystallize Tesla's business strategy behind its $5 billion gigafactory just east of Reno.
Occupying about 1,000 acres in the Nevada high desert, the gigafactory will span 5 million square feet once finished. The giant battery factory will have such an enormous footprint and manufacturing capacity that Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk claims it will be larger than all lithium-ion battery plants in the world combined.
It's also gigantic in one more sense.
The gigafactory is the recipient of the largest incentive package ever given by Nevada at $1.3 billion, which followed a hotly contested tax incentive bidding war between various states to land the Tesla battery plant. For the investment to pay off, Tesla needs to convince hundreds of thousands of consumers per year to buy its cars and battery products, with the gigafactory serving as a cornerstone to the company's sales strategy.
The idea behind the gigafactory boils down to using large-scale manufacturing to bring battery costs down. The production scale will make it possible for the company to achieve a 30 percent reduction in battery pack costs for the upcoming Model 3 — the first Tesla car aimed at the mass market. During an appearance at the 39th Automotive News World Congress earlier this year, Musk said it was "guaranteed" that the gigafactory would drive down the cost of its battery packs.
Musk said, eliciting laughs from the audience.
"If it doesn't, I should definitely be fired."
Courtesy of an article dated May 1, 2015 appearing in Mashable and an article dated April 30, 2015 appearing in RGJ
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