Tesla Powerwall Follow-Up; New Details Cast Some Minor Doubt

[dgstorm]

Here at HQ we are pretty excited about the new Powerwall from Tesla Energy that was just announced last week, but that doesn't mean there aren't some negatives to the new tech. Some new details have come to light suggesting the initial version will not be quite as disruptive as originally thought.

First, Tesla's solar energy company, Solar City isn't ready to endorse the Powerwall for use with their systems yet. Apparently, this first iteration wasn't designed to offer anything useful to Solar City customers because existing regulations allow users to sell unused energy back to the power companies. This means that the economics of the Powerwall simply do not yet make sense when used with the Solar City solar energy technology.

The second detail which throws a bit of shade on the Powerwall is that only the smaller 7kWh is designed for everyday use. According to reports, the 10kWh version isn't designed to go through more than about 50 charging cycles a year. The only advantage of this version of the Powerwall for folks with the Solar City tech would be as a battery backup device.

Of course, for the average homeowner who does not have a solar panel setup for their home, the 7kWr Powerwall is still an affordable way to lower energy costs, it's simply ironic that Elon Musk's own Solar City solar power tech company isn't ready to use the tech with their existing systems.

Source: Yahoo!

 

[leeshor]

I guess that could get more confusing, but I don't know how.

 

[GreyFox7]

Either way we're *powerless* to do anything about it.

 

[Johnny365]

What exactly is this supposed to be? I read that it's sold out until 2016, but don't know what it is. Battery pack for your electronics? house? generator? electric car?

 

[leeshor]

It's intended, at least one of them in particular, to store power from solar cells to be used for current to power at least a part of your home. But I agree that it's more than a little confusing.

 

[dgstorm]

That's not completely accurate Leeshor. The Powerwall is not specifically designed to store power from solar cells specifically (although one of the versions of it can be used with solar tech). It's actually meant to be used with existing regular home systems. The idea is that it stores power during off peak times, when electricity is cheaper, and then you use it to power your house during peak times so you effectively paid less for peak-hour usage, lowering your monthly electric bills.

 

[leeshor]

Yeah I left part of that out, but since we don't have peak and off peak rates where I am that doesn't help much.

 

[dgstorm]

Yeah... that is a bummer. It makes the Powerwall almost useless without solar if your electric company uses tiered rates instead of peak and off peak rates.