Tesla Powerwall (Photo : Tesla Energy)
Tesla Energy founder and CEO Elon Musk has announced the development of money-saving battery backup products for home and industrial use.
Musk officially unveiled two Tesla battery backup solutions: Powerwall for homes and Powerpack for industrial use. He said both battery types could reduce electricity bills by up to 25 percent.
"We are talking about trying to change the fundamental energy infrastructure of the world," Musk said as he introduced the new batteries at Tesla Motors' facility in California.
The batteries come with a lithium-ion battery pack; a liquid thermal control system and software that receives dispatch commands from a solar inverter and is integrated with the local grid.
The rechargeable lithium-ion battery modules store electricity from solar panels and balance loads from the electricity grid. They charge during non-peak energy usage hours (usually after midnight) then power homes or factories during peak hours.
Tesla Energy will sell Powerwall, which is a complete battery backup for homes, in 7 kilowatt hour (kWh) and 10 kWh modules. Up to nine Powerwalls can be stacked to increase power at a home.
Musk said the wall-mounted Powerwall battery can store up to 10 kWh of solar and wind energy and provide power in the event of a black out.
He said certified installers could buy the 7 kWh pack for $3,000 and the larger pack for $3,500. Powerpack is sold in 100 kWh modules at $25,000 each. Musk said Tesla will work with industrial customers on their Powerpack installations.
Musk said his Tesla Energy batteries represent a move away from fossil fuels and are a "critical step in this mission to enable zero emission power generation".
"The issue with existing batteries is that they suck, they're really horrible," said Musk as quoted by The Telegraph. "We have to come up with a solution, that's the missing piece that's needed to have a proper transition to a sustainable energy world."
The backup battery systems will allow home and facility owners to practice what Musk called "energy arbitrage," or buying energy at cheaper rates during non-peak hours and using it during more expensive peak rate hours.
Musk said Powerwall will work best for homes with solar panels since it can store excess energy and make use of it at night. A home with a Powerwall and solar panels could become "grid-independent."
Musk said Powerwall-equipped houses will become "micro-grids." He noted that Powerwall is "beautiful and is really easy to fit in your garage or house."
Full-scale production of both products will begin after Tesla's Gigafactory battery manufacturing facility is completed in 2016. Homeowners will need to go through a certified installer to get the Powerwall unit, however.
Deliveries are to begin this summer. The propducts can be ordered at www.TeslaEnergy.com.
