Tesla Wants to Build a Battery for Your House

[inetdog]

As long as that light isn't another train coming at them.

Or, as Mark The Radical said to a senator in the Doonesbury comic strip, "I don't see how you can keep digging yourself deeper into a hole and calling it a tunnel."

[SunEagle]

Looks like the market agreed with you.

Actually that is sad news. I really wanted them to perfect the system and get the price down so us joe blows could afford one.

I understand that the new battery plant in Nevada is producing (or assembling) the smaller 6.4kWh PowerWall system. There is also a number of places like Australia and Germany that are really interested in getting those battery systems so Tesla may see the light at the end of the tunnel.

As long as that light isn't another train coming at them.

[inetdog]

That 10 kw system is also designed as a "backup" power source and can't be discharged on a daily basis. It comes down to being a very expensive generator that can run a few hours maybe a couple a days a week at most. Much cheaper to get a whole house emergency generator which will last longer and provide much more in the way of kWh each time it is used. ------------------------And yes based on Tesla's battery chemistry they need to use cooling or those puppies will over heat and probably cause a fire.

Looks like the market agreed with you.

[inetdog]

As of today, Tuesday, March 22, 2016, Tesla has apparently discontinued the low cycle 10kW storage Power Wall model. Sales were not high enough to justify it, since apparently nobody saw any good use for a battery with less than 50 cycles before end of life.
No announcement on whether a re-engineered large battery pack is in development, so for now the high capacity solution is two or more of the smaller 3000 cycle units.

[ButchDeal]

One detail I find interesting is that they include an external autotransformer in the design so that the standard 240V output of the inverter can be connected to a split phase 120/240 three wire system. It appears that that transformer is part of the base price of the system.
For a pure GTI the balancing of the two legs to provide for 120V loads would be the responsibility of the grid.

It is optional and only required if backup is required. If you only want to load shift it isn't needed

[inetdog]

more info from SolarEdge on the arrangement of disconnects etc:
http://www.solaredge.us/files/pdfs/p...tasheet_na.pdf

One detail I find interesting is that they include an external autotransformer in the design so that the standard 240V output of the inverter can be connected to a split phase 120/240 three wire system. It appears that that transformer is part of the base price of the system.
For a pure GTI the balancing of the two legs to provide for 120V loads would be the responsibility of the grid.

[ButchDeal]

more info from SolarEdge on the arrangement of disconnects etc:

http://www.solaredge.us/files/pdfs/products/StorEdge/se_storedge_inverter_datasheet_na.pdf

[SunEagle]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesla_Powerwall With the small charge and discharge currents (less than 0.5C) I'm surprised they need liquid cooling. I was wrong, the voltage is 350-450 & price is $3500 for 10kw. To build a similar, but much safer, battery I'd use 130, 24AH LIFEPO4 cells. The challenges are the DC to DC converter & communication to the Solaredge inverter.

That 10 kw system is also designed as a "backup" power source and can't be discharged on a daily basis. It comes down to being a very expensive generator that can run a few hours maybe a couple a days a week at most. Much cheaper to get a whole house emergency generator which will last longer and provide much more in the way of kWh each time it is used. ------------------------And yes based on Tesla's battery chemistry they need to use cooling or those puppies will over heat and probably cause a fire.

[Jerry Liebler]

tesla powerwall

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesla_Powerwall

With the small charge and discharge currents (less than 0.5C) I'm surprised they need liquid cooling. I was wrong, the voltage is 350-450 & price is $3500 for 10kw.
To build a similar, but much safer, battery I'd use 130, 24AH LIFEPO4 cells. The challenges are the DC to DC converter & communication to the Solaredge inverter.

[Jerry Liebler]

thinking of going solar.

may eventually get a energy storage as well.

but any thoughts on which inverter would work best to hook up in the future with it?

would the SolarEdge inverter be good for the PowerWall?
or string or
micro inverters?

Tesla has anounced they are "partnering" with inverter manufacturers, Solaredge and Fronius.
Solaredge has said they will offer "upgrades" of their inverters to work with the "Powerwall." I also read that the Powerwall battery operates between 350 and 400 volts and "Powerwall" includes a variable DC to DC converter to provide a "fixed" output voltage. It is interesting that Solar edge single phase inverters use a DC input of 350 volts.
For these and other reasons my new system will use Solaredge.
I'm planning a 12kw system and the Solar edge "stuff" is less than $0.41/watt. even using 250 watt panels.

[DanKegel]

No sense talking about it until it's actually on the market, but in general, this is a question you need to discuss with your installer. It's easier to integrate storage right from the start than to add it later.

I wouldn't get storage unless it saved me money. (And I'm a hardcore environmentalist!)
What's your power company, and how much do they charge per kWh?

At the moment, storage only makes financial sense in a few areas (e.g. Hawaii
and Australia). But over the next few years, more and more utilities will reduce their solar incentives
and increase their rates, and price of storage will come down, to the point where storage makes financial sense.

[Sunking]

thinking of going solar.may eventually get a energy storage as well.but any thoughts on which inverter would work best to hook up in the future with it?would the SolarEdge inverter be good for the PowerWall?or string or micro inverters?

There are no inverters for it.

[na9an]

which inverter to use if interested in PowerWall / storage

thinking of going solar.

may eventually get a energy storage as well.

but any thoughts on which inverter would work best to hook up in the future with it?

would the SolarEdge inverter be good for the PowerWall?
or string or
micro inverters?

[SunEagle]

This is a very good idea but it will be very costly especially it's Tesla who'll create it. Does anyone know if this project has been completed already? I'd like to read more about this, interesting stuff..

Tesla has received thousands of orders for their Powerall home battery system. I do not believe any have been built yet although Tesla is still working on their final or revised product. Still some time before it becomes available to use. There are other companies that are marketing their own home energy storage system. They are also very expensive.

[roxanwright]

This is a very good idea but it will be very costly especially it's Tesla who'll create it. Does anyone know if this project has been completed already? I'd like to read more about this, interesting stuff..