Tesla Wants to Build a Battery for Your House

[Ian S]

I enjoy visiting California, but I have never lived there.

Me too!

[Amy@altE]

I don't know if I'll get this thing, or if I'll need it.. or even want it.. maybe version 2.0, or a competitors product... but I sure love reading about it and learning about what is out there.. what options we have.. good, bad or otherwise....

[Stuntman]

Why argue....

Regarding this current line of discussion...

I wonder why there is always so much hostility out there.. in here.. wherever.. Apple vs. Microsoft.. Democrat vs. Republic.. us vs. them.. me vs. you... I'd love just open discussion.. I live in California.. have lived nearly my whole life here.. for the most part it has been pretty great.. but I've also lived in Ireland, Taiwan, Japan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Illinois.. all those places were pretty special too.. Not going to hate on anybody that is from there, lives there or would like to move to those places..

Likewise.. A battery system.. pretty cool to look at, has some neat functionality.. do I want it, do you? Should I get it, or should you? Should you getting it be an issue for me, or vice versa? I'd like to think not..

Here in Sunny California our power utility is telling us how excited they are about Solar and alternative ways to allow less dependance on the grid.. but the fact that more and more of us are actually doing it is causing them and the agencies that use that income to fund themselves considerable stress.. My current solar system generates almost as much as I use in a given year.. this has been acceptable and a benefit to me.. but now I hear grumblings from Edison that enough of us are now staying out of the expensive tiers that they may need to increase the cost of Tier 1 by 45%! I live in an all electric home.. no gas for anything... without the solar panels, I was shooting through tier one in a couple/few days just existing in the house with my family.. Now would a battery or set of batteries possibly allow me to fill in that gap in my generation vs. usage? Maybe.. but if the rates for that small amount I use from Edison keeps going up, as I'm sure it will as more of us use less of it.. then the idea of it as a product and as something I'll be looking into becomes very real. Will I buy this Tesla product? I don't know.. but it seems as if more than one company is seeing things change and looking to find a way to both modernize and improve as well as market and educate.. are they doing it to make themselves rich or richer, probably, but I still believe there is some altruism out there too, and this idea of becoming less dependent on fossil fuels seems like a good one.. climate change or not...

I don't know if I'll get this thing, or if I'll need it.. or even want it.. maybe version 2.0, or a competitors product... but I sure love reading about it and learning about what is out there.. what options we have.. good, bad or otherwise....

[donald]

A know it all that knows nothing from fruitcake California -

I enjoy visiting California, but I have never lived there.

[donald]

...............
I would rather have a "wait and see" attitude before I blindly opened my wallet to buy something exciting and new that is more promise then reality.

I haven't suggested anyone "open their wallet". If I had to pick an off grid system today it would be FLA based. But it's also clear to me that we are at the end of FLA technology for ubiquitous use in renewable applications. What's exciting currently is that there are finally credible products from significant companies. The path with no real changes has been remarkably long.

No need to pick a winner, the market will sort it out.

[SunEagle]

I'm starting to be concerned you have had a stroke. Let's look at the number again: $3000, 7kwh, 10-20 year life.

My grandfather argued for many years with my great grandfather about replacing plow horses with a tractor on the farm. Both were very smart men. In the early years, my ggrandfather's arguments in favor of plow horses were probably valid.

By the end of this decade, people living off grid will be buying battery subsystems, not FLA batteries. You have expertise in FLA batteries exactly because they suck. What people want in their off grid homes are batteries that work, not a science project.

Back in the 80's when there was an oil embargo everyone and his brother started to provide some form of energy saving device. There were these "black boxes" where they claimed would save on electrical usage and scrap wood burning furnaces to save on the cost of expensive fuel. Most of those were fakes or less efficient and more costly.

Later on there were software companies that had a "new program" to streamline your production or financial business systems. That is where the term "vaporware" came from because most of those people had no real software to provide.

While Musk and Tesla may have something new, people that have been through eras of "technology" releases may not have the same enthusiasm as those who have not experienced all that fraud.

I would rather have a "wait and see" attitude before I blindly opened my wallet to buy something exciting and new that is more promise then reality.

[russ]

I'm starting to be concerned you have had a stroke. Let's look at the number again: $3000, 7kwh, 10-20 year life.

My grandfather argued for many years with my great grandfather about replacing plow horses with a tractor on the farm. Both were very smart men. In the early years, my ggrandfather's arguments in favor of plow horses were probably valid.

By the end of this decade, people living off grid will be buying battery subsystems, not FLA batteries. You have expertise in FLA batteries exactly because they suck. What people want in their off grid homes are batteries that work, not a science project.

Donald - Wise up or you are history. Your BS is getting tiresome.

You don't know squat but your run your mouth fast.

[russ]

Something like the Tesla system is what you will joyfully replace your FLA batteries with in 3-5 years.

FLA is like Comcast. Both suck and everyone wants an alternative. But they are often the best choice for now. The Trojans Sunking is carrying on about look good, as long as you are not a complete dork with maintaining the system.

A know it all that knows nothing from fruitcake California -

[donald]

How is that possible to do in a Off-Grid battery system? Only in a Green Fantasy Dream can that be done, but not in the real world.

I'm starting to be concerned you have had a stroke. Let's look at the number again: $3000, 7kwh, 10-20 year life.

My grandfather argued for many years with my great grandfather about replacing plow horses with a tractor on the farm. Both were very smart men. In the early years, my ggrandfather's arguments in favor of plow horses were probably valid.

By the end of this decade, people living off grid will be buying battery subsystems, not FLA batteries. You have expertise in FLA batteries exactly because they suck. What people want in their off grid homes are batteries that work, not a science project.

[Sunking]

Something like the Tesla system is what you will joyfully replace your FLA batteries with in 3-5 years.

How is that possible to do in a Off-Grid battery system? Only in a Green Fantasy Dream can that be done, but not in the real world.

[Sunking]

I will be starting out with a single string of 105RE's, collecting data and some real life experience, I hope not to destroy them but we all pay for our education one way or another.

OK start with this as it should help you get the most out of the batteries. If you have questions start a thread or PM me.

[Sunking]

Something like the Tesla system is what you will joyfully replace your FLA batteries with in 3-5 years.

FLA is like Comcast. Both suck and everyone wants an alternative. But they are often the best choice for now. The Trojans Sunking is carrying on about look good, as long as you are not a complete dork with maintaining the system.

He is buying Trojans. Tesla is pure vaporware. Maintenance free. What idiot told you that?

[donald]

I have been waiting for this announcement before I buy batteries for my new off grid home,

Something like the Tesla system is what you will joyfully replace your FLA batteries with in 3-5 years.

FLA is like Comcast. Both suck and everyone wants an alternative. But they are often the best choice for now. The Trojans Sunking is carrying on about look good, as long as you are not a complete dork with maintaining the system.

[Sunking]

I totally agree that maintenance free is the key here, Trojan's Industrial battery line comes within that price point, but I know a very small fraction of the population who would be able to keep them alive for over a decade.

So what makes you think Lithium batteries are maintenance free or tough batteries? I think you know better than that.

Lithium are far from maintenance free, in fact they take a great deal of more monitoring and automation. They are also the most fragile battery there is with extremely poor thermal characteristics. All Tesla battery systems both in their cars and home units require liquid cooling which is a huge mechanical failure point and energy user along with the automation system to monitor them. Using Lithium Cobalt batteries in an electric vehicle is one thing and needed for an EV where energy density is the most important factor and fire is less of a concern. But Lithium Cobalt in a home is very risky and why they are not allowed to be shipped by airplanes. They can catch fire setting there doing nothing.

[Sunking]

I was just reading your post about the recent testing Trojan has been working on, I will be buying Trojan batteries. I will be starting out with a single string of 105RE's, collecting data and some real life experience, I hope not to destroy them but we all pay for our education one way or another.

Smart move, RE's have some of the same technology (Smart Carbon) as Industrial line but make no mistake they are not the same. The Smart Carbon does make it possible to operate in PSOC range, but RE's do not have the mass the Industrial line has thus the difference in price per Kwh of capacity. Having said that the RE's are an excellent mid range battery.