Advances in the harnessing and using solar energy are taking place every day, and now Tesla motors has released a powerful and affordable new way to power your home. Back in April, Tesla announced the launch of the Powerwall, a battery used to store solar energy or as a backup power supply that you can have installed in your house. A month later, the Powerwall had sold out through the middle of 2016. Here’s some more information on this new product.
What is the Powerwall?
Powerwall is a battery installed in your home that charges using electricity generated from solar panels. In the evening, the stored energy is then used to power your home. It also acts as a backup electricity supply in the event of a power outage.
In general, homes use more electricity in the mornings and evenings versus during the day. Homes with solar panels that don’t have a means of storing it typically sell the excess energy to the utility company and purchase it back in the evenings. Powerwall stores the solar energy for later use, thereby preventing the addition of more demands on power plants and the subsequent increase of carbon emissions.
Powerwall comes in two different models for home use, each using different cell chemistries.
Both the 10 kW/h weekly cycle and 7 kWh daily cycle models are guaranteed for ten years and are sufficient to power most homes during peak evening hours. Multiple Powerwalls may be installed together for homes with greater energy need, up to 90 kWh total for the 10 kWh battery and 63 kWh total for the 7 kWh battery.
The 7kWh Powerwalls have already begun to arrive in the homes of pilot customers in North America, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Australia. Tesla CEO Elon Musk stated earlier this year that the company has already accepted 100,000 Powerwall orders and will produce many more Powerwalls after the launch of Tesla’s Gigafactory in 2016.
Tesla is being credited with helping the world “fundamentally change the way the world uses energy” in efforts to help wean consumers away from fossil fuels. For more information on this innovative new product, go to Tesla Motors’ website.
