Tesla on Thursday unveiled battery technology for homes and businesses. And it s just the beginning.
The goal is complete transformation of the entire energy infrastructure of the world, CEO Elon Musk said. And as chairman of SolarCity and CEO of Tesla, Musk would own that transformation, with his vision of blending solar panels and battery storage to create mini power plants in people s homes.
The Powerwall, the battery for the home that s scheduled to begin shipping this summer, is a lithium-ion battery that can be mounted on a wall and charged by energy from solar panels. It could act as a backup power source. It s being touted as more affordable than other battery storage systems on the market, but some say its $3,000 to $3,500 price tag (which doesn t include installation) will prevent mass adoption among consumers at this time.
Christopher Helman crunches some numbers and writes for Forbes: Unless your solar-powered home is entirely disconnected from the grid, an expensive battery backup system like Powerwall does not make economic sense.
But the Tesla Energy system is similar to what others say is inevitable.
From the New York Times:
NRG, one of the largest independent power producers in the United States, is also developing storage products.
We have to be in this space, said Steve McBee, chief executive of NRG Home. If your goal is to build a meaningful solar business that is durable over time, you have to assume that that solar business is going to morph into a solar-plus-storage solution. That will be mandatory at some point.
By the way, Musk reportedly slammed the competition: The problem with existing batteries is they suck.
The Powerpack, the battery for businesses, is Tesla s biggest immediate opportunity, according to Bloomberg News. Tesla s current customers for this technology include Walmart, Amazon, Target and some utilities.
The company has said it expects batteries to be a big business. Big as in billions of dollars in revenue big. The batteries will be made in Tesla s Fremont factory, and eventually at its $5 billion Gigafactory in Nevada.
Photo: In this April 20, 2015 photo, David Cunningham shows a prototype Tesla battery system that powers his Foster City home. Cunningham installed the battery late last year to pair with his solar panels as part of a pilot program run by the California Public Utilities Commission to test home battery performance. (Jeff Chiu/Associated Press)
