Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Show HN: We built a Plug-in Home Battery for the 99.7% of us without Powerwalls

pilaenergy.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

11–20 of 492 posts

Re: Show HN: We built a Plug-in Home Battery for the 99.7% of us without Powerwalls

#11

Post by coleashman »

cmui wrote: post #6

Very cool. You mention powering connected devices - is it feasible to push power back through the outlet to power parts of the home? Euro solar panels are doing this I believe.

Yeah great question. The hardware is capable of bidirectional power, and electrical codes and standards in the U.S. are now catching up with Europe. “Balcony Solar” has taken off there, especially in Germany. Utah just passed H.B. 340 which allows up to 1200W of plug-in solar backfeed. It wasn’t so long ago that grid-tied batteries like Powerwall were working through the same kind of standards updating process to participate on the grid, so I’m encouraged

Re: Show HN: We built a Plug-in Home Battery for the 99.7% of us without Powerwalls

#12

Post by chadconway »

cmui wrote: post #6

Very cool. You mention powering connected devices - is it feasible to push power back through the outlet to power parts of the home? Euro solar panels are doing this I believe.

Technically Pila is able to push power back through the home when the grid is up. Utah passed a law to allow this. We hope to bring this potential to all states. https://pv-magazine-usa.com/2025/03/05/balcony-solar-gains-u...

Re: Show HN: We built a Plug-in Home Battery for the 99.7% of us without Powerwalls

#14

Post by coleashman »

allears wrote: post #9

Looks like a very cool product, one I might be interested in buying -- totally depending on price, for which you don't seem to be supplying any clues.

$999 for early access! We just launched at SXSW, and will begin shipping later this year. Via our website we’re offering the $999 early access pricing for a refundable $99 deposit today. Once we enter distribution we’re expecting to increase pricing to $1299

Re: Show HN: We built a Plug-in Home Battery for the 99.7% of us without Powerwalls

#15

Post by chadconway »

josefresco wrote: post #7

So this is a per-room/per appliance battery system? Not sure how this would work for my oil burning boiler, which requires power but has no "plug". Maybe this is better for households that run 100% electric for HVAC?

It is designed to backup your most important appliances. You can start with one or have one in each room.

Re: Show HN: We built a Plug-in Home Battery for the 99.7% of us without Powerwalls

#16

Post by josefresco »

chadconway wrote: post #15
josefresco wrote: post #7

So this is a per-room/per appliance battery system? Not sure how this would work for my oil burning boiler, which requires power but has no "plug". Maybe this is better for households that run 100% electric for HVAC?

It is designed to backup your most important appliances. You can start with one or have one in each room.

Understood. My boiler/furnace is the single most important "appliance" in my house. I guess I still need an electrician and/or use the traditional gas generator/panel switch approach.

Re: Show HN: We built a Plug-in Home Battery for the 99.7% of us without Powerwalls

#17

Post by coleashman »

josefresco wrote: post #7

So this is a per-room/per appliance battery system? Not sure how this would work for my oil burning boiler, which requires power but has no "plug". Maybe this is better for households that run 100% electric for HVAC?

To add more: To backup big 240V appliances that are hard-wired (EV charger, large HVAC, for example) you need to connect the backup system in the same hard-wired way to the electrical panel. For folks who are keen to make the big investment in whole-home backup, it’s a great solution. Our goal is to give folks more onramps to get started with smart battery backup, focusing on no-rewiring solutions. But I’ll say, Pila can be a compliment to whole home backup systems to add a bit more backup capacity where it matters most

Re: Show HN: We built a Plug-in Home Battery for the 99.7% of us without Powerwalls

#18

Post by coleashman »

josefresco wrote: post #16
chadconway wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is designed to backup your most important appliances. You can start with one or have one in each room.

Understood. My boiler/furnace is the single most important "appliance" in my house. I guess I still need an electrician and/or use the traditional gas generator/panel switch approach.

Some furnaces are still 120 volt (same as an outlet) so depending on how the furnace is connected, Pila could be an option or at least could work with some minimal electrical work. But definitely recommend chatting with a good local electrician to pick the right path

Re: Show HN: We built a Plug-in Home Battery for the 99.7% of us without Powerwalls

#19

Post by cmui »

I’m curious what’s the rank sort of items a typical apartment dweller would want to keep on backup - for me it would be WiFi router, phone charger, microwave, kettle and a couple kitchen lights. Any power restrictions that would preclude running microwave or kettle?
Post reply on HN