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

pilaenergy.com

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

#31

Post by cmclaughlin »

Great idea. I am considering buying one for my refrigerator and furnace.

Are you planning to charge a monthly fee? I’d be open to that, but it would be nice to not pay for more than the hardware. I.e. build the operating costs into the cost of the initial purchase

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

#32

Post by coleashman »

cmclaughlin wrote: post #31

Great idea. I am considering buying one for my refrigerator and furnace. Are you planning to charge a monthly fee? I’d be open to that, but it would be nice to not pay for more than the hardware. I.e. build the operating costs into the cost of the initial purchase

No monthly fees -- You buy it, you own it.

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

#33

Post by andrewmcwatters »

I parted a 2.56 kWh secondary-battery system at $773.66 for my business' self-driving computer product, but it's not one complete unit or as sophisticated as this product. It seems like a decent price for what you're getting. Especially in terms of space consumed.

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

#34

Post by tw04 »

shafyy wrote: post #8

This looks great! > When an outage happens, the onboard inverter detects the power loss within 20ms and automatically disconnects from the grid (islanding) How does this work? Do I need to install anything additional in my grid? Like, how does the fridge "know" that it should now draw power from Pila? Sorry for my noob questions :D

This is essentially a UPS (uninterruptible power supply) with an app. The UPS basically passes power from the wall to your fridge until there's a power outage. At that point it flips to using the battery to send power to your fridge.

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

#35

Post by Kon-Peki »

coleashman wrote: post #25
segseg7 wrote: post #20

Any way to get 240V out of the ecosystem?

Our first product is focused on 120V, but we'll be iterating on a 240V option. Out of curiosity which 240V loads are you most interested to connect?

I have well water and the pump is 1.5 HP on 230 volts. In a power outage situation I doubt it would run for more than a minute at a time, maybe 4 or 5 times a day.

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

#37

Post by coleashman »

Kon-Peki wrote: post #35
coleashman wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Our first product is focused on 120V, but we'll be iterating on a 240V option. Out of curiosity which 240V loads are you most interested to connect?

I have well water and the pump is 1.5 HP on 230 volts. In a power outage situation I doubt it would run for more than a minute at a time, maybe 4 or 5 times a day.

Often well pumps and sump pumps can be wired for either 230 or 120V, so Pila could be an option with some added effort and a conversation with an electrician. But in any case, looking forward to building the 230/240V version!

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

#38

Post by coleashman »

ddxv wrote: post #36

Any chance this would be a good fit for existing off grid houses and expanding the home battery life?

Off-grid capable, yes. In my experience having redundant systems is a great approach for off-gridding. Pila will happily work alongside a whole-home battery system to add extra capacity wherever you need it most.

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

#39

Post by altairprime »

coleashman wrote: post #25
segseg7 wrote: post #20

Any way to get 240V out of the ecosystem?

Our first product is focused on 120V, but we'll be iterating on a 240V option. Out of curiosity which 240V loads are you most interested to connect?

I’d like to be able to use a 240V hot water kettle to boil water for tea (or for sanitization during an outage). I live in the US and 120V is slow and inefficient, especially at family-scale.
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