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

pilaenergy.com

51–60 of 492 posts

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

#51
1.6 KWh capacity with 2.4 KW output [0].

I couldn't find a price on the website (the $99 is just for a reservation) but from this thread it looks like it's priced at $1k [1].

For context, in the USA, 30 KWh is a rough estimate for average daily home usage [2].

[0] https://pilaenergy.com/tech-specs#faq

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43333996

[2] https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/use-of-energy/electricit...

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

#52
I bought and am using a "Lion Energy Safari Solar Generator" to use as a heavy-duty UPS, and it almost but doesn't quite meet my needs. It works fine, except about every 15 minutes a quite loud cooling fan turns on, to cool the inverters I suspect. This is bothersome since my intent to to keep my WiFi and computer and TV functional with this particular setup. Does the Pila have a similar cooling fan, and if so, is it audible?

Also, FWIW, it appears your web page pricing is slightly cheaper per kWh than the Lion, so good on you.

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

#53
post #41
post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

But with the added benefit that it charges during the day on solar and then powers device during the night. My one question would be: does it work with home assistant? It would be great to integrate in te energy dashboard.

>But with the added benefit that it charges during the day on solar and then powers device during the night.

As an important caveat on solar: if I'm reading correctly, it appears that the main unit only has support for a small amount of solar input directly connected to it (100 W, which makes me suspect it may be using USB PD for input), while larger amounts need the expansion pack, or a separately installed system.

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

#54
From your site: "For homes with electricity prices that vary throughout the day, Pila optimizes charging to help manage your utility bills."

Based on experiments like https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtNq-0kV8YM, I'm extremely skeptical. Can you back this claim?

Also, why are people going to spend $1,300 on this when a good UPS is a fraction of the price, and (for example) an Anker SOLIX F3800 Plus is $3,200?

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

#56
off grid here for many years self built systems can do the math for solar powered,off grid sytems with battery banks, in my head. The numbers posted with battery back up system are so wildly inflated as to be absurd, laughable , 32hrs for a fridge, it wont run a big fridge for 1 hr, tiny fridge for 5 hrs. bar fridge, laptop, phone and one light might make 24hrs, might, when its new, hot weather, fergetit. the way it's presented is totaly disceptive. This is as best, a nice ,very expensive camping accessory or a slightly upsized ups.

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

#58
I love the design, but I wonder about the "selling feature".

How many people regularly experience power outages (ok, if you're American relying on Canadian electricity, you might have a right to be concerned).

I'm surprised you're not touting the "save on your power bill" benefits. Could this not store power when rates are low, and use the battery when rates are higher, while maintaining a balanced minimum storage amount to ensure power is available should the power go out?

I'd think it could be quite smart about this if you looked at weather patterns and other factors to calculate a likelihood of an outage, and ensured more back-up was available.

From a selling stand-point, isn't saving money every day a better feature than "just in case the electricity goes out"?

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

#59

off grid here for many years self built systems can do the math for solar powered,off grid sytems with battery banks, in my head. The numbers posted with battery back up system are so wildly inflated as to be absurd, laughable , 32hrs for a fridge, it wont run a big fridge for 1 hr, tiny fridge for 5 hrs. bar fridge, laptop, phone and one light might make 24hrs, might, when its new, hot weather, fergetit. the way it'…

Hey there - First I will concede it's always hard to give an "average" number for something like a fridge, since all fridges consume differently based on usage, ambient temperature, ice makers, overall capacity. But I'd stand behind our numbers - we're not looking to deceive and transparently provide the remaining backup time on the device screen and app. For whatever it's worth, I've gotten familiar with lots of appliance usage data during my time at SPAN, and our average wattage heuristics for appliances are in line with what you'll see from other batteries' materials. Still, always open to hearing ideas for how to help average people put energy usage in context. Would you find a calculator module useful on the website, so you can enter your own usage data if you know it?

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

#60
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’m in Australia and everything is 240V (well, I think technically it’s 230V now) here.

Any timeline yet for international distribution?

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