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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

#321

Post by sgerenser »

lucb1e wrote: post #270
nikodunk wrote: post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Definitely! It’s primarily backup, and secondarily an arbitrage device :) The average fridge loss is estimated at $300 per outage, and the average fridge outage insurance claim is $600 I just learned today from an insurance agent at SXSW at our booth (apparently a lot of lobster is bought the day of the outage :P).

> The average fridge loss is estimated at $300 per outage Holy crap, I don't think our fridge fits 300 dollars' worth of food. We have trouble fitting a ~140€ grocery run into the fridge and probably at least half of that is non-refrigerated products. Hard to say how many days' food this is, probably close to a week, so a 36h+ outage (where the fridge actually got warm for a while) would have an average occupancy of…

American fridges are generally much bigger than European ones. Mine is something like 27 cubic feet, which I understand is around double the size of an average European fridge.

I don’t think I’ve ever lost power for long enough that I lost anything in the fridge though, but there are parts of the country with a much less reliable grid (usually due to severe storms or other natural disasters).

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

#323

Post by chadconway »

energy123 wrote: post #256
pseudosavant wrote: post #174

I’d love for something like this to be great, but the economics just don’t make any sense. This is a 1.6kwh battery for $999. You’ll never save what it cost to buy the unit before the battery is worn out. It’d be hard to save more than $1-$2 per day.

Is there any reason this won't eventually be commoditized? The retail cost (low end) for lifepo4 batteries is $125/kWh, and for hybrid inverters it's $175/KW, thanks to decades of Wright's Law. Currently Pila is $625/kWh, but what is stopping it (or clones) from being $200-400/kWh eventually? Their high prices are probably temporary artefacts of (1) lack of current scale, (2) premium due to UI/brand/lack of competiti…

Pila is certified to a UL standard to ensure it’s both electrically & fire safe. Easy for folks who have done this for a career at Tesla and SPAN.

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

#324

Post by danila22 »

thrill wrote: post #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…

There is nothing that will make me throw something on Craigslist faster than a loud fan. We built the battery with the customer in mind. It has fans but they are larger, RPM controlled and measure all internal temps to keep the noise to a bare minimum.

Right on! It’s a great product and insane value for all the features it provides.

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

#326

Post by chadconway »

scoot wrote: post #188

Odd choice of name. “Pila” means “battery” in a couple of languages, but refers to small disposable types (AA, AAA etc.), not something you’d associate with a UPS.

From the Pila website: “In 1880, Italian physicist Alessandro Volta built the world’s first electrochemical battery — the Pila di Volta, or voltaic pile.

Inspired by nature’s own electrical engineers, he stacked metal plates to mimic the organs inside electric eels, transforming a wild phenomenon into a scientific breakthrough.

Like Volta, we’re reimagining energy storage with nature as our guide — building a smarter, more adaptable battery system designed to bring peace of mind, control, and energy savings to every home.”

https://pilaenergy.com/mission#:~:text=Pila%20%20(that%E2%80...

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

#327

Post by danila22 »

matt3210 wrote: post #278

Is like to optimize for low cost power ranges like 5 to 9 or other depending on areas

Yup exactly, the battery can be easily setup to charge at night and discharge during the day. It can also charge while you have solar and discharge when you don’t.

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

#328

Post by chadconway »

idiotsecant wrote: post #124

Why wouldn't I just buy a bunch of small UPS that are already commercially available?

UPS units are low power have minimal storage and no smart coordination or control. They also often last less than 3 years.

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

#329

Post by coleashman »

chadconway wrote: post #266

This qualifies for the ITC (Investment Tax Credit).

Yep! Pila qualifies for the 30% Federal Investment Tax Credit (ITC) under the Residential Clean Energy Credit if your Pila system exceeds a total of 3 kWh capacity through either:

Two or more Pila batteries (1.6 + 1.6 = 3.2 kWh)

One Pila battery plus a Pila Expansion Pack (1.6 + 1.6 = 3.2 kWh)

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

#330

Post by downrightmike »

vessenes wrote: post #220

Judging by the negativity here you're going to be a massive success -- search up the dropbox, airbnb, coinbase and ethereum launch threads if you want to feel good about where you're at. :) That said, I like this idea -- a modern coordinated UPS. I live in an area where people have 3-10 days a year of no power; being able to pick and choose what power they'd use during an outage would be a significant benefit to them…

Those others couldn't burn down your house based on a faulty code push. Also, 60% of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck. If that improves, it seems simple
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