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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

#381

Post by kelnos »

WillAdams wrote: post #254
nikodunk wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Great points! This is meant as whole room backup - so it’ll keep your fridge (and a few other small devices like wifi, etc) running for 2-3 days - a pretty long outage. It’s basically a huge, 21st century UPS. It can also do arbitrage and charge when it’s cheap and deploy the power when it’s expensive. The main problem with a powerwall is it doesn’t work for renters, and costs 20,000+ (and permits, etc) if you do own…

Have you looked at any of the integrated options? Apparently a company in San Francisco put together 110V electric stoves with induction cooktops and integrated batteries --- they then sold them to folks applying for tax rebates to replace gas stoves in kitchens which weren't wired for 220V. One notable appliance you don't mention on your website is electric water pumps for wells in rural areas.... Similarly, are you…

> One notable appliance you don't mention on your website is electric water pumps for wells in rural areas....

We had a well in one of the houses we lived in when I was a kid, and its pump was wired directly to our mains panel. So this sort of thing wouldn't work with a Plia, which assumes you're dealing with stuff that plugs into a normal electrical outlet.

Certainly this type of setup could be rewired to have an outlet and a plug in the middle, but for most people that would mean hiring an electrician.

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

#382

Post by chadconway »

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…

This is my favorite comment!

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

#383

Post by chadconway »

fastball wrote: post #370

I like the idea and would probably reserve some if I still lived in the US. But I don't think you should be setting yourself up against Powerwalls so directly. You're not really competing for the same market. The power storage solution for the 99.7% of us without Powerwalls is in fact Powerwalls (or similar) if you have solar panels/want a serious amount of backup power storage. Your offering is not that. In fact, I…

Where do you live now?

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

#384

Post by ryukoposting »

nikodunk wrote: post #356
ryukoposting wrote: post #349

Hi, I develop firmware for mesh networked communications tech. What exactly does Pila's mesh network do ? Why do the units need to talk to each other?

TLDR it's so that we can seamlessly synchronize settings and events between them. When to charge from solar, cheap utility rates, or when a storm is incoming. Consumers (incl me) will not update their 2nd Pila to their new Wifi password when they change it, or not even pare it properly with their first to start with. Also, in an offline situation like a power outage where the internet goes down, you won't be able to…

That all makes sense. A few more questions, if you'll humor me:

Why not leverage an existing smart home mesh networking technology? I know the industry has made a hash of the whole Matter/Thread thing, so if the answer is "we didn't like the existing solutions" that's understandable to some extent.

That said, Zigbee seems like an obvious fit here. Adding resilient links to a vendor-agnostic smart home network seems like a selling point to me.

What features will and won't be available in the MQTT interface? Given this product's narrative revolves around resilience in the face of infrastructure failures, I'd hope that the app can use MQTT to provide a complete user experience even when the mothership can't be reached.

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

#385

Post by kelnos »

22c wrote: post #235
delfinom wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Bullshit on the fridge. A modern day french door uses almost 2 kWh per day at the mid range model level (which really isn't that different from older top freezers). Higher end fridges use even more. The 1.6 kWh capacity isn't enough for 2-3 days.

Sadly, a modern day french door is pretty inefficient. Consumers prefer them because of their looks but they are very far from being an efficient way to keep food cold.

Why are they any less efficient than a single-door fridge? Losses in between the two doors? I don't see why it should be much different. Both types of fridge causes the cold air to "fall out" when you open the door(s).

A top-loading chest fridge/freezer is of course most efficient, but don't think many people have those in their kitchens.

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

#386

Post by ryukoposting »

nikau wrote: post #365
ryukoposting wrote: post #363

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's just a UPS with an app, as far as I can tell. The outlets are visible in the pictures, they're just hard to see.

In the case I don't get the mesh network commentary and self healing talk - comes across as a total con job. Wtf would I care about managing the real time draw from the grid for a tarted up UPS

I think(?) the idea is that you would charge the battery at night when energy costs are lower, then discharge during the day when costs are higher. In that case, the brains are providing value that a dumb UPS can't.

If I'm right, the copy on the website seems to assume the reader already knows about the whole "charge at night, discharge during the day" thing. Could use some reframing if the target demo is "the 99.7%"

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

#387

Post by chadconway »

wortelefant wrote: post #364

I am a bit worried for the safety of these devices, due to their energy density. In Germany, a battery storage unit in a house recently exploded https://www.ndr.de/nachrichten/schleswig-holstein/Nach-Explo...

Safety is #1. That said, there are millions of EVs on the road today & I feel like they are pretty safe.

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

#388

Post by chadconway »

55555 wrote: post #345

This is another Inflation Adjustment Act business if I'm not mistaken. Our tax dollars will pay 30% of the retail price to the company on every sale.

The ITC (Investment Tax Credit) doesn’t go to the company it goes to you as the consumer.

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

#390

Post by kelnos »

chadconway wrote: post #224
delfinom wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Bullshit on the fridge. A modern day french door uses almost 2 kWh per day at the mid range model level (which really isn't that different from older top freezers). Higher end fridges use even more. The 1.6 kWh capacity isn't enough for 2-3 days.

> 2kWh per day. That’s a lot of energy! What fridge do you have?

Wow, I was surprised by this claim too, and found the specs for my fridge[0]. 755 kWh/yr, which works out to just over 2 kWh/day. Damn, that's a lot!

[0] https://www.samsung.com/us/home-appliances/refrigerators/4-d... (my fridge is probably around 15 years old, so it might even be less efficient if this one is a newer model)

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