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Tesla Energy

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Re: Tesla Energy

#61

Post by TaylorAlexander »

hayksaakian wrote: post #50
localhost wrote: post #41

I'm going to install a 9kW solar grid on my roof in the next couple of months - capital cost is ~$40K USD. Without the Power Wall, I'd be selling power back to the utility at around $0.10 / kWh, and buying it back at $0.09 / kWh in the evenings. The Power Wall will also let me endure grid outages as well (you can't run your house on your solar panels directly). I'm really curious about what the end-user cost is going…

Is it really worth it if it really takes 10 years to break even (and that's the lifespan as you mentioned)? That's like giving someone a 10 year 0% interest loan. Maybe you're better off buying a bunch of Tesla stock with that money if you think they'll stick around that long.

If you're only looking at it from a financial perspective, it may not be "worth it" (I haven't done the math).

But if you want to pay a little to be able to have reliable power from unreliable sources, then it could be "worth it". It may save you zero dollars over ten years, but during that time you're provided the service from this system.

Re: Tesla Energy

#62

Post by stevewepay »

I wonder how many years this battery will last before requiring replacing?

Storing power over the course of the day is an intriguing idea, because the house is generally empty then. Instead of selling back to the power companies, I would rather have it power this battery so that my night time use is "free".

Re: Tesla Energy

#63

Post by BinaryIdiot »

cmelbye wrote: post #36
agumonkey wrote: post #16

2 billion battery packs, and how many solar panels to feed them ? Did I miss the number ?

A lot of the stuff Tesla is saying about this is quite weird. (In the press kit and in Musk's live stream.) For example, the first sentence of the press kit: > The world currently consumes 20 trillion kWh of energy annually. Enough energy to [...] supply energy to a nuclear power plant for 2,300 years. Am I missing something, or is that an entirely bizarre comparison to make? What does this even mean?

> Batteries are not a source of energy. They store energy. (You'd be surprised at how many people don't grasp that.) Talking about how many batteries we need to power the world without talking about where that energy is coming from is silly.

I'm not sure why you got such a weird impression. In his talk he clearly states that the power would be coming from solar energy. He even explained how much space you'd need for solar arrays and batteries if you want to provide the entire United States with power day and night (the biggest need for batteries).

He also mentioned there is utility for the battery to be used with your powergrid but the big win is using it with solar energy.

Re: Tesla Energy

#64

Post by TaylorAlexander »

tlb wrote: post #53
vanadium wrote: post #17

$3,500. That's crazy good for your average household, on par with natural gas backup generators with half the logistics. I might just be ordering sooner rather than later given some of the grid instabilities in my area over the past year, and through the mid-term in preparation for a solar switch here in Chicago. While Elon might not be the best orator, you can easily derive his authenticity and belief in the product…

$3500 doesn't include the inverter or transfer switch. Transfer switch is maybe $200, and it's not clear what the inverter might cost. It's a nontrivial part, since it would be responsible for daily cycle estimation and cost optimization. For $3300 you can get a 17 kW generator with inverter and transfer switch [0], which will run for days on a house-sized propane tank. At my house in the woods, we do sometimes get m…

Some people (like me) are simply unwilling to keep using carbon-based sources of energy. At some point it just feels awful to be contributing to such a terrible problem. I'm counting the days till I can sell my worn out petrol car and get an electric car. If I had a home and dollars, I'd want one of these batteries.

Re: Tesla Energy

#65

Post by BinaryIdiot »

milesf wrote: post #54
BinaryIdiot wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I expect from today onward there will be a full-scale attack from those who stand to lose because of the reduced dependency on oil. Maybe. But remember we don't have the technology yet to completely move away from fossil fuels. The biggest issue I know of is making Airplanes electric which so far has not proven really feasible (as far as I can find anyway). This solves a huge chunk of issues but there are still ple…

Well, not jets, but propeller craft might be within reach: http://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/design/power/siemens-e...

While it's a long way off that's pretty neat! Thanks!

Re: Tesla Energy

#66

Post by marze »

This is much more groundbreaking than it may appear. The innovation is entirely in the price.

At $3500, you can put in two and be entirely off grid. Solar panels are cheap enough you only need batteries to last one night, as you can size the array to operate your loads even on cloudy days.

Re: Tesla Energy

#67

Post by hayksaakian »

davidw wrote: post #48

> 7kWh or 10kWh Can anyone speak to what that could power? Could I run a load of laundry with it? How about dry it afterwards? Here in Italy people mostly take advantage of "solar power" by hanging clothes to dry, but just to get an idea of what the battery could run.

that would be an interesting comparison.

could you (eventually) save time and money by using an electric dryer + solar power + battery as opposed to hanging out clothes?

Re: Tesla Energy

#68

Post by kenrikm »

davidw wrote: post #48

> 7kWh or 10kWh Can anyone speak to what that could power? Could I run a load of laundry with it? How about dry it afterwards? Here in Italy people mostly take advantage of "solar power" by hanging clothes to dry, but just to get an idea of what the battery could run.

To put it in perspective: in Florida, in the summer, using a 4ton very old/inefficient AC in a 2000sqft house in 100 degree summer weather, electric oven, refrigerator, washer/dryer and all other household stuff. I would burn about 3kw / hr in the middle of the day. So in theory the 10kwh would power a extreme case like this for ~3hours, and 9 of them could do it for ~27hrs. So yes you could do everything you would normally do with household electricity with this.

Re: Tesla Energy

#69

Post by Miner49er »

daemin wrote: post #46

The maximum temperature will be an issue here in Australia. In a typical place where it will be mounted, i.e. the garage, the temperatures will readily get over 40, close to 50 during summer. I could see this also being a problem in places like Nevada and Arizona in the USA.

I think the minimum temperature will actually be a larger problem for the U.S. There's a lot of states where it easily gets colder than -4 F throughout winter, but the max will be a problem too.

Re: Tesla Energy

#70

Post by [deleted] »

daemin wrote: post #46

The maximum temperature will be an issue here in Australia. In a typical place where it will be mounted, i.e. the garage, the temperatures will readily get over 40, close to 50 during summer. I could see this also being a problem in places like Nevada and Arizona in the USA.

[deleted]
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