When it launched into Australia late last year, Tesla’s Powerwall home battery energy storage system got a lot of people thinking about switching to solar power and off-grid storage. One year on, the second version of the Powerwall — smaller and with double the energy storage — is finally on sale in Australia.
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You can place an order for the Powerwall 2 online on Tesla’s website, where a rough calculator will give you a guide to how many Powerwall 2 batteries you might need to store and supply energy to your home. A Powerwall 2 has 15kWh of energy capacity and should be enough to supply a 3-bedroom house’s basic energy needs for a day.
For larger houses, or for an entire day’s energy backup including lights, fridge, power outlets and ancillaries, Tesla recommends a second Powerwall 2 battery be installed. Each battery is $8000 but requires around $2200 of supporting hardware and installation costs to connect to your house’s internal circuits and the national energy grid. Installations of the new battery through Tesla’s suppliers start from February next year.
This is how Tesla describes the Powerwall 2 and explains its use case:
Powerwall 2 is a battery for homes and small businesses that stores the sun’s energy and delivers clean, reliable electricity when the sun isn’t shining. With double the energy of our first generation battery, the cost per kWh makes it the most affordable battery on the market. With 14kWh, it covers a high percentage of the average Australian household consumption and when paired with solar can reduce grid reliance.
Most homes use only a fraction of the solar energy they generate, with owners currently using the benefits of the feed-in tariffs to gain the value from their asset. Powerwall 2 allows home owners to use more of their solar, storing the energy to use at any time rather than sending the excess energy back into the grid for the low return that is about to begin.
Tesla says it’s an apposite time to launch the Powerwall 2 in Australia, with the reduction in energy feed-in tariffs happening at the end of the year affecting New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia. Lower feed-in tariffs mean you’ll get a smaller payment for the energy your solar panels feed back to the national energy grid, but traditionally tariffs are locked in once applied for until the scheme changes. [Tesla]