What Is The Tesla Powerwall?
The Tesla Powerwall battery is actually made with lithium ion at its core, which means that it has the benefits that the modern lithium battery composition have. It is compact, and is designed to be placed on a wall (hence the name). It stores energy for home use, be it for power backup, load shifting, and other off grid functions.
Of course, the most defining feature of the Powerwall is that it can be used to collect solar energy. Efficient collection and storage of energy gathered from the sun is gaining popularity nowadays, considering that the sun is a mostly reliable source of power. It is easy to imagine why people interested in solar energy technology might want to get their hands on this particular device.
There is actually a larger product by Tesla called the Powerpack which is designed to be used for bigger installation. This could be anything from commercial establishments to other building complexes that require heavier electric output. Consumption that the Powerwall cannot handle may be solved by using a Powerpack instead. But for now, the focus is on the home based convenience the smaller device provides.
The Powerwall was made available in Australia sometime in 2015. At the time, energy storage solutions have been mostly common for larger buildings and establishments. However, the idea of a solar energy storage that will provide enough energy for the home is almost unheard of. This is why the Powerwall has become so popular in the recent years.
How Much Does Powerwall Cost in Australia?
Because of its features, the Tesla Powerwall is a bit on the expensive side. It costs around AU$9000 and that is just for the product itself. You can expect to spend another AU$1000 or $2000 for the installation of the device, and depending on the installer you may a bit more or less than that.
Now, as far as solar batteries and energy storage solutions go, the Powerwall is not the most expensive. However, it still is not the cheapest, either. In any case, the cost effectivity of whether the energy savings over time is worth the purchase price are well proven – the product has a 10 year warranty, after all. Also, as battery efficiency improves with technology, more and more households find that buying the Powerwall is a good economic decision overall.
Tesla Powerwall Specs
The revolutionary methods with which the Powerwall stored energy took the world by storm, and soon more homes wanted to have this seemingly tiny packet of plastic that can sustain the electrical needs of a household. The device is capable of storing 7 kilowatt hours of power, which is enough to cover almost half of an average household’s daily energy consumption.
Its 92.5% round trip efficiency is not the most awesome among all batteries, but is still nothing to scoff at, especially since the Powerwall is capable of solar energy collection. Good round trip efficiency means that almost no energy is lost during the transfer and storage process, and Tesla’s 92.5 % rate is not a pushover.
The item is a bit on the heavy side, though, as it weighs 97 kilograms. However, it is compact, measuring only 130 cm in length and 86 cm in width. The item is truly design so that it can sit comfortably in just about anywhere in the home. Its stylish, white box, minimalist design also makes it so that the device looks sleek, classy, and attractive without calling too much attention.
Another reason why the Powerwall became so popular is because of convenience. It is an all in one storage solution that collects solar energy and a built-in inverter. For a power supply solution, this can be as good as it gets. The Powerwall also has no moving parts inside it, so this alleviates the need for constant maintenance. It could sit on your living room for years, providing power for your home, without so much as a hassle for servicing.
If that is not enough to make you believe that the Powerwall has minimal risk of breaking down, then know that Tesla includes a 10 year limited warranty with every purchase of the product. Now that’s confidence. Still, the Powerwall is not perfect and that warranty time is there for a reason. The device has one major flaw: it deteriorates in performance after about 2,000 charging cycles.
To put that into perspective, 2,000 charge cycles is equivalent to charging the Powerwall once every day, for five and a half years. After this, it is expected that the battery will drop to about 70 percent of its original capacity. The round trip efficiency, which we earlier established to be 92.5 %, also drops dramatically.
The Powerwall may not last forever, but 2,000 charge cycles is still a lot. Yet after this – most likely after the 10 year warranty has already expired — a replacement will be required. Or the consumer may opt to upgrade to the Powerwall 2, or the up and coming Powerwall 3 if ever that product is already released that time.
With that out of the way, let us get into the actual specifications of the product:
Continuous & Peak Power: 3.3kiloWatt
Total Energy: 7 kiloWatthour
Energy: 6.4 kiloWatthour
Round trip efficiency: 92.5%
Discharge Depth: 100%
Current: 9.5 ADC
Voltage rating: 350 volts to 450 volts
Operating (average) temperature: -20° Celsius to 50° Celsius
Weight: 97kilograms
Dimensions: 130cm length; 86cm width; 18cm thickness
Warranty: 10 year unlimited cycle
Powerwall 2: The Inevitable Successor
After the popularity of the Powerwall was proven when it was released in 2015, Tesla knew that upgrades to their products would be sought out by consumers eventually. And so, the company developed Powerwall 2, which was launched sometime in 2016.
Still, it should be emphasized that the Powerwall 2 is not a mere upgrade in the way that smartphones release new models every year. Tesla did not just make a few adjustments and renamed a slightly upgraded product. The Powerwall 2 is actually a class of its own, and offers far more than what the original could.
First of all, design-wise, the Powerwall 2 ditched the shield shape and went with an even more minimalistic design. The successor only has a simple rectangle shape. More impressive is the fact that its storage capacity is upped to 14 kWh, which is two times the original’s capacity.
This capacity is also enough to provide the power demands of an average household for every day. The discharge rate for this latest product is also relatively higher, so it means that you can power more appliances and devices at once using the Powerwall 2.
The warranty for the Powerwall 2 is also a bit different. Sure, it also comes with a 10 year warranty, but there is an additional limit of 37,800 kWh of discharged power. The way it works is that the warranty will expire whenever one of these values occurs first.
So the warrant is actually of variable duration, because the 37,800 kWh discharge comes first in different rates in every household. Of course, this is assuming that the discharge limit happens before the 10 years is up.
Like the first model, Tesla ensures that the Powerwall 2 will still have 70% of its capacity once the warranty is up. The only discernible setback from the original is the slightly lower round trip efficiency, which sits at 89%. This is a 3.5% difference from the previous model.
Powerwall 2’s Price
One of the best things about this is that the Powerwall 2 actually only costs a little more than the original, besides almost over twice the efficiency. It is estimated to cost anywhere between AU$9,970 and AU$11,620 which already includes installation. The unit prices is actually just AU$8,000— cheaper than the original! It’s just that an additional AU$720 is needed for the supporting hardware, plus AU$1,150 to AU$2,900 fee for the installation.
The specifications for the Powerwall 2 is as follows:
Continuous & Peak Power: 5 kiloWatt
Total Energy: 14 kiloWatthour
Energy: 13.5 kiloWatthour
Round trip efficiency: 89%
Discharge Depth: 100%
Current: 9.5 ADC
Voltage rating: 208 volts to 240 volts
Operating (average) temperature: -20° Celsius to 50° Celsius
Weight: 122kilograms
Dimensions: 115cm length; 75.5cm width; 15.5cm thickness
Warranty: 10 years, or discharge clause as mentioned
Conclusion
The Tesla Powerwall 1 & 2 price in Australia may still vary from location to location, especially considering the different circumstances of installation. In any case, this device will be worth the investment if you can afford it, as it will provide a virtually inexhaustible source of energy in the form of sunlight.
Related article you can read => https://batterymanguide.com/tesla-powerwall-for-sale-and-review/
