Is The Tesla Powerwall Worth It?

In 2015 Tesla, a name associated with luxury electric vehicles introduced the Powerwall, a rechargeable lithium-ion home battery. A year later, they purchased Solar City and rebranded the company as Tesla Energy. Since, they have released the Solar Roof and two new versions of the Powerwall, making the name almost synonymous with home battery technology. But is the Telsa Powerwall worth it?

Tesla Powerwall Benefits 

Telsa is known for innovation and simplicity and has been hard at work educating the public of the benefits of using stored energy during peak demand and if you are looking to provide your family peace of mind in the event of a power outage, the Tesla Powerwall is a great home battery option.

When you’re a homeowner with solar and your panels produce enough electricity to meet your household’s needs and even sell excess power back to the grid then you are a good candidate for a home battery. That excess energy you generate can be stored in your battery instead and used in the evening instead of having to buy it from your utility company when they charge more for electricity. This is also an ideal situation if your utility provider has discontinued or reduced net metering or introduced time-of-use rates.

Since most homeowners use the most electricity at night when energy costs are higher, if you aren’t generating enough power to fully charge the battery during the day and maximize its potential in the evening – then it’s not a smart investment. 

Powerwall Specs 

A battery’s power rating will determine what appliances you can run at the same time, while usable capacity will determine how long those appliances can be run. Batteries with a higher power rating are capable of powering larger appliances or many appliances at once. The higher the usable capacity means you can store more total energy and run appliances for longer before you need to recharge the battery. 

The power measured in kilowatts, or kW is the maximum amount of electricity that can be output at a time, while the usable capacity is measured in kilowatt-hours, or kWh, and is the maximum amount of electricity stored in your home battery when it is fully charged. 

As of now, the Tesla Powerwall comes in one size, 14 kilowatt-hours (kWh), double the capacity of version one, and has a maximum power rating of 5.0 kW to go along with 13.5 kWh of usable capacity.

A home battery’s roundtrip efficiency is a measure of electricity lost when charging and discharging a battery. The higher the efficiency percentage, the more efficiently the battery is at converting energy into stored electricity and back into usable power. Powerwall has a 90% round trip efficiency, meaning 10% of electricity is actually lost from being generated on your solar panels to storing it in the battery and then using it at a later time. This means for every 10 kWh of electricity you put into a Powerwall, you’ll get 9 kWh back. 

The great thing is, The Powerall makes it easy to visualize and monitor your battery’s health and performance with their easy-to-use app and Tesla guarantees their product to have an energy retention rate of 70% and be free from defects for 10 years following the initial installation date.  

Powerwall Installation Consideration

The Telsa Powerwall system is modular and can be wall or floor-mounted. Depending on your home’s energy needs and goals multiple Powerwalls can be added to your home backup solution, up to 10 units total. 

Tesla’s Powerwall cannot be installed inside or outside of a habitable room and even it is weatherproof, Tesla recommends that the installation location be sheltered to conserve the life and performance of the battery.

There are a lot of different home battery solutions out there but none almost become synonymous with the technology like a Tesla Powerwall has. If you’re a homeowner with solar and have been considering a home battery system to protect your family during a blackout, then call or text the Energy Experts at SunPro Solar at 951-678-7733. We are an authorized Telsa installer and would be happy to discuss your home battery needs.