Tesla will begin selling their Powerwalls and solar panels at 800 Home Depot locations...

[Polycount]

Tesla is looking to make clean, efficient energy more accessible than ever. Previously, you could only buy the company's solar panels and massive Powerwall battery packs through their website but that's about to change.

According to a recent Bloomberg report, the tech company will soon be bringing solar panels and Powerwalls to 800 Home Depot locations across the US. This would be the first time Tesla has collaborated with a major US retail chain to sell their products.

The company isn't going to leave control entirely in the hands of Home Depot. Instead of simply throwing their products on store shelves, Tesla will reportedly be selling their tech at designated "Tesla-branded selling spaces" in Home Depots. These areas will be manned by official Tesla staff trained to address customer questions and concerns.

That said, wider availability does not equal affordability. There's no denying that Tesla's solar panels and Powerwalls are pricey pieces of tech. According to Bloomberg, the average cost of a solar panel system from Tesla is $10,000 to $25,000 with Powerwalls costing $7,000 each.

For an entire roof made of solar panels, Tesla's appropriately named "Solar Roof" technology will also be hitting the market -- though not necessarily Home Depot -- for $52,000 on average.

Unfortunately, Tesla hasn't announced when this upcoming retail product rollout might occur so don't expect to see Powerwalls lining the shelves of your local Home Depot anytime soon.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/73090-tesla-begin-selling-their-powerwalls-solar-panels-800.html

 

[Slappy McPhee]

Holy hell that is a lot of coin sitting over 50k!

 

[mctommy]

Holy hell that is a lot of coin sitting over 50k!

I would spend it if it is a new build... off the power grid.

 

[dogofwars]

Holy hell that is a lot of coin sitting over 50k!

I would spend it if it is a new build... off the power grid.

You would have to assume it would never break then maybe 20 years down the road that would be affordable if you don't count the interest.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

Holy hell that is a lot of coin sitting over 50k!

I would spend it if it is a new build... off the power grid.

You would have to assume it would never break then maybe 20 years down the road that would be affordable if you don't count the interest.

Also depends on area. Here around the great lakes, with electricity at .07c per kWh, it makes no economic sense.

But in hawaii, where electricity runs 26c per kWh, a solar roof would pay for itself much faster.

 

[wiyosaya]

All I can say is that people better do their research extremely well before they buy into any of this, otherwise, Musk is going to have a lot of claims of fraud on his hands. The big thing that I do not like about this article is that it mentions nothing about capacity.

If any techspot readers are thinking about buying a system, read Paul Gipe's excellent book called "Wind Power" first. While the title says "Wind", the book gives every detail anyone could ever want on solar/wind/off-grid power for homes, and after reading it, you will be able to tell whether or not these systems will do what you want and what you need.

I highly, highly, highly doubt that any Home Depot employee will have anywhere near the knowledge that is contained in Gipe's book, and I would be equally surprised if those same HD employees could even remotely advise those interested in purchasing one of these whether any of the systems that they will sell can do what the customer wants and/or expects.

Musk is a marketer looking to line his pockets with more money to save his presently income starved companies. Should you be considering one of these systems, do yourself a favor and educate yourself about it first. Correctly sizing one of these systems is not hard - if you have the knowledge to do so, and Gipe's book will give you that knowledge. Plus, you will be able to discern whether the HD employee is giving you a line of crap.

 

[rvnwlfdroid]

All I can say is that people better do their research extremely well before they buy into any of this, otherwise, Musk is going to have a lot of claims of fraud on his hands. The big thing that I do not like about this article is that it mentions nothing about capacity.

If any techspot readers are thinking about buying a system, read Paul Gipe's excellent book called "Wind Power" first. While the title says "Wind", the book gives every detail anyone could ever want on solar/wind/off-grid power for homes, and after reading it, you will be able to tell whether or not these systems will do what you want and what you need.

I highly, highly, highly doubt that any Home Depot employee will have anywhere near the knowledge that is contained in Gipe's book, and I would be equally surprised if those same HD employees could even remotely advise those interested in purchasing one of these whether any of the systems that they will sell can do what the customer wants and/or expects.

Musk is a marketer looking to line his pockets with more money to save his presently income starved companies. Should you be considering one of these systems, do yourself a favor and educate yourself about it first. Correctly sizing one of these systems is not hard - if you have the knowledge to do so, and Gipe's book will give you that knowledge. Plus, you will be able to discern whether the HD employee is giving you a line of crap.

I couldn't agree more about doing research. I would like to point out one thing though. It seems you missed reading this entire paragraph,

"The company isn't going to leave control entirely in the hands of Home Depot. Instead of simply throwing their products on store shelves, Tesla will reportedly be selling their tech at designated "Tesla-branded selling spaces" in Home Depots. These areas will be manned by official Tesla staff trained to address customer questions and concerns."

Research is important but being able to assimilate ALL the information given is just as important.

 

[tipstir]

To get off the electric company grid would be nice. Also the local water company also. Save money. Everything so high to make the conversion though.. Greed will not make it affordable to most American's.. I have to opt out though.

 

[captaincranky]

....[ ]...."The company isn't going to leave control entirely in the hands of Home Depot. Instead of simply throwing their products on store shelves, Tesla will reportedly be selling their tech at designated "Tesla-branded selling spaces" in Home Depots. These areas will be manned by official Tesla staff trained to address customer questions and concerns."....[ ]....

I of course, hope the endeavor will fail. But of course, I'm the most notorious Musk hater on this site.

But, let's talk about this specific facet of Musk's business interests.

First off, Home Depot stores are open from about 6:00 AM to !0:00 PM, Monday through Saturday, most of the year., or about 16 hours a day. It does call to question what an enormous gamble Tesla is taking. Assuming those kiosk hours are truncated from those of the store's, you still have to expect a payroll for at least 800 new full time Tesla employees.

In any event Musk has made huge promises to the Panasonic corp., as to return on their their investment in his "battery, "gigafactory". And of course, all the children here will nod their heads and wax effusively, about how Musk is a "great scientific mind". Yeah, thus far he's invented lithium batteries, solar panels, and of course, last but not least, "the flame thrower".

So kidz, Musk and Tesla are way out on a limb here, make sure instead of arguing with me in the forum, you head on over to Home Depot, and buy yourself a "junior scientists energy saving battery wall and solar panel kit". You know, like they used to say in my era, "put your money where your mouths are".`

Small point here. Tesla is touting this as a virtue, having their sales kiosks being staffed with "people knowledgeable in the technology". What that really means is "high pressure salesmen there to force your hand", and Home Depot likely told Tesla to "go f*** itself", when they asked them to staff it.

 

[cliffordcooley]

I wonder if anyone has tried the bite test on these batteries. I'm definitely not gonna buy one, until this test has been done.

 

[captaincranky]

I wonder if anyone has tried the bite test on these batteries. I'm definitely not gonna buy one, until this test has been done.

The only thing that will need biting, is the bullet, when you open up that 2nd mortgage statement and wonder, "what have I gotten myself into"

 

[wiyosaya]

I couldn't agree more about doing research. I would like to point out one thing though. It seems you missed reading this entire paragraph,

"The company isn't going to leave control entirely in the hands of Home Depot. Instead of simply throwing their products on store shelves, Tesla will reportedly be selling their tech at designated "Tesla-branded selling spaces" in Home Depots. These areas will be manned by official Tesla staff trained to address customer questions and concerns."

Research is important but being able to assimilate ALL the information given is just as important.

Yes, you are right, I missed that part.

My comments remain much the same, however. All I have to say is good luck to anyone who has to go to the Tesla trained staff. While it is not that complicated to properly size both storage and array size, it does take detail to do so including knowing what the average amount of sunshine is for the given area, especially if anyone wants to go off-grid. Also, in the event of a power failure, one must know how much power is consumed in their home to properly size a battery array for a given outage length.

Just because the trained staff is provided by Tesla does not necessarily make the information that they will give any better. I would also question whether this staff will work on commission. If so, then IMO they have a vested interest in selling the product rather than meeting a customer's needs. If the customer is not well-educated about the subject before they go talk to the trained staff, they may very well become easy prey for big-tech-word-dropping sales people.

Personally, I looked at the power wall when it was first announced, and for the price, I was not impressed. As I see it, the technology is not quite there yet. If Musk were actually doing research into advancing the technology rather than packaging what is already available, I would have much more confidence in this.

Don't get me wrong, having extensively looked into off-grid and home backup, packaging, especially for the battery array, is something that is sorely needed; however, the advancement of the technology behind this would also take this kind of technology to a much higher level, at least, in my opinion.

As I see it, Musk is in a position to do research, or partner with entities that have already developed viable ideas to turn those ideas into commercial products; however, he has yet to do anything other than repackage off-the-shelf products into a more palpable form but at a higher cost than one might be able to do on one's own.

In some respects, as I see it, a system like this for the home would not be that much different than building one's own PC.

 

[wiyosaya]

I of course, hope the endeavor will fail. But of course, I'm the most notorious Musk hater on this site.

If you are the top, then I consider myself a close second.