Tesla's residential battery system leaked, here's everything we know

[Shawn Knight]

Tesla CEO Elon Musk earlier this week teased a new product line set to debut on April 30. All signs suggest that product will be the home battery system the entrepreneur spoke about during an earnings call earlier this year.

For those needing a bit more convincing, a recent note from Global Equities Research analyst Trip Chowdhry should do the trick.

In it, he claims to know two people that are currently testing Tesla’s residential battery system. One of the two testers was willing to provide a wealth of information on the system (behind the shadow of anonymity, of course). Here’s everything we know from the person that spilled the beans.

There are around 230 homes in California currently testing Tesla's stationary battery as well as another 100 or so outside of the Golden State. The source said he had been using the system for about a year and a half now and that it is installed in his garage.

As for installation, the battery must be installed at least 1.5 feet above the ground and needs to have at least one foot of open space on all sides. The battery doesn’t make any sound, doesn’t require any maintenance and doesn’t leak (good to know). The unit itself measures about three feet tall and is around 2.5 feet wide. Aesthetically, it “looks good,” the source said.

During installation, he was offered a 10WKH and 15WKH option; he chose the smaller of the two. There’s also an inverter, we’re told.

While final pricing likely hasn’t been decided yet, the customer in question selected a plan in which he paid $1,500 up front and $15 per month over a period of 10 years. After that, the installer will take the system back. Chowdhry suggests the battery could be priced at $13,000 with a 50 percent rebate from PG&E Corporation.

Chowdhry said his source told him the system can be controlled from his iPhone as well as via a web application. His unit is set up to charge from solar panels and once the battery is full, excess energy can be sold back to the grid for a rebate on his electric bill.

Additionally, the user charges the batteries at night when electricity sells for just $0.11 then sells it back to the grid at 3:00 p.m. for $0.43. By doing this, the source said he makes about $10 to $12 per month. The unit can optionally be charged using a generator, useful during extended power outages due to storms, etc.

Unfortunately, the source didn’t provide any information as to exactly how he uses the battery system outside of selling energy back to the grid.

Images via InsideEVs

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https://www.techspot.com/news/60240-tesla-residential-battery-system-leaked-here-everything-know.html

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

I haven't got a clue what this is all about.

 

[noel24]

This title is misleading, I genuinely thought its like based on acid batteries that leaked and posed some threat to residents or something.

 

[cliffordcooley]

Misconception does not make it misleading.

Think of it as an unintentional pun, that turned out to be humorous. LOL

 

[noel24]

Misconception does not make it misleading.

Think of it as an unintentional pun, that turned out to be humorous. LOL

Yes, absolutely, but it's like second time in a week that I commented sligthly sarcastically under the article only to realise that it wasn't Fudzilla, as I open tech portals in a row in a morning, before a coffee.

 

[Not Impressed]

OK, so here is where this thing is going to meet real, deserved resentment from the public:
1. It is subject to a 50% subsidy paid for by other customers of PG&E.
2. It can be used to game the system and exploit the pricing structure to scam PG&E (and their full-price paying customers) by reselling them their own product back to them at 4-fold price increase.

If you want to buy one of these at market value, then good for you. But having it be a tool to milk the system is a major loophole that needs to be closed.

 

[Guest]

If I could get this deal (effective $5/mo), I'd do it to have the electricity insurance policy. Should the grid electricity drop out for a time, the house doesn't skip a beat. The smaller size would be fine to keep the fridge and some lights going.

 

[Guest]

OK, so here is where this thing is going to meet real, deserved resentment from the public:
1. It is subject to a 50% subsidy paid for by other customers of PG&E.
2. It can be used to game the system and exploit the pricing structure to scam PG&E (and their full-price paying customers) by reselling them their own product back to them at 4-fold price increase.

If you want to buy one of these at market value, then good for you. But having it be a tool to milk the system is a major loophole that needs to be closed.

Is is a productive and useful game, not just shuffling money. It stores real electricity which means PG&E has lower peak demand. When peak demand gets too high, the company has to layout huge capital expense for more generating equipment for these small time window needs.

 

[Guest]

WKH? I think you mean kWh

 

[Rippleman]

OK, so here is where this thing is going to meet real, deserved resentment from the public:
1. It is subject to a 50% subsidy paid for by other customers of PG&E.
2. It can be used to game the system and exploit the pricing structure to scam PG&E (and their full-price paying customers) by reselling them their own product back to them at 4-fold price increase.

If you want to buy one of these at market value, then good for you. But having it be a tool to milk the system is a major loophole that needs to be closed.

You may not understand fully what this concept is, does, or how it helps everyone.

 

[NeurotechHD]

How much energy does it cost to make one of these things?

 

[OneSpeed]

1. Buy batteries.
2. Install said batteries.
3. Buy cheap electricity from the grid at night.
4. Sell expensive electricity back to the grid during the day.
5. Make money.
6. Go to #3 and repeat when necessary.

 

[Guest]

Can you calculate the return on investment for that strategy?

 

[Guest]

A very poorly worded and misleading headline here. The story here is about the DETAILS of the Tesla residential (stationary) battery pack.The casual reader would probably assuming that the actual battery leaked -I.e. malfunctioned. Someone here should learn how to write headlines which are not ambiguous or misleading.

 

[wiyosaya]

A very poorly worded and misleading headline here. The story here is about the DETAILS of the Tesla residential (stationary) battery pack.The casual reader would probably assuming that the actual battery leaked -I.e. malfunctioned. Someone here should learn how to write headlines which are not ambiguous or misleading.

Well, not only that, but a 15 kWH package would probably only power most modern homes for about three hours in the event of a power failure...not exactly off-grid capability in my opinion.

 

[risc32]

1. Buy batteries.
2. Install said batteries.
3. Buy cheap electricity from the grid at night.
4. Sell expensive electricity back to the grid during the day.
5. Make money.
6. Go to #3 and repeat when necessary.

This guy's got it. Only I don't see how we need Tesla to do this,and really, this is the new idea from the guys who fly spaceships to the ISS? Lame. Very lame.


I doubt many of you know this but about 100 yrs ago it wasn't that uncommon for a house to be powered with batteries much like this. Well, they looked more MacGyver than ironman, and you couldn't operate it by phone (why the hell?) but pretty much the same.

 

[Guest]

If you use 15KW in a few hours I would not want your electricity bill.

 

[Guest]

Well, it's good to know that they also give you an inverter because, you know, without it the battery would be totally useless

 

[Guest]

Price-wise, Tesla is aiming to drastically reduce the price of batteries with its upcoming Gigafactory, so no subsidies will be necessary.

 

[Jad Chaar]

I think this is a good move by Tesla. Their car battery technology is leading the pack, so why not apply it to residential applications?

 

[Phr3d]

Well, not only that, but a 15 kWH package would probably only power most modern homes for about three hours in the event of a power failure...not exactly off-grid capability in my opinion.

5kWh * 24h * 30d = ~42k kWh/mo @ national avg 12¢ is ~$5000.
For reference, my outrageous budget bill, gas & elec for 1200ft 24/7 office is $150/mo (our bill is over 50% high, compared to like properties, due to 24/7 operations).

 

[Guest]

Actually I use approximately 50 kWh per day and I'm pretty frugal. I would be interested in the 10 kWh battery without solar panels simply as a way to power my essential house circuits which would not include the HVAC, pool pump or dryer circuits. Without these circuits I think I could operate for 3 to 4 days and maybe longer.

 

[ffry444]

OK, so here is where this thing is going to meet real, deserved resentment from the public:
1. It is subject to a 50% subsidy paid for by other customers of PG&E.
2. It can be used to game the system and exploit the pricing structure to scam PG&E (and their full-price paying customers) by reselling them their own product back to them at 4-fold price increase.

If you want to buy one of these at market value, then good for you. But having it be a tool to milk the system is a major loophole that needs to be closed.

10$ a month? What's that, a sandwich and a pint. Get a hold of yourself.

 

[Ghost410]

Well, not only that, but a 15 kWH package would probably only power most modern homes for about three hours in the event of a power failure...not exactly off-grid capability in my opinion.

From eia.gov, "How much electricity does an American home use? In 2013, the average annual electricity consumption for a U.S. residential utility customer was 10,908 kilowatthours (kWh), an average of 909 kWh per month. Louisiana had the highest annual consumption at 15,270 kWh, and Hawaii had the lowest at 6,176 kWh."

Average for Louisiana would be about 8 hours for a 15 Kwh battery. Average for HI would be 21 hours. So, if you turn off the AC it will probably last quite awhile.

 

[MajinBuu]

This battery nonsense has to stop sooner than later. It is just not the answer. We are still mining the earth for all its resources one way or another whether its for oil or minerals or metals to build these so called 'eco' cars. This Musk guy is simply milking the $$$ now to fund his other projects and increase his bank balance, I don't believe he gives two cents about depleting the Earth of its resources to build 'eco' cars. If you want to go truly 'eco', ride a bicycle.