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The Tesla Powerwall is a
rechargeable A rechargeable battery, storage battery, or secondary cell (formally a type of energy accumulator), is a type of electrical battery which can be charged, discharged into a load, and recharged many times, as opposed to a disposable or pri ...
lithium-ion battery A lithium-ion or Li-ion battery is a type of rechargeable battery which uses the reversible reduction of lithium ions to store energy. It is the predominant battery type used in portable consumer electronics and electric vehicles. It also s ...
stationary home energy storage product manufactured by Tesla Energy. The Powerwall stores electricity for solar self-consumption, time of use load shifting, and
backup power An emergency power system is an independent source of electrical power that supports important electrical systems on loss of normal power supply. A standby power system may include a standby generator, batteries and other apparatus. Emergency p ...
. The Powerwall was introduced in 2015 with limited production. Mass production started in early 2017 at Tesla's
Giga Nevada Gigafactory Nevada (also known as Giga Nevada or Gigafactory 1) is a lithium-ion battery and electric vehicle component factory in Storey County, Nevada, US. The facility, located east of Reno, is owned and operated by Tesla, Inc., and suppl ...
factory. As of May 2021, Tesla has installed 200,000 Powerwalls. Tesla Energy also offers larger battery energy storage devices: the Powerpack, intended for use by businesses, and the Megapack, intended for
electrical grid An electrical grid is an interconnected network for electricity delivery from producers to consumers. Electrical grids vary in size and can cover whole countries or continents. It consists of:Kaplan, S. M. (2009). Smart Grid. Electrical Power ...
use.


History

As Tesla Motors (now Tesla, Inc.) developed batteries for its
electric car An electric car, battery electric car, or all-electric car is an automobile that is propelled by one or more electric motors, using only energy stored in batteries. Compared to internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles, electric cars are quiet ...
business, the company also started experimenting with using batteries for
energy storage Energy storage is the capture of energy produced at one time for use at a later time to reduce imbalances between energy demand and energy production. A device that stores energy is generally called an accumulator or battery. Energy comes in ...
. Starting in 2012, Tesla installed prototype battery packs (later developed into the Tesla Powerpack) at the locations of a few industrial customers. In November 2013, Tesla announced that it would build
Giga Nevada Gigafactory Nevada (also known as Giga Nevada or Gigafactory 1) is a lithium-ion battery and electric vehicle component factory in Storey County, Nevada, US. The facility, located east of Reno, is owned and operated by Tesla, Inc., and suppl ...
, a factory to produce lithium-ion batteries. On April 30, 2015, the company announced that it would apply its battery technology to a home energy storage system, the Powerwall. The device would allow customers to store electricity for solar self-consumption, time of use load shifting, and backup power. The device was initially announced to have power output of 2 
kilowatt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James ...
(kW) continuous and 3.3 kW peak, but CEO
Elon Musk Elon Reeve Musk ( ; born June 28, 1971) is a business magnate and investor. He is the founder, CEO and chief engineer of SpaceX; angel investor, CEO and product architect of Tesla, Inc.; owner and CEO of Twitter, Inc.; founder of The B ...
said at the June 2015 Tesla shareholders meeting that this would be more than doubled to 5 kW steady with 7 kW peak, with no increase in price. Two models of Powerwall were planned: a 7 
kilowatt-hour A kilowatt-hour ( unit symbol: kW⋅h or kW h; commonly written as kWh) is a unit of energy: one kilowatt of power for one hour. In terms of SI derived units with special names, it equals 3.6 megajoules (MJ). Kilowatt-hours are a common b ...
(kWh) capacity model for daily cycle use (solar self-consumption, time of use load shifting) and a higher capacity 10 kWh model for customers who also wanted backup power. By March 2016, however, Tesla had removed all references to its 10 kWh battery from the Powerwall website, as well as the company's press kit. The production units would ultimately offer a capacity of 6.4 kWh. Five hundred pilot units were built and installed during 2015, each being built at the
Tesla Fremont Factory The Tesla Fremont Factory is an automobile manufacturing plant in Fremont, California, operated by Tesla, Inc. The facility opened as General Motors' Fremont Assembly in 1962, and was later operated by NUMMI, a GM–Toyota joint venture. Te ...
. The Giga Nevada factory started limited production of Powerwalls and Powerpacks in the first quarter of 2016 using battery
cells Cell most often refers to: * Cell (biology), the functional basic unit of life Cell may also refer to: Locations * Monastic cell, a small room, hut, or cave in which a religious recluse lives, alternatively the small precursor of a monastery w ...
produced elsewhere, and began
mass production Mass production, also known as flow production or continuous production, is the production of substantial amounts of standardized products in a constant flow, including and especially on assembly lines. Together with job production and ba ...
of cells in January 2017. The Powerwall 2 was unveiled in October 2016 at
Universal Studios Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Americ ...
' Colonial Street backlot set. The Powerwall 2 had a 13.5 kWh capacity and was capable of delivering 5 kW of power continuously and up to 7 kW of peak power in short bursts (up to 10 seconds). Powerwall 2 devices were paired with a device called the Backup Gateway, which acted as a
transfer switch A transfer switch is an electrical switch that switches a load between two sources. Some transfer switches are manual, in that an operator effects the transfer by throwing a switch, while others are automatic and trigger when they sense one of t ...
and a
load center A distribution board (also known as panelboard, breaker panel, electric panel, DB board or DB box) is a component of an electricity supply system that divides an electrical power feed into subsidiary circuits while providing a protective fus ...
. In April 2020, Tesla announced that it had installed 100,000 Powerwalls, five years after introducing the product. Tesla started making several refinements to the Powerwall in 2021. On April 26, during the First Quarter 2021 Financial Results call with investors, the company announced that it had been quietly shipping upgraded versions of the Powerwall 2 since November 2020, which could deliver higher amounts of power, and that the functionality would be enabled via an over-the-air software update. Just a few days later, on April 29, the company started filing for building permits for projects that would use the Powerwall+, a device that combines the functions of a Powerwall 2, the Tesla Backup Gateway and the Tesla
Solar Inverter A solar inverter or photovoltaic (PV) inverter is a type of power inverter which converts the variable direct current (DC) output of a photovoltaic solar panel into a utility frequency alternating current (AC) that can be fed into a commercial ...
. The combination simplifies installation and allows for even greater power delivery during periods of full sun. In May 2021, Tesla announced that it had installed 200,000 Powerwalls, selling 100,000 devices in a single year, the same amount that the company had previously taken five years to achieve. The next month, in July 2021, Musk revealed that the company had a backlog of 80,000 Powerwall orders, but due to the global chip shortage, the company would only be able to make less than 35,000 units in the quarter.


Powerwall models

Tesla has offered several models of the Powerwall since its introduction in April 2015. The original Powerwall (retroactively referred to as the Powerwall 1) had a 6.4 kWh capacity and was capable of delivering 3.3 kW of power. Tesla introduced an improved Powerwall 2 in October 2016 with a 13.5 kWh capacity and capable of delivering 5 kW of power continuously and up to 7 kW of peak power in short bursts (up to 10 seconds). Later versions of the Powerwall 2, shipped after November 2020, had the same capacity, but can deliver 5.8 kW of power continuously and up to 10 kW of peak power. The Powerwall+, introduced in April 2021, combines the functions of a Powerwall 2, a Backup Gateway and a
solar inverter A solar inverter or photovoltaic (PV) inverter is a type of power inverter which converts the variable direct current (DC) output of a photovoltaic solar panel into a utility frequency alternating current (AC) that can be fed into a commercial ...
. Up to 10 Powerwall 2 or Powerwall+ units may be combined to expand the capacity and maximum power of the system.


Technology

The Powerwall is optimized for daily cycling, such as for load shifting. Tesla uses proprietary technology for packaging and cooling the cells in packs with liquid coolant. Musk promised not to start patent infringement lawsuits against anyone who, in
good faith In human interactions, good faith ( la, bona fides) is a sincere intention to be fair, open, and honest, regardless of the outcome of the interaction. Some Latin phrases have lost their literal meaning over centuries, but that is not the case ...
, used Tesla's technology for Powerwalls as he had promised with Tesla cars. The Powerwall 1 battery uses nickel-manganese-cobalt chemistry and can be cycled 5,000 times before warranty expiration. The Powerwall has a 92.5% round-trip efficiency when charged or discharged by a 400–450 V system at 2 kW with a temperature of when the product is brand new. Age of the product, temperatures above or below , and charge rates or discharge rates above 2 kW would lower this efficiency number, decreasing the system performance. Powerwall 1 includes a
DC-to-DC converter A DC-to-DC converter is an electronic circuit or electromechanical device that converts a source of direct current (DC) from one voltage level to another. It is a type of electric power converter. Power levels range from very low (small batteries) ...
to sit between a home's existing solar panels and the home's existing DC to AC inverter. If the existing inverter is not storage-ready, one must be purchased. Powerwall 2 incorporates a DC-to-AC inverter of Tesla's own design. Production of the 2170 cell type for the Powerwall 2 began at Giga Nevada 1 in January 2017. The
National Fire Protection Association The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) is an international nonprofit organization devoted to eliminating death, injury, property and economic loss due to fire, electrical and related hazards. As of 2018, the NFPA claims to have 50,000 mem ...
conducted two worst-case scenario tests in 2016, igniting Powerpacks to initiate
thermal runaway Thermal runaway describes a process that is accelerated by increased temperature, in turn releasing energy that further increases temperature. Thermal runaway occurs in situations where an increase in temperature changes the conditions in a way t ...
. The design contained damage within the Powerwall structures.


Return-on-investment calculations

A May 2015 article in ''
Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...
'' magazine calculated that using a Tesla Powerwall 1 model combined with solar panels in a home would cost 30 cents/kWh for electricity if a home remains connected to the grid (the article acknowledges that the Tesla battery could make economic sense in applications that are entirely off-grid). US consumers got electricity from the power grid for 12.5 cents/kWh on average. The article concluded the "...Tesla's Powerwall Is Just Another Toy For Rich Green People."
Bloomberg Bloomberg may refer to: People * Daniel J. Bloomberg (1905–1984), audio engineer * Georgina Bloomberg (born 1983), professional equestrian * Michael Bloomberg (born 1942), American businessman and founder of Bloomberg L.P.; politician and m ...
and Catalytic Engineering also agreed that the Tesla system was most useful in places where electricity prices are high. Examples of locations with very high electricity prices are Hawaii and other remote islands that generate electricity with fuel that must be shipped-in. Another possible savings comes from areas with
time-of-use Dynamic pricing, also referred to as surge pricing, demand pricing, or time-based pricing, is a pricing strategy in which businesses set flexible prices for products or services based on current market demands. Businesses are able to change prices ...
(TOU) pricing. For example, Northern California's
Pacific Gas and Electric Company The Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) is an American investor-owned utility (IOU). The company is headquartered in the Pacific Gas & Electric Building, in San Francisco, California. PG&E provides natural gas and electricity to 5.2 millio ...
charged as low as 12 cents/kWh in 2021 during the off-peak hours (12a–3p) and as high as 52 cents/kWh during the peak hours (4p–9p). When configured for cost savings, the Powerwall can allow a home to go off-grid during peak hours, avoiding the highest cost power usage. The Swiss bank
UBS UBS Group AG is a multinational investment bank and financial services company founded and based in Switzerland. Co-headquartered in the cities of Zürich and Basel, it maintains a presence in all major financial centres as the largest Swi ...
said that the Powerwall makes sense in Australia and Germany where electricity is very costly but solar panels are well distributed. As of October 2019, the Tesla Powerwall 2 costs $14,600 for the recommended two units (plus $2,500 to $4,500 for installation) in the US; this price does not include the cost of solar panels.


Competition

Since Tesla introduced the Powerwall, many other companies have started offering home battery backup products, especially companies that compete with Tesla Energy to sell photovoltaic solar energy generation systems. Three companies dominate the battery energy storage market:
Enphase Energy Enphase Energy, Inc. is an American energy technology company headquartered in Fremont, California, that develops and manufactures solar micro-inverters, battery energy storage, and EV charging stations primarily for residential customers. Enp ...
,
LG Chem LG Chem Ltd. (Korean: LG화학), often referred to as LG Chemical, is the largest Korean chemical company and is headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. It was the 10th largest chemical company in the world by sales in 2017. It was first established ...
, and Tesla. Together, these three brands accounted for about 85 percent of the sales in 2021. The Enphase battery is sold alongside the company's solar micro-inverters (which convert DC power generated by solar panels into AC power using small modules behind each panel) as part of a complete AC-based home energy system. The system is currently the most expensive home battery product, at roughly 50% more than Tesla's Powerwall. Despite the large price difference, in 2021, Enphase surpassed Tesla as the largest supplier of home energy storage systems.


See also

*
Net metering Net metering (or net energy metering, NEM) is an electricity billing mechanism that allows consumers who generate some or all of their own electricity to use that electricity anytime, instead of when it is generated. This is particularly importa ...
systems with integrated energy storage


References


External links

*
Tesla unveils batteries to power homes
BBC
Why Tesla is backing batteries
BBC
2015 Conference call with Elon MuskWhole transcript, subscribed.
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Powerwall A powerwall is a large, ultra-high-resolution display that is constructed of a matrix of other displays, which may be either monitors or projectors. It is important to differentiate between powerwalls and displays that are just large, for exam ...
Grid energy storage Lithium-ion batteries Products introduced in 2015 2015 in technology