Science-Technology
See other Science-Technology Articles
Title: Bloomberg: Tesla's New Battery Doesn't Work That Well With Solar
Source:
Bloomberg Business
URL Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic ... sn-t-work-that-well-with-solar
Published: May 6, 2015
Author: Tom Randall
Post Date: 2015-05-06 18:16:00 by Operation 40
Keywords: Tesla, Musk, Scam
Views: 2732
Comments: 5
Even Elon Musk's SolarCity, the biggest supplier in the U.S., isn't ready to install Tesla's home battery for daily users
Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk introduced a new family of batteries designed to stretch the solar-power revolution into its next phase. There's just one problem: Tesla's new battery doesn't work well with rooftop solar—at least not yet. Even Solar City, the supplier led by Musk, isn't ready to offer Tesla's battery for daily use.
The new Tesla Powerwall home batteries come in two sizes—seven and 10 kilowatt hours (kWh)—but the differences extend beyond capacity to the chemistry of the batteries. The 7kWh version is made for daily use, while its larger counterpart is only intended to be used as occasional backup when the electricity goes out. The bigger Tesla battery isn't designed to go through more than about 50 charging cycles a year, according to SolarCity spokesman Jonathan Bass.
Here’s where things get interesting. SolarCity, with Musk as its chairman, has decided not to install the 7kWh Powerwall that’s optimized for daily use. Bass said that battery "doesn't really make financial sense" because of regulations that allow most U.S. solar customers to sell extra electricity back to the grid.1increase click area
For customers of SolarCity, the biggest U.S. rooftop installer, the lack of a 7kWh option means that installing a Tesla battery to extend solar power after sunset won't be possible. Want to use Tesla batteries to move completely off the grid? You'll just to have to wait. “Our residential offering is battery backup,” Bass said in an e-mail.
A Tesla spokeswoman, Khobi Brooklyn, said via e-mail that both sizes of the Powerwall battery would be available in the U.S. by late summer. She didn't say which distributors will offer the smaller battery designed for everyday use. Tesla is set to report earnings later Wednesday, although the new line of home batteries will probably take a back seat to sales of the company's battery-powered cars.
The Economic Case for Tesla's New Battery Gets Worse
SolarCity is only offering the bigger Powerwall to customers buying new rooftop solar systems. Customers can prepay $5,000, everything included, to add a nine-year battery lease to their system or buy the Tesla battery outright outright for $7,140. The 10 kilowatt-hour backup battery is priced competitively, as far as batteries go, selling at half the price of some competing products.
But if its sole purpose is to provide backup power to a home, the juice it offers is but a sip. The model puts out just 2 kilowatts of continuous power, which could be pretty much maxed out by a single vacuum cleaner, hair drier, microwave oven or a clothes iron. The battery isn’t powerful enough to operate a pair of space heaters; an entire home facing a winter power outage would need much more...SNIP
Full Article: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-05-06/tesla-s-new-battery-doesn-t-work-that-well-with-solar
Gigglefactory-ROFL. Batteries Batteries Everywhere- Would you like a spent lithium dump in your backyard, Sir? (1 image)
Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest
Bloomberg is making a more dire report on the Tesla batteries than other media sources.
Let's wait and see what happens as they start to install systems. These batteries are programmable and can be configured via software, just as the car batteries are.
As UPS-only systems, these seem very pricey and Musk's product announcement and the rollout to utility companies sounded very different than this lone Bloomberg report.
I'd like to see more reporting on this. So far, only Bloomberg is saying this. It could be that Bloomberg has its own agenda.
#2. To: TooConservative (#1)
I am reading sail boating forums. One of the things about sail boats is how primitive they are - there has been little innovation besides switching to fiberglass hulls and garmin type gear. Stoves are still kerosene based for example. No power that lasts. Imagine this battery pack on a sail boat! Wow.
#3. To: Pericles (#2)
Imagine this battery pack on a sail boat!
Well, if Bloomberg's article is true, the battery backup unit intended to be discharged and recharged 50 times a year would still make sense for casual sailboat use. It will be interesting to see if anyone tries using them. Electric motor backup is a nice match philosophically to a sailboat, more so than some crude oil-based backup. I'm not sure how you'd have to package the battery for maritime. With boats, there's always something else to worry about that you don't have to on dry land.
You might like SolarNavigator. Some cool boats with solar panels.
#4. To: TooConservative (#3) (Edited)
That boat is beyond my means and skills. Sailboats, probably because they are a limited market, have had very few innovations. Propane is a no-no. Deisel can be expensive, has limited bunker space and smells up a boat. There are solar panel retrofits but you can't run an A/C unit on a sailboat out to sea for example because of the lack of long term power.
#5. To: Operation 40, Pericles (#0)
Despite Bloomberg's sour assessment, I see another headline.
At 38,000 reservations, Tesla’s Powerwall is already sold out until mid-2016
Looks like the new Tesla Model 3 ($35K, out in March 2016) will be using up a lot of the battery production capacity, limiting the numbers of Powerwall units that can be delivered this year.
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest
[Home] [Headlines] [Latest Articles] [Latest Comments] [Post] [Mail] [Sign-in] [Setup] [Help] [Register]