Thanks for making this my most popular video to date! If you're here and just want the short answer basically, if you have solar and your state offers Net Energy Metering then financially it likely isn't a good investment. However, if you live somewhere with regular outages (such as in California these days) then it 100% makes sense for peace of mind. Sub for more soon, bye!
Or live in Hawaii as I do and paid $600-$700 electricity bill as I did before getting powerwalls and TOU PV net metering which brought my payments to $25.
Hey Ben, thanks for taking the time to make this. Over here in Massachusetts there aren’t any peak times and low times. They just trade one hour for one hour it’s all the same. We are still looking at if this is worth it. Wondering about maintenance? Is there much? And if so, is it like $100 every time the guy comes out? Thanks
metalhead4700 I cant remember but I suspect that the weather was mild enough that we didn’t have to. At least not when the sun wasn’t shining on the panels.
@@metalhead4700 obviously not....13.5kwh at best *.97 conversion leaves what 13kwh for 16 hours of effectively 0 zerolight a day? 800 watts per hour, not sure what you can run with that...all your lights tv and pcs. nothing mechanical
@@richardroberson9277 probably just a top loading fridge, super efficient! iPad with cell based internet for entertainment or since it's Australia must be a lot of things to do with friends and family away from home.
I have had my PW2 for 3 years. I also have a solar. My annual net electricity bill each year is zero. I also use the PW2 and solar along with off-peak charging from my electricity vendor to provide the charge needed for both of our electric cars (Model 3 and Fiat 500e) to meet our daily driving needs. Which combined for my wife and I equal about 75 miles per day. Our life use case is taking full advantage and reaping the benefit of the Tesla PW2 and Solar. So far today I am 100% Self powered. Meaning I am only using electricity from my system.
for how much? you say you use off peak charging for cars but then say its 100% self powered...why use the powerwall at all then if youre using grid as battery.
@@FiveInDrive no. this is not a thing. nobody would ever want to. 1 single cloudy day and your sol with your (1) count em (1) day of energy storage. not even like 12 hours
congratulations m8. The world needs all the help we can give. And if you watch the Australian 60 min - dok about black out, Expensive bill's and more. So sad to see how some Australian politicians behave!! Best of luck :0)
Homes cost money to maintain, and if any unfortunate thing happens it can cost you alot in repairs or high insurance rates for years, however you can cash out and get alot of your investment if you sell renters get zero return. However it is constant outflow of money dont get me started on the taxes. However if you can buy do it if you can't save so you can buy. M
We too have the PowerWall with our Solar. After the federal rebate and the SGIP rebate from SDG&E, the battery only cost us $2600 after all incentives. Our home runs by battery long after solar stops producing during the day and our home is about 87-90% off grid. SOOOO worth it!!
why is it worth it though? you used the governments money to buy an overpriced (even by tesla standards) battery that will never pay off before it devalues far below its purchase price
Yeah but to get a small battery installed can cost $10k and they last about 10 years so you pay about $1k per year for the ability to arbitrage your power rate a small amount. That said if your power goes out a lot it's probably worth it to be able to limp along off the grid.
Hello all!! I’m in Fl and have a 14.64kw system with 2 powerwalls. Where I live the power outages happen frequently. They average about once a week albeit for 5-8 min at a time. But that’s not the problem. Return on investment was not my primary concern for the powerwalls. I wanted piece of mind. I’ve been through several hurricanes and have gone a week without power. That was terrible and now have a family and it’s the best feeling in the world not having to worry about the power going out, ever!
@@shdwbnndbyyt Really?? I think thats probably a safety issue, because solar panels can feed back into the grid, and if powerlines are down, people could get electrocuted. You should be able to use stored battery power though.
I have solar and no powerwalls. My state has net metering, no time of use metering and very little power outages. So as neat as it would be it doesn't make financial sense for us. Great video Ben. Glad you discussed net metering because most have no clue about it.
Well the main complaint about other companies is that the share the data with someone else or use it to sell you something. Let’s wait and see what Tesla will do with our data in the future.
@@STho205 So a farm in 1905 had air conditioning, internet, refrigerator(s), lighting, and didn't have to pay a monopoly for the power to run these things? What country was that farm in???
The Real c too. Yeah they had AC. They opened some windows and lived outdoors. The world was many, many degrees cooler then, haven't you heard. They only used lighting at night, not in broad daylight with drapes closed. So you're going to reach the internet without an ISP monopoly utility you have to pay. Fun. AC...what do you hate the environment??!!???. Go outside and milk a cow...make sure she doesn't fart. If you want to be independent buy an island and interact with nobody...cept you have to buy all your stuff (and the island) from a monopoly with currency from the Federal Reserve Bank to be comfy and entertained. I hear there's a Mars flight leaving from Hawthorne, CA tonight.
Definitely put solar panels on the beautiful house you're building, Dan, or at least on tall poles in your back yard. They make a great yard canopy, if you can't put them on your roof. I'd get a Powerwall, however, after installing my solar panels, and with my wind turbine, my power bill has been the connection fee of only: $10.30/mo., every month and we far overproduce so we have massive amounts of credits stored up that we never use. So even if I put a powerwall in, my bill would still be: $10.30/mo. But, I still want a Powerwall. :)
WHAT'S INSIDE? FAMILY I’m from Utah. I think this is all available in Utah. I just talked to my rep last week. But maybe I’m confused. What are you saying isn’t available?
Really? Worth $14,000 just to have electricity for eight hours before the power from the grid was restored? That's a cost of nearly $2,000 an hour. I don't understand your economics.
Adam Thomson that’s a single instance. Over time there will be more outages and in that sense the ‘price per hour’ will decrease. Alongside that there are other benefits to solar (offsetting CO2 output of your household, selling your extra power back to the grid etc).
@@helenhuizenga9998 now that it is summer time with afternoon rain, i can do only three days with power modifications to reduce energy. i should have bought 3, it was half the price. the pv system doesn't produce as well as in the spring i am avg 50kw vs 60kw in the spring
in addtion if you have FPL you have the option of doing time of use where u can pay less for power because u use your pv and batteries during the day and use grid at night super cheap electricity
We've had 3 powerwalls for a little over a year. We added them to our existing solar PV system. We live in San Diego and have the EV-TOU-5 plan which gives us 9.3 cents/kwh at night and that 53 cents/kwh peak rate. We use the advanced feature so our two EVs charge of the grid at night. That may take 40 kwh, or about $4 (keep it simple). During the peak time we run off the batteries and send about 8 kwh to the grid, giving us that $4 credit to offset the 40 we used at night. Since we can now download the data I took the time to go back for every day and download the data. I then ran it through some analysis to see how much the powerwalls are saving us by allowing us to shift when we use our solar vs sending to the grid. My basic assumption was if you take the home usage and minus the solar generated you'd get what the power company would see had you no powerwalls. I then ran that through the EV-TOU-5 pricing structure and compared to running what actually the power company reports. The powerwalls saved us around $760 for a year. My out of pocket expense for three powerwalls and installation was around $14000 so in their guaranteed life of ten years they won't pay for themselves. Had we more power outages there would be more cost savings because my solar wouldn't be dormant, it can still produce. Of course I guess that's not a money savings because no power at all is free -- but I don't have to throw away the contents of our freezer either. If you want to chat about it sometime I can show you my data and analysis.
We are in GA and since the power walls were installed with 23 solar panels we have had a total of 9 hours of power outages . We have not lost power since the installment. We have been pretty much self powered in the fall and spring with giving back to the grid. In the winter we also had a a much lower electric bill . Now , in the summer we are about 70 % self powered. Absolutely love the system. Planning on buying a solar water heater system.
There is also another reason you could go for a powerwall + sun setup: To ensure than most of your energy is clean. Maybe it would cost you a bit more than doing just solar + credit from your provider, but by putting everything (or at least most) of your production inside the powerwalls, this would mean that you only take from the grid when you really don't have a choice, and ensure that most of what you use comes from clean energy. I think it's what I would do if I had a house, and the money.
Living in Hawaii, the struggle is real with the highest rates per kWh in the nation. I don't have PV/solar because I'm in a situation where I have about 4-5 years before I need to replace my roof. It would be ideal to install solar when I replace my roof. But you brought up an interesting idea about installing power walls without solar to take advantage of peak shaving / rate arbitrage. Maybe that's my first step to bridge the gap on installing solar/roof replacement.
We just doubled our solar panels and a Powerwall or two is down the road. What a lot of people are missing is how beneficial solar is to everyone on the grid. S California used to have brownouts all the time. Now when the usage is highest - hot days with lots of A/C going during business hours - the distributed solar panels everywhere are performing at their max and sending power back into the grid. I feel good knowing that I'm helping the grid, helping the power company to NOT have to add more (coal or natural gas) power stations, and actually helping the community not to suffer through another brownout.
As a Floridian who lost power two years in a row to storms (for about 8 days total), this would be a game changer. Just wish I could afford it. I don't even have solar yet.
$50 bucks a month for a small solar system from tesla. and cancel anytime with no fee unless you want the system removed. If tesla can make it that if customers don't want to pay and they can harvest the power and resell it. it will be a complete game-changer:) lol
@@N8TheSnake 16k to have ac for 8 days a year if the power is out wouldnt you just be at home and if youre not at home why do you care about the ac. seems like you could easily just plug in the massive 50kwh+ battery in the car
I am an energy researcher and have been monitoring several Tesla Powerwalls for a while. This is a very helpful and thorough analysis but I would like to add some more insights. The best case scenario is to fully charge and discharge your battery everyday so that you make the best out of it. For an average electricity price of 0.15$/kWh you will get a payback of 10 years as 3650 cycles would save you approximately $7000. In the real world your PV will not generate everyday an excess for a full charge, your house demand will not always be as much as 13.5kWh from sunset to next day's sunrise and also the battery, especially when installed outside, is not 90% efficient as claimed but 70%-80%. A nice trick would be to use the grid for scheduling when you have access to variable tariffs; for example, charge your battery over the night and use it during the day. If your day import - night import deal is better than 0.15$/kWh and the battery is used daily for a full charge and discharge, you will get a better return that the 10 years. The combination of the above 2 would increase your benefits; however, currently the Powerwall 2 cannot combine charging from the grid and from your PV as these two modes are not working together. Also there is a maximum charge and discharge power at 5kW meaning that if you have a big PV , the charging power will be limited to 5kW and the rest will be exported. What is more important is that during discharge the battery can only handle simultaneous loads up to 5kW. Bottom line: TESLA Powerwall 2 is really cool and the monitoring is neat but it is not cost effective unless: you receive a generous subsidy or electricity price gets mad or you have an amazingly suitable time-of-use tariff deal, or you need a power-cut UPS frequently.
@@chefgav1 ROI is that you get a chance to keep your planet habitable and give the finger to the fossil fuel industry. Personal energy independence is wonderful, so kudos to Mark for taking a leap into the future.
@1Energine1 ‘Virtue signalling’ is a cowardly term used by people who secretly worry that their beliefs and actions are unethical and don’t want you to make them feel bad by behaving differently.
@1Energine1 Baseless attacks? The fossil fuel industry is killing us. That is a fact with a list of evidence a mile long. Personal energy independence is great. That is a fact. Why are you so defensive? You work for the fossil fuel industry and want to do something better with your life instead? Those that share my values don't accuse me of "virtue signalling".
Love your videos. We have had solar and net metering for 8 years now. 53MWH so far and loving it. Tesla looks to be in our future as well. Neighbors have exactly what you have for Tesla products and they educate the rest of our neighborhood. Keep up the great work, you do make a difference. The more people learn, the better our world can be!
I just signed a lease agreement with a Tesla system. I live in Puerto Rico where there’s not only multiple power outages weekly but several storms a year. This review helps a lot. Looking forward to using the app. Thanks
I have solar (not Tesla), net metering, a PowerWall and a Tesla Model 3. The grid power is fairly stable. One thing I see as lacking is, i would like to be able to use my car’s battery as part of the PowerWall circuit.
Robert Gamble exactly. Your car is the equivalent of 5 or more powerwalls sat on your drive. It beggars belief that there isn’t the technology to do so.
When I saw Elon telling Joe Rogan we don’t even know what the cars are capable of, I wouldn’t doubt Tesla will reverse the current to the house if possible. I am no engineer but if it is theoretically possible, that makes things very interesting.
David Beppler what I’m saying is you cannot use the car battery to power the house in preference to from the grid (in the absence of solar). The fact that a lot of Tesla’s (at least in the UK) have free supercharging forever means it’s not in Tesla’s interest to enable car to home power as then Tesla owners would simply need to fill up at the Supercharger and come home to run the house from the car for free.
Richard Cordova agreed, but the issue of free supercharging would need to be resolved as otherwise owners would potentially charge for free at the Supercharger and then bring the car home to run the house (for free) from it. I suspect this is the biggest barrier why this possibility has not been enabled yet.
@@davidbeppler3032 I'm in a similar situation. I just want a smart charger that charges my car when I'm producing extra solar power and tapers back when my AC kicks in, or clothes drier is running. Also, tapers off when the afternoon thundershower kicks in. Basically, a smart charger that uses any excess power we make with our PV system to charge the cars, and not use grid power. There is one available in Europe called the Zappi, but they won't sell to the US.
I'm in Jersey. I have it and I love it! After Hurricane Isiaias, my neighborhood went 3 full days with no power and my house was perfectly normal. The lowest my powerwall went down to was 30% and then the sun simply recharged it in the morning. There is a 16k federal tax rebate that's being phased out so take advantage quickly. Also in New Jersey, 1 mega watt of power is worth about 230 bucks. You can actually sell your Srecs! So in Jersey, the system literally pays for itself!
Tesla cars have huge batteries built in. Seems like it would be beneficial to the “Tesla Ecosystem” to allow the Tesla to connect to the power wall directly and share it’s battery if it was needed. Does the Tesla charging port allow for power to go both ways? If it doesn’t, it should. Then you could “fill up” another stranded Tesla on the road that ran out of power, etc. If a hurricane or snowstorm came through and took the power with it, the ability to connect an additional 75, 80, 90, 100 KWh battery to power the home seems like it would be beneficial. Like others, I would also love to know your yearly power bill before vs after solar/power wall.
of course....these things are beyond stupid you can buy a model 3 with 80kwh for what 40k? 500$/kwh and get a FREE CAR these things are 500$/kwh installed and are near useless in a hurricane you're either leaving. in said car or not driving to work so the battery is free to use protocol and laws dont allow car to back feed grid otherwise yes...its already there and cheap as hell and it would actually make money arbitraging power rates between night and day assuming you didnt need to drive it. using a battery already in a car=smart buying over priced battery that sits around doing nothing to power cycle a house = dumb
@@tonytaing8173 off grid yes...every ev has it technically....the 12V output. the s/x 3? at least have a 1500W inverter built in so yeah they could run a fridge no problem during a power outage and all your lights not sure what on earth you're going to do with 5000W output on a 13.5KW battery that you cant do with 1500W output on a 75KWH+ battery... i guess you could run your ac for 3/4 hours on 1 powerwall whatever use that is. any cooking etc would drain it crazy fast as it has the power but not the energy
John W correct, just trying to explain that you need some serious equipment, not just the power supply which isn’t even the ac/dc charger (which is onboard the car).
The one thing you forget to mention like most people on the powerwall. If you lose network connection for 24 hours your powerwall becomes a brick. I was so excited to get a powerwall, but after having it and learning this.
You mean those giant clusterf@cks of rechargeable power-tool battery cells by the thousands in a "battery pack"? Those "car batteries"? Better learn more about your Tesla products if you're unaware those "car batteries" are already used in your PowerWall(s).
Very happy with my single powerwall. Wish I had bought two or three of them. You are right, the main benefit is not economic, but mental. I have done a few simulated power outages, and the powerwall has worked flawlessly, kicking in almost instantly. If I conserve energy, I can basically live completely off the electric grid forever if necessary, recharging the powerwall with solar each day.
Yes actually last I heard in 2018 supposedly they had about 11,000 renewable energy projects in Puerto Rico but mostly for few hospitals,schools, elderly homes but a lot of us never got a power wall and the power was out for us for more than 7 months. It was terrible and one of the main reasons I wish I could get one without having to go to a 3rd party because the authorize sellers for tesla gouging prices , musk apparently stopped sending to them but it hasn't stopped some over here from continuing. Furthermore as for getting an EV in Puerto Rico to use as a back up power also is rather difficult since it has to be shipped from Florida by a 3rd party also which adds to the price and wait time. I wish tesla would consider direct shipment to Puerto Rico like the rest of the USA but no so far not yet. We will be getting a service center at some point but no eta on it, all musk said about it was "Yes" and nothing else about it so far.
@@Allucardsin no market for it there sadly. if you can get your hands on an old leaf that thing even has a much larger battery than a powerwall and it can move and stuff. the batteries are only lasting longer and longer the model 3 pack could easily pay itself off energy shifting well within its expected lifetime and well below its replacement cost....the reason they dont want you to do it is safety and warranty issues most tesla drivers never even use their battery imagine using it 80% every single day.
@Marc Davidson horribly....it doesnt work...its one thing to build one thats zero emissions or very near. its another to make it all electric + energy storage you'd need alot of powerwalls for 1 day of storage....what about weather and 2+ days of little sun. far cheaper/easier to use diesel/conventional energy back up for the 1/2 times a year weather is horrible and just build enough storage to last 16 hours or between solar cycles
richard roberson there should be a market at some point it's just going slow at this time maybe in the next couple years lol I just don't want to wait awhile to get a model 3 , there is about 200 or so in the island. Musk did confirm he plans on bringing a service center here and possibly supercharging but he's not telling when, so until then only time will tell. I know battery technology is going to get much better in the near future. Maybe it is best I wait.
Ben, we lose power here in Northern California every time it rains! Just today over 14k homes lost power for 2 to 3 hours from a thunderstorm. This is the third power outage this year, and we haven't gotten into the real power outage season and fire season. So, I ordered Tesla solar power with 24 panels and 2 Powerwalls. I ordered last April. It will be installed next week!! (Late August) Can't wait!
I can speak to this. I own a very large solar installation company that services SD, Orange, LA and Riverside counties as well as Phoenix, Tuscon and just now, last Vegas. Around 850 systems per month in total. We are brand agnostic and by that i mean we install solar and batteries both from and for companies such as Tesla, LG, Sunrun, SolarEdge, Enphase, Pika, Panasonic, sharp and sunpower. In the areas i mentioned, it makes the most sense to use batteries IF you pull around 950 kWhs from your utility or more AND you have enough roof space to offset 120% or more of your bill with panels in California due to Time of Use billing. Vegas, tuscon don’t need it. Phoenix should if you have SRP as your utility but not APS. As far as the SGIP credit (CA) you mentioned, use caution as that fund is limited and for FY2019 is already gone. Lastly if you don’t have enough capacity to fill the battery or batteries in 2.5 hours or less, skip it. It won’t serve you well and it won’t last near as long. Good luck with your system!
@@inkooh8 because if you do NPT own a at least 7 to 8kw Peak system it does not make any sense! A 8 or 9kw peak system means that at peak capavity aka maximum solar power output and optimal azimuth og the sun,it puts out 8 or 9kw an hour! If you have this 14kwh tesla battery and are not able to fill it up in 2 or 3 hours - it is not worth it since the sun does not stand at highest point for much longer. Also it varies a lot depending on your distance to the equator! During winter time I for instance could only get 1 or 2kw on a cloudy winter day. Whereas I would get 50 or 60 kw a day easily with a 9kwp system in june or july!
As an alternative to Powerall is a generator. We have 16.5 solar grid (60 panels) and a 10 kw propane generator. Cost 15 years ago was < $5k. Have separate sub panel to provide “essential circuits”. Works well.
One thing you didn't comment on the storm watch and why it's important, (maybe you didn't know about it) is that the grid will NOT charge your battery at all unless there's a storm coming. So on regular settings. The battery is ONLY being charged by the sun. So if you look at your settings, everything revolves around saving storage on the battery because the Grid will not charge the battery unless there's a storm. So for Backup Only, Sun charged the battery to the max, battery is only used during outage. Self-powered, sun charged the battery with remaining power after power your home, then use battery at night till it hits a power reserve limit, then it will use grid till sun comes up. for this to work, your solar panel must output much much more than your home usage so it can charge the battery in time before sunset, if not, your batteries won't be fully charged for the night. That means, you'll constantly be using the grid and solar while battery only help very little.
Pw2 absolutely will recharge from grid. We use this feature frequently. After dark, just raise the reserve level above the state of charge, Pw2 will begin charging from grid at 1.7kW.
Better to feed the grid during peak time if possible (even from the battery) to get the highest payback. Then recharge the battery with cheap off-peak grid power. 😉
I stay on the eastern coast and I find it priceless to have the ability to subsidize my power usage and store back-up power in the event of a power outage. I've had my solar panels and power walls for over 3 years and my power bill has gone from an average of $200 to $5.
Wow the timing of this video on my feed couldn't have been more useful as I sit here alone in my house with no electricity and a single extension cord running to my fridge connected to a generator outside my kitchen screaming away at me for hours on end as I sit here and wait for power to be restored. Or death. At this point I don't care anymore.
Hey Ben, if you want to charge the car off grid then plug it in and charge at lowest amperage basically like charging from a 110 outlet when solar is most active. Your car will charge and so will the powerwall Plus it won't overwhelm the Powerwalls at the same time I believe the max output from both PW is 10 kWh.
"Are they worth the money?", a question being answered by a person who got $14k worth of Powerwalls for free. Not saying his points become moot, but I'll always have a hard time taking things at full face value when the person didn't put any of their money on the line for something that costs 10s of thousands of dollars.
The weather alert system is crucial for me being that I live in central Florida!! We have multiple storms a day and especially in the summer during hurricane season having a outage percentage is going to be extremely higher than normal. Glad you shared this data !
In Puerto Rico it make sense to have it 100%. I just bought a PW system to my mom who's living in PR and I can't describe how much piece is bringing to her life by not worrying about power outage not to mention hurricanes.
Had one for over two years, never use grid, all self powered.. I have an ev and winter charge it for free at a university that has 7,000 plus solar panels. No bills , just cheques from feed in. Best thing I've ever bought.
I have solar and two powerwalls. ! 1) I haven't paid for electricity since September when I got the final approve from the Norman city inspectors. 2). we have had 5 major power outage and with the exception doing power control (using less than .6kw ). we have not been effected by power outage. 3). during the major artic blst we got hit with. we were charged $64 for that month of power. where our neighbors got $1000-$2300 bills that month. Thank you solar and Tesla powerwalls.
Only $10/month in CA for fixed fees? I wish... Here in Australia I have to pay AU$1.05 / DAY ! Yes, that's AU$31.50/ month (US$21.50) so basically double :-( 1 Powerwall 2 is AU$11k + installation making it a very expensive option compared to some others - but no-one makes a better app than Tesla.
Ben, we got solar and the power wall. We installed in our garage on the wall. We live in riverside county where temps are over 100 daily in the summer. With our A/C set at 76 and charging our model 3 our electricity bill was $10 for June, July, and August! Totally worth it, last year was $3-400+ a month
Ben, great video, I am more than ever considering purchasing a power wall, mainly for the ability to use stored power during peak rate times here in Ca.
Usable Energy 13.5 kWh max size a powerall 2 , useless power say 2 tesla s 100 kwh battery 200 plus house used 25 kwh a day need total 225 kwh of powerwalls 2 , 16 batterys. cost of say 113 k . alot money , have long way to go on powerwalls need too hold say 100 kwh each one .
i wait for powerwall 3 haved 28kWh battery (~26kWh usable capacity)l only need 8 , still be short of need 100 kwh per powerwall need. get too 100 kwh in powerwall 5 if were lucky ?
I live in Alabama. Our state is very unfriendly to solar sadly. I live in the country and my power is interrupted when the wind blows literally. I would love to have a power wall but it's just not in my budget so I had to come up with my own powerwall. I have a golf cart that has 8.4 kw of batteries so i purchased a 2500 watt pure sine wave 36 volt inverter from china with remote control for around $200. Also purchased a 30 amp automatic transfer switch for $75 and a small circuit breaker box for $15. Got some very thick wire, cant remember how thick, with plug in connecters that i can connect and disconnect my golf cart to the inverter. I have all this mounted on the wall in my garage where the golf cart is parked. I have a 20 amp circuit that comes from my outside box into my garage. It feeds into one side of the transfer switch and the inverter feeds into the other side of the transfer switch. The output of the transfer switch goes to the small circuit breaker box. I have a 15 amp circuit breaker in the box that is connected to my light in the garage. This light is on a circuit coming from the electrical box on the inside of the house. I basically just turned this circuit around. This is the same circuit that runs all my tv, satellite and computer and lights in my living room and luckily also feeds my tv in my bedroom. Where the circuit dead ends in the inside box, i put a interlock on the breaker so that it stayed off when the main breaker was on. So if the power goes off, I don't have to get out of my seat, i just push the button on the remote control for the inverter to turn on and it automatically changes over to the inverter power and feeds all my living room and more. If the power is going to be off for awhile, i go to the inside box and turn the main breaker off and also turn of any power hungry devices such as hot water heater and ac units and turn on the breaker to feed the box. I have all led lights and my refrigerator is very energy efficient so it all works very well and it's so nice not to have to deal with a loud generator outside. My next plans are to add solar panels and a controler and start leaving the inverter on to save electricity. So far i have less than $500 in this. I don't count the golf cart batteries because i already had them and it was something i was going to have anyway. And ps. I love your system and your so right, it is a good feeling knowing your not dependent on the power company so much!
Martialman.45 my house in Houston is $.04 /kw for any amount, any time Meanwhile in San Diego I pay WAAAAAAY more. It’s insane how expensive it is in San Diego. Downright criminal.
@@codycast generally in Houston you need to pay Centerpoint a .04 delivery fee too along with others. It's not as cheap as it seems. In Baytown our old old plan was about 10 cents per kwh total with a 1$ fee per month. Current plan is .139$ with 1 to 1 net metering so we make 200-250$ per month with solar.
My cousin has NEC Retail with the free nights and weekends plan. His wife bought a 2019 Chevy Bolt a few months ago and only charges is it between 8pm and 6am.
Great video. You are the first person to say that Net metering and Tesla Powerwall makes no sense. A Powerwall for emergency power still makes no sense to me when you can buy a really nice generator and a whole house transfer switch and power your entire house until power returns (not just 3 days) . I have solar with net metering and a whole house generator for backup power in emergency situations. Any unused solar power is sent back to the grid and used at a later date/time. Most solar systems are built to zero out your electric bill. Powerwalls may be pretty and very informative but probably not for everyone. Thanks for the video.
Australian here, I had a 5.4kw solar system installed about 2 years ago and my average monthly bills went from an average of $400-$500 a 1/4 to about $150-$250 a 1/4. A few days ago (20 May 20) I added an extra 1.2kw added to our solar system bringing it to 6.6kw system, we also installed a Tesla Powerwall 2. I'm hoping with the extra 1.2kw's we have installed plus the PW2 we should either nil electricity bills from now on or maybe even a credit.
Very informative. I have owned a PV system (solar) with battery back up for more than 10 years in FL. There is another great advantage as you have mentioned with FL being prone to power outages due to storms (hurricanes) in that you do not need to purchase a generator for power outages. The generator is costly to install and maintain. The solar system pays its self back every day the sun comes out and the federal government paid for 30% of the entire cost including the batteries. There is no payback on the generator, only upfront costs and yearly maintenance. Thanks for your interesting and informative U tube site.
An important point is that solar without battery backup means that in the case of when the grid goes down you don't generate anything at all. This is because (they say) that the power will backup to the grid and possibly electrocute power workers. With a battery if the grid goes down you become automatically cut off and power away unless the sun goes down and your battery runs out. Hence his end commentary on the peace of mind in places where outages occur (such as here in South Florida).
We have a 5kW solar system at our house. Living on the coast of Maine, we lose power several times a year, frequently for three or four days at a time. Most people around us have generators, but we've got a wood stove and that helps. But we're seriously looking at getting two powerwalls. Thanks so much for this helpful video.
Any thoughts or insights on possible Vehicle to Home/Grid (V2G) application from Tesla. With a fleet of cars that drag around 75 or 100 kWh batteries, it would seem like a logical next step to be able to use a Tesla vehicle to power your home (or at least feed power into a Powerwall to conserve the cars battery chemistry). I imagine there are issues with battery life and resiliency of these expensive cars when it comes to V2G, but it seems like a worthwhile way to utilize a battery that is probably parked 95% of the time. I see a potential to drive a car to work, charge up on excess solar/renewables during the day, then drive home fully charged and use that power to run the house, all with a smart grid that can regulate when power is needed or stored, and compensate those who make their batteries available for distributed power supply. Would love to see Tesla lead on distributed supply. Thanks.
Yes. Only Nissan supports this mode of use so far. Mostly because Chademo was always designed as a bidirectional protocol, whilst the Tesla and CCS specs weren't. It's a pity that the unidirectional charging specs have been more popular in the market because now the vast majority of EVs just can't do this. You would expect Tesla to have been a bit smarter on this (but they've generally been against this type of usage due to worry about battery wear). Premature to make it impossible though IMHO (maybe the Tesla spec could actually do this - they just choose not to?)
Thanks Ben. I went to the Tesla web site and found a different estimate for backup by a single battery of 3 days. The concept I have is overbilding and feeding the system with my panels while I run the home off the batter(ies) and making 23cents a kWh credit.
I love your channel but I wish you pulled more data like what you pay per month with and without solar/battery . Value of the sole and storage after 20 years, etc. You need to honor your channels name! :) PD: I own 2 Tesla’s, I have solar panel but no powerwall yet. I want to know your numbers more in depth in the future :)
@@Avalanche2 it can depending on how much power u use, if you never use AC and can live off a AA battery than no sense, what so ever. But if your house have lots of peeps active at home in the daytime and the AC running all day and you have a few electric cars, than that can be a positive investment. But the most important is as a backup when your power goes out, and as a huge UPS.
Depends on your circumstances. If you are out of the house 8h+/day & have a 15c/kWh rate, it's probably not worth having a battery. Get a big solar array & defray your bills with feed-in tariffs. If you're retired or stay-at-home parents & have 30+c/kWh rates, it's a no brainer. A 6-7.5kW PV array, Fronius 8.2kW grid feed inverter & a Pw2 will give 100% RoI in about 6 years. That's my situation in eastern Australia. Power bill has dropped from $3700/yr to $350. Now never have power outages, either.
Thanks for the video. We have had our Powerwall 2 for 3 weeks now and its great. We are in New Zealand and we get a lot of sun. We had a 3.99 KWp system for a start off and it was good but I could see the benefit of a battery added. So we put another 8 panels on taking us up to 22 panels or 6.55 KWp. Our inverter is a 5 KW solar edge HD inverter which allows for oversizing of panels up to 135% without voiding the warranty. This means we can get up to 5 KW solidly during peak sun filling the powerwall 2 up quickly. With a bit of discipline only using heavy use items during the day we can virtually stay offgrid onSolar and Battery for 24hrs. We are actually just going into our second week of doing this now without drawing from the grid at all and exporting out to the grid once the powerwall is full. Everything is expensive to buy here in NZ though. The powerwall only cost $16,800 NZD installed. So with the Solar System plus the powerwall 2 we have spent $32,000 NZD. There are no solar subsidies here in NZ yet either.
I’d be curious to know how these systems increase your property value as well. If you decide to sell in the future, the breakeven point my be a lot shorter than just based off power usage
Australian here, we currently have a 5.4kw solar system installed and at the end of May we are adding 1.2kw to the solar system to bring it up to 6.6kw. When we had the initial system installed 2 years ago our quarterly power bills went from $300-$450 a quarter to $80-$150. Hopefully the additional panels will reduce that even further. On top of the additional panels we are installing a PW2 as well, fingers crossed with the additional panels plus the PW2 we should have our bills reduced to zero if not a credit.
Aaron It would if you can sell the surplus. Solar is viable even in the U.K, we have a couple of million homes installed so far, not bad for a tiny island.
Ben, I am seriously considering purchasing the Powerwall. Have a Sunpower 29 panel system about 1.5 year old. Researching this now. Thanks for the video. Well done.
In socal it makes sense for a lot if they are wanting battery backup for two or more reasons. If you are only interested in one benefit from battery storage i.e. just economic benefit, then batteries are usually not going to meet your expectations. However, if you are looking for economic benefit PLUS backup power or that warm and fuzzy feeling knowing you're as close to being off-grid as possible, then batteries make more sense. Also for those who want their security system, garage door, and/or medical equipment to work during an outage then a battery will make a lot more sense.
Whenever I watch your videos I find that I get very hungry. At first I couldn't figure out what I was hungry for but then I realized exactly what it was. Dude, you look just like that Bob's Big Boy burger dude!
I thought about solar which I know is expensive, and in a new house voids warranty, need to wait a decade on that. I liked the generac emergency generator which has problems, that can be overcome, for when power goes off, this sounds like a great alternative to both. Musk guy is a genius.
I wouldn't consider the Tesla tiles; they are much less efficient and way more expensive than modern PV panels (if you could even get them). I'm north of London and have a 7.5kW PV system and a Powerwall 2. It works superbly but it's the PW2 that really makes the most of the solar. Over the year we are averaging 89% self-powered (62% solar, 27% PW). From about April to November it's approx 100% and the battery is full every day and does not completely discharge. Only in the depths of winter where it's really dark and there are consecutive cloudy days does the PW2 become completely discharged and we go over to grid. On installation we estimated 16 years break-even but we are sending a lot of spare power to the grid in summer (generating 30+ kWh on a really sunny day) and by using this in an EV we can get this down to around 6 years with fuel-cost savings. We also get feed-in tariff government subsidies which has now ended in the UK but this also improves the economics. Most of all though, it's a great feeling to be using self-generated power both at home and in the car.
A single installed Tesla Powerwall goes for USD $12,000 here in Puerto Rico. My current requirement is at least two Powerwalls to supply my demand so that will make it over USD $20,000-$22,000.
12v 100Ah = 1.2 KWH deep cycle batteries can be had for $90 each after shipping costs. You can chain them together in parallel. 12 KWH of rechargable power for $900. 36 KWH of rechargable power for $2700. TrippLite APS1250 (Charger+Inverter+Automatic Switchover) is $500 for every 1.2 Kilowatts of load needed. Hate to say it but the Tesla Powerwall pricing is wayyyy too much money for wayyyyy too little power. Do the math. I did and decided against Powerwall and glad that I took the time to do the math.
Unfortunately not everyone has the skills to put this cell together and put a cooling system in place. What about software to run it as smart as the Tesla system runs? If you have the skills you should start a business with this idea!
I LOVE that power use gauge/monitor! My 2019 Honda Insight has a gauge like that that tells me how the car is using the energy from the engine and batteries. Good shit!
Just ordered solar and two power walls. The question of "is it worth it?" only matters to people that want the security during a power outage. Solar will save you money. Power walls will give you power when power is out! And as crazy as the world has become I feel like power walls are a necessity if you can afford it! If money is your concern then NO the power walls are not worth it! If having power when the grid is out is your concern then power walls are priceless!
We've had a leased Solar City/Tesla system for about 8 years [28 panels]. it basically cut our power bill by about 45%. Recently I noticed that the daily power generated was way down from normal, and I was sure it was due to the recent fires and the smoke/ash that had attached to the face of our panels, so i hired a guy to come clean them [about $5 per panel] and the daily power generated has increased from about 21kWh to 29/30 kWh [an increase of about 40%. Be sure to remind solar customers that it is very important to clean the panels regularly [2-3 times per year] to keep solar production at maximum levels. Unfortunately last month, we got pushed into Edison's Tier 3 due to the poor solar production, so it was an expensive month due to the air conditioning running [high temps] and lower solar production.
I'm not sure, but Tesla's charging connector may be capable of V2G -- vehicle to grid -- which turns the car's battery into a big powerwall/backup where the battery can charge and discharge via the connector. ChaDeMo can do it. And I think a future CCS standard could do it.
Gordon Chaffin It cannot. Only Chademo is currently capable of V2G. CCS is aiming for 2025. Elon Musk announced last year that Tesla may revisit V2G but they have no publicly announced plans a year later.
Barut Tech That would solve V2H but not V2G. V2G must communicate with the CAN buss in the car and turn on and off as required. Also Tesla must agree to warrant it’s batteries for this process. Not saying it can’t be done - Tesla already communicates with the car during supercharging, but they have to implement it and agree to honour the battery warranty. It’s something that only they can do. As is closing the contactor.
I live out in the country and checked out a poultry farm that had a major solar system that has paid for itself many times over and in a hurry. I attempted to do a similar system in theory not overall size. It was in 2006 and I wanted to replace the lp gas heating and cooling system for the house with a fully electric geothermal, replace lp h20 heater with electric, install solar panels on back of house ,attached 4 car garage, roof over back deck length of house, both roofs on 40' x 30' detached garage and both roofs on 20' x 20' detached garage, freestanding automatic panels mounted on poles in a area approx 1 acre, batteries in attics as needed. I wanted to produce enough extra power with the ability to choose when I sell it to maximize proffit so that in approximately 15 years it would pay for itself and then make a proffit. Well that's illegal where I live I found out when I made the mistake of inquiring about a permit 😂 Seems as though big energy has a hold on actually making solar a serous option.
I have had my solar panels for a few years. 35 panels.. It was great that first summer when I put the A/C on and still did not pay for any electric. I live in CT. and we have one of the highest rates for electric. We are lucky where we live we have not had many long lasting power outages. I kept seeing these Tesla batteries advertised and I contacted the company that installed the panels. I am scheduled to have the batteries (2) installed soon.
I agree with every benefit you site. However, there’s a fatal flaw imo. The system is bricked if it loses Internet for 24-36 hours. One of the biggest reasons I’d want solar is to have power during a MAJOR crisis. It is unconscionable for Tesla to integrate so fragile of a kill switch. Mark my words.
Here in PR we desperately need energy support, we spent many months without energy for Hurricane Maria. The big problem is the cost of PowerWall2 here, around $ 12k + solar panels + installation. Uff! ... about $ 20k. Some companies install everything for a somewhat smaller payment than the energy company, for a 25-year contract...Uff! A desperate friend hired for $ 164 per month for 25 years, with all services, parts and guarantees, battery replacement, etc. Before he paid $ 220 to the energy company. The kwh in PR is $0.21 and goes out about 2 to 3 times a month ... we are trapped!
My SunPower 3.35 kw solar PV system brings a smile to my face and being every morning while I enjoy a cup of coffee before work. Priceless. Next step is a Powerwall 2, small 500 watt wind turbine and electric vehicle.
You should always be charging your electric car with power from the grid, not the PW! Californians get an EV charging rate from utilities. This rate is specifically designed to help balance the grid. Your EV should be charging between 12 midnight and 7 am. I migrated to CA from Africa, but I've known this for almost a decade.
Not entirely practical Rotimi. What is necessary is to up your game a little if you are going to do that. Stop by The Energy Sovereignty Project and have a look at our test system.
Thanks for the insights into Powerwall sensibilities for those viewers who are wondering. Your reporting confirmed exactly what I figured about whether or not it made sense for me to get a Powerwall and that is - it did not. I was only considering the case for backup power and now thanks to you I know I would be better off going in a different direction.
@@Mistery7777 it's like how healthy people go work at co-ops then preach about the stuff there making them healthy as if they were ever fat in the first place. Or people who have never been depressed and don't have the depression predisposition gene they've discovered telling you what you need to do to stop being depressed. Again, they never were and what they're saying is largely worthless.
Given the propensity of power companies to cut off power during high wind events to prevent fires, the loss of power is becoming a bigger concern in many CA communities. I think this will be a growing concern and drive a lot of folks to look at house batteries in the future.
