You can’t have escaped word of Tesla’s Powerwall and how it’ll cut your electricity bills and make you less reliant on the grid. You might be thinking about installing it in your home, but also wondering exactly what it’s like. Here are the answers to some of the most common questions about the Powerwall.
It can power your entire home
You can make more use of the solar you collect during the day by storing it in your Powerwall, then using it after the sun has gone down. This doubles the amount of solar power your household uses. You can monitor the performance of your solar generation, Powerwall and energy usage with the Tesla mobile app.
You can tweak your timings
If your supplier gives you a time-of-use plan, then your Powerwall can charge when rates are low and discharge when they’re higher to save you more money.
The Powerwall can work offline
However, if an update is released while your internet is off or down, it won’t receive it until you’re re-connected. You won’t be able to monitor your set-up with the mobile app, either. It’s best to maintain your internet service for optimum performance.
It works with most inverters
You can integrate your Powerwall with your existing solar array; it’s compatible with most commonly-available solar inverters and Tesla is looking to expand its compatibility.
It’s quite sleek-looking
Your Powerwall system will comprise at least one battery and a Gateway. The Gateway does all the energy management, monitoring and metering; it also communicates with up to ten batteries and receives system updates.
Your Powerwall has a wide temperature range
Powerwall and Gateway units can be installed inside or outside and they can operate between -20C and 50C. At the extreme ends of this range, the Powerwall might change the way it stores and discharges power to improve battery life. It’s best to install the Powerwall in areas where it won’t be exposed to extremes of temperatures.
Self-powered mode takes care of everything
When the Powerwall is in Self-powered mode, it charges from excess solar energy generated during daylight hours then discharges it to power your home during the night-time.
When the solar panels are producing more electricity then you’re using, the Powerwall captures the energy, then when you’re using more power than solar is making, the Powerwall will discharge power to make up the deficit. If you’re generating more power than the Powerwall can store, or using more than it can provide, it’ll either export energy to or import it from the grid.
