tesla ceo unveils home battery system - home battery system

Foster City, California
-Tesla CEO Elon Musk is trying to bring battery technology from his electric vehicle company into homes and businesses, as part of a detailed plan to reinvent the grid with millions of small solar power plants, panels on the roof and batteries in the garage.
Musk announced Tesla's expansion to the home battery market in a party atmosphere at design studios near Los Angeles International Airport.
Festival scenes with drinks
A group of fanatic enthusiasts seem to be suitable for flashy billionaires who pursue ambitious goals. out projects.
Mars colonization, for example, is one of Musk's targets in space X, and he also runs rocket makers.
Now he has embarked on an ambitious task.
"Our goal here is to fundamentally change the way the world uses energy," Musk told reporters gathered in Hawthorne, California . ".
While Tesla will make a battery called Powerwall, it will be sold by a variety of other companies.
The list of partners includes SolarCity, a solar installer created by Musk's cousins Lyndon and Peter Ryf.
Musk is the chairman and largest shareholder of SolarCity.
Like Tesla's electric vehicles, this battery may be too expensive for most consumers. Tesla's electric car starts at about $70,000.
Based on the required capacity, the proposed price for the system is $3,000 to $3,500.
This may prevent widespread adoption, especially for products with limited use.
"I don't believe that the first incarnation of this product will interest ordinary people," acknowledged SolarCity CTO Peter river . ".
However, Ryf still expects that there will be enough demand to significantly increase the number of home batteries.
Musk is very encouraged by the initial demand and believes Tesla and other future entrants in the market will be able to sell 2 billion battery packs around the world --
The number of vehicles already on the road is roughly the same.
While this may sound like a "super crazy" goal, Musk insists it's "something that humans can do ".
"It takes a long time to get there.
Tesla hopes to start shipping a limited number of Powerwall batteries in the United States this summer. S.
Before the international expansion next year. The long-
The long-term goal is to reduce the world's dependence on the energy generated by fossil fuels, while creating regional networks of home batteries that can be controlled like power plants.
This will provide another way for utilities to ensure that they are able to provide electricity at peak demand.
At present, the battery is mainly to provide expensive backup systems for customers such as David Cunningham, aerospace engineer in Foster, California during the blackout.
At the end of last year, he installed Tesla batteries, paired with his solar panels, as part of a pilot project for the California Utilities Commission to test household battery performance.
Although Cunningham's home did not have a power outage for six months when he had a battery, it was able to run key household appliances such as lights and refrigeration, which could be charged through solar panels during the day.
"As long as one person has solar panels, the two naturally fit together," says Cunningham, 77 . ".
"I think this is a complete power system in my home.
"Cunningham took advantage of state incentives to significantly reduce the price tag for the battery at $18,300 under the pilot program.
He also paid $7,500.
"The value proposition now is reliability and backup power supply, not savings, but it may change over time," said Shayle Kahn, an analyst at GTM Research . ".
If, as expected, more utilities and regulators allow electricity prices to change throughout the day depending on market conditions, batteries may become more useful.
In this way, the software that controls solar and battery systems will allow customers to use their homes-
Power generation-
Not expensive power grid
When the price of the grid soared
Many commercial customers have purchased electricity in this way, and Tesla has also announced the design of battery systems for them, as well as larger battery packs that utilities can use to manage the grid.
Analysts say these utilities and commercial markets may be more promising for Tesla than residential customers in the coming years.
Several businesses, including Amazon.
Plans to use Tesla's battery storage system on a limited basis.
Edison in Southern California is already using Tesla batteries to store energy.
Tesla will set up a large plant in Nevada and start producing batteries in 2017, so Musk needs to start soliciting customers now.
The spotlight could help Musk push policy makers and utilities to consider reformulating regulations so that solar and battery storage can be more easily integrated into larger power systems, Kahn said.
Tesla's ambitions have drawn interest from homeowners like Mike Thielen, who last year installed a prototype battery with SolarCity panels at his home in reddondo Beach, California.
Although he does not need a backup power supply yet, he has accepted the concept.
"I think it's great," he said . "
"If they can figure out a way to get me out of the grid completely, I'll consider upgrading to a more powerful home battery.