tesla home batteries could boost rooftop solar - residential energy storage systems

No one was surprised when Tesla founder Elon Musk said last week that his electric vehicle company would enter the home energy business.
Analysts have been predicting the news for months, especially as Tesla stepped up construction at a large battery plant near Reno, Nevada.
But that didn't stop supporters of rooftop solar from celebrating.
Experts say Tesla plans to power homes with batteries, the latest sign of the upcoming energy revolution.
The revolution will take the form of a combination of rooftop solar energy and battery storage, a combination that allows homeowners to reduce their reliance on utilities --
Or give up the utility altogether.
"The solar industry is growing very fast and storage is not absolutely necessary in the next few years," said Shayle Kann, vice president of GTM Research, which is a clean-
Technical consulting company
But it's important in the long run.
"The roof solar industry is booming in California, and about 250,000 systems are now on line.
According to the Solar Energy Foundation, the state's solar industry hired nearly 55,000 people last year, and 73 cities in Southern California alone installed at least one megawatt of roof solar capacity in 2014, according to GTM Research.
But the long term of this industry
Long-term growth is limited by a fundamental flaw: solar panels generate electricity only when the sun shines.
In sunny Southern California, this is one less problem than anywhere else.
But even in the desert, when people use the most electricity at home, solar panels are not of much use at night.
This is where the batteries produced by Tesla and other companies work.
If we can store the excess energy that solar panels generate during the day
Then use this energy at night to power our home.
Well, that will be a big deal.
"Solar is now an open cycle where we use power grid storage," said Vincent batalya, CEO of Solar installation company Renova Solar in Palm Desert.
"The battery turned off the solar circuit.
Some advocates believe that solar/battery combination systems
Called "micro-grid"
Is the key to protecting consumers from the increasingly threatening utility industry of solar technology.
In California, for example, Edison and other utilities in Southern California have been pushing for new electricity prices, which critics say will make it harder to save money through solar energy.
State officials will decide next year whether less power should be provided to solar customers.
"All the problems they are trying to create are obstacles to the formation of a renewable energy economy, and we can circumvent them through storage," said Battaglia . ".
"The micro-grid solves this problem by allowing customers to fully control their energy.
"Tesla is not the only company to enter the home battery game.
HELIOPOWER, Coachella Valley in RENOVAIn, east of Los Angeles, its best
The famous city is Palm Springs, California.
At least two solar companies
Renova and hello power-
Marketing your own storage system.
HelioPower replenished its commercial solar system with batteries produced by Sharp Electronics, and Renova will use the batteries produced by German company Sonnenbatterie later this month to install the first two of them
Still, it may take several years for homeowners to start buying batteries on a large scale, as the technology is still very expensive.
For example, Tesla charges $10 KW per 3,500 hours
An hour's battery can power California's average home for about half a day.
This price does not include installation and some equipment.
SolarCity, a solar power station chaired by Musk, said it would sell Tesla's "Powerwall" home battery system for $7,140, including installation and equipment.
The company will also provide 9-
Annual Prepaid rent of $5,000.
"It's a better economic move for some business customers.
"This is often incorrect for residential customers," Kann said . ".
Meanwhile, some solar companies are skeptical about the price of batteries Musk announced last week, noting that Tesla's system will not be available for at least a few months. "Yes, it's cool. Yes, it's sexy. Yes, it's . . .
But Tesla's statement is that
HelioPower President Scott Gordon said in an email to the company's employees earlier this week.
"So far, there is no information about how these batteries will be integrated with existing systems, or about whether they need a brand new inverter or other power electronics.
"Despite this, Tesla's battery price is still lower than analysts expected and lower than the price offered by other companies.
Renova will sell its 16 KW
Before the implementation of the national incentives, the price of an hour battery system was about $20,000.
Tesla's price is likely to drop sharply in 2017, when the company's "Gigabit battery" is expected to start producing a large number of batteries in Nevada.
"I'm not surprised at Tesla --
With their market share and their ability to think
It will be possible to introduce affordable technology, "said Bernadette Del Chiaro, executive director of the California Solar Industry Association (a trade group.
Another problem with Tesla's home energy systems is that they are not strong enough for batteries
One of the main goals of some battery advocates is to get consumers out of the grid.
Experts say this may change as technology advances, but for now, most homeowners who buy batteries will seek protection against power outages.
Even in the long run, some experts doubt whether consumers will abandon the traditional grid.
Kann, for example, calls itself a "grid defect skeptic," predicting that most customers will not give up the reliability provided by the grid.
"If you want to leave --
Fully adopting the grid of solar storage and keeping anything close to this level of reliability, you have to make your system bigger --
It's quite expensive in the end, "said Kann.
"I just don't think it makes sense for most customers to cut the wires.
For most people, with utilities starting to charge residential customers more electricity at the highest demand, the battery will be more financial, Kann said.
Residential customers are already available in California
"Time of Use" electricity prices, but state officials are considering whether to make them default within four or five years. Under time-of-
Using rates, homeowners with solar/battery systems will be able to cut bills significantly by generating electricity during the day and then using it at night, when rates are highest.
Sammy Ross reports energy for the desert sun.
He can be reached at Sammy. roth@desertsun. com, (760)778-
4622 and @ sammy_roth