tesla powerwall: what's the verdict from the family who installed australia's first unit? - home battery system

To save electricity, Nick Fitzner has joined the growing number of Australians who have installed home batteries.
Six months later, he cut his daily electricity bill close and said his family had become "smarter" with appliances ".
"I have absolutely no regrets," Mr. Pfitzner told ABC 702 Sydney television from his home in the Hills district.
"Battery performance is still the way it was on the first day, and we will focus on that in the next few years.
"I will consider more panels and another battery in a few years.
"Mr. Pfitzner is the first Australian owner.
Hype about Tesla's installation of Powerwall.
Tesla is one of many companies that offer power grid services.
According to James Martin, a solar energy and battery comparison service, the connected home battery.
But Martin warned that batteries that use renewable energy such as solar and wind power are still an expensive option.
"What these battery banks have in common is that they still don't make sense from a purely financial perspective," he said . ".
"Few people will pay for themselves before the warranty expires.
Martin says the average cost of solar cell products is between $1,500 and $2,000 per kilowatt hour.
Pfitzners spent $16,000 to install solar panels and their home battery system, which can provide 7 KW hours of power.
His last electricity bill was reduced from $5 to $6 a day to 59 cents.
The ability to monitor household usage means that the Pfitzner family becomes more efficient and intelligent when using appliances.
"It's about eliminating waste. . .
"So I would say, 'Hey, kids turn off the lights, '" Mr Pfitzner said '. ".
"We run the dishwasher during the day and use as much power as possible during the day, so we use solar energy.
"But we did not sit there, turn off the lights and sit in the dark with candles.
"You still need to live.
"On sunny days, solar panels will power the house and then charge the battery at home around 11: 00 a. m.
If there is an excess supply of solar energy, any excess will be fed back into the grid.
If all the electricity is used in the battery, or because there is no solar energy on cloudy days, then the House will draw electricity from the grid as needed.
Mr. Pfitzner said that he used solar energy and stored batteries for about three months in the past six months.
Quarter of time.
"People with solar energy know the benefits of it, but Powerwall takes it to a new level," he said . ".
"When the sun goes down, I can still get peak power from the battery.
Mr. Martin said that unless the household's electricity consumption is very low, they will not be able to get out of the grid without a lot of "extra expensive battery capacity.
He said people should realize that household batteries will degrade over time and Tesla's Powerwall's ability to maintain energy "will be reduced for One Lifetime ".
Although the solar panel's return period is as low as three years and lasts about 25 years, Martin said that the return period for most solar cells is at least ten years.
Mr. Pfitzner said he expected the system to take about 10 years to pay off the debt, although he said that at the same time he was considering other ways to save more money.
He wants to have a rest.
Peak system that can predict weather, if the battery is low or is expected to be cloudy, the system will get power from the grid in a cheaper, closed way
Peak hours of the day.
Currently, whenever needed, the battery system draws power from the grid and charges a single electricity bill for use.
Mr. Pfitzner said he expected that when the solar bonus was scheduled to end in December, more families might buy home battery systems in New South Wales. Topics:solar-
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