Most homes use a lot of electricity through the day. A lot of this electricity comes from fossil fuels, which aren’t sustainable and cause a lot of environmental damage. The Powerwall saves energy from solar panels or the grid for use when it’s needed. For example, a Powerwall can save energy from off-peak times to be used during peak hours. For the customer, this will make electricity bills less expensive. For electric companies, it will remove stress from infrastructure during peak periods.
The Powerwall benefits the customer in different ways. Load shifting is mentioned above and means the battery charges in low rate periods and discharges in the expensive periods. Solar energy can be stored, so that power is saved from periods of high sunlight to be used during periods when the sun isn’t out. Due to it storing energy, the Powerwall can be used as a backup device when electricity isn’t available. Just like Elon Musk announced during the spectacular keynote.
There are two versions of the Powerwall, a 10kWh version designed for backup applications and 7kWh for everyday use. The price of the batteries for installers, excluding installation and inverter, is $3500 and $3000 respectively. Musk has said that the Powerwall is designed to be easy to install for two people in a less than an hour. It size is 3 feet across, 4 ft tall, and 6 inches deep. It is covered for 10 years by a warranty from Tesla. The Powerpack for business is unpriced as yet.