Tesla Powerwall
#3
Sanest Florida Man
My friend is getting one installed this month, I talked him into it. He's getting solar too, are you thinking about getting one without solar?
#5
Senior Moderator
What’s the jackpot up to?
#7
Sanest Florida Man
Then it depends on your energy usage. You'll probably still pull from the grid during colder winter months but the rest of the year you could probably hardly use the grid.
Check out Project Sunroof
https://www.google.com/get/sunroof#p=0
It's better to put any excess energy into a powerwall than to put it back on the grid since net metering usually doesn't pay you the same amount as what your energy company charges you. Energy here is about 10c kw/h but if I had excess energy from my solar put out on the grid my electric company would only pay me 4c kw/h, yours will vary of course. Also peak solar production doesn't line up with peak energy usage in the early evening so if your electric company charges peak rates during that time the powerwall would help you avoid those charges.
I'm assuming you've done so already but look into energy efficiency improvements as well. LEDs, better water heater tech, insulation, get your ducts sealed, ridge cap on the roof.
This is a good channell for energy efficiency tips
https://www.youtube.com/user/drenergysaver/videos
Check out Project Sunroof
https://www.google.com/get/sunroof#p=0
It's better to put any excess energy into a powerwall than to put it back on the grid since net metering usually doesn't pay you the same amount as what your energy company charges you. Energy here is about 10c kw/h but if I had excess energy from my solar put out on the grid my electric company would only pay me 4c kw/h, yours will vary of course. Also peak solar production doesn't line up with peak energy usage in the early evening so if your electric company charges peak rates during that time the powerwall would help you avoid those charges.
I'm assuming you've done so already but look into energy efficiency improvements as well. LEDs, better water heater tech, insulation, get your ducts sealed, ridge cap on the roof.
This is a good channell for energy efficiency tips
https://www.youtube.com/user/drenergysaver/videos
The following users liked this post:
leedogg (02-12-2018)
Trending Topics
#8
Team Owner
What's the life expectancy of the battery?
#9
Sanest Florida Man
I think it's 80% after 10 years, but that doesn't mean you have to stop using it at that point. It'll just hold less of a charge but it'll still keep working for years.
#10
Sanest Florida Man
My friend is getting his installed right now, he's sending me pics
This is his Powerwall
These are his solar panels
This is his Powerwall
These are his solar panels
The following users liked this post:
leedogg (02-15-2018)
#11
Senior Moderator
Love mine so beautiful and works wonderfully
#12
Sanest Florida Man
#13
Sanest Florida Man
#14
Senior Moderator
Join Date: May 2003
Location: Better Neighborhood, Arizona
Posts: 45,634
Received 2,328 Likes
on
1,308 Posts
When will this device end up paying for itself?
If I lived in Hawaii I'd probably go for it and go solar.
If I lived in Hawaii I'd probably go for it and go solar.
#15
Senior Moderator
#16
Sanest Florida Man
install is done. Seems like it only took 4-5 hours
#18
Senior Moderator
#19
Sanest Florida Man
Solar power in Germany is blowing up, yet they get horrible solar irradiance compared to the US and even Oregon, they're as bad as Alaska
#21
Senior Moderator
Join Date: May 2003
Location: Better Neighborhood, Arizona
Posts: 45,634
Received 2,328 Likes
on
1,308 Posts
The following users liked this post:
#1 STUNNA (02-13-2018)
#22
Sanest Florida Man
His electric bill was $200+ and he wasn't trying to go off the grid he just wanted to get it down low enough that Duke Energy didn't charge him the higher energy rate. I think the first x amount of energy is cheaper but once you go over that they charge a higher rate per kwh. We don't have peak time rates down here.
Last edited by #1 STUNNA; 02-13-2018 at 01:20 PM.
The following users liked this post:
leedogg (02-16-2018)
#23
Stage 1 Audi S5
Pretty cool idea and we wanted to do this, signed the solar paper work last June and planned on adding the wall but our HOA is being a bag of dicks, again and blocking the install. Look forward to seeing updates on it.
#24
Team Owner
What about theft deterrence?
#26
Sanest Florida Man
It's a ~5.5kw system, and there's 18 325w panels. He sent me all the info a while ago. After he signed up for solar I somehow talked him into pre-ordering a Model 3 so I suggested that he add a few more panels, but he's going to leave it as is and if needed they said it wasn't difficult to add panels later.
His electric bill was $200+ and he wasn't trying to go off the grid he just wanted to get it down low enough that Duke Energy didn't charge him the higher energy rate. I think the first x amount of energy is cheaper but once you go over that they charge a higher rate per kwh. We don't have peak time rates down here.
His electric bill was $200+ and he wasn't trying to go off the grid he just wanted to get it down low enough that Duke Energy didn't charge him the higher energy rate. I think the first x amount of energy is cheaper but once you go over that they charge a higher rate per kwh. We don't have peak time rates down here.
Why More Solar Panels Should Be Facing West, Not South
#27
Team Owner
So he's paying $265 / mo (after 18 mos.) to avoid paying $200+ / mo?
#28
Sanest Florida Man
He said his bill was usually $250. I don't think solar + powerwall is cheaper than normal electricity right now. I think he was motivated by me and the when the hurricane came through and the area was without power for about a week. He wouldn't have that issue.* He mentioned that a couple times when talking about deciding on the powerwall, he originally wasn't going to get it but changed his mind after the area wide outage.
*The powerwall will run everything in the house except for his main AC but he has a 2nd smaller AC in his bedroom which it will run. They said if he added a 2nd one they'd provide enough power to run the AC.
*The powerwall will run everything in the house except for his main AC but he has a 2nd smaller AC in his bedroom which it will run. They said if he added a 2nd one they'd provide enough power to run the AC.
#29
Ex-OEM King
I'm jelly, my house is not a good candidate for solar since we have a large amount of tree cover that shades the roof. On the flip side, all that tree cover shades in the summer to lower energy bills and provides a wind barrier in the winter so that, paired with good insulation, makes my summer max electric bill and winter max gas bill is ~$125 each though most are lower than that.
#30
Sanest Florida Man
My friend's electric bill from Duke Energy last month was $0. He sends me updates on his solar all the time. Here's a breakdown week by week and totals for the first month. He had his solar turned on at the end of that first week so you can get an idea of how much of a difference the solar has made.
Yellow bar is solar energy generated, grey is energy from/to the grid, and blue is how much his house used
Yellow bar is solar energy generated, grey is energy from/to the grid, and blue is how much his house used
#31
Sanest Florida Man
^That data is a little old, being that's is from the last half of March and the first half of April. This is all of April when he was on Solar the whole month
#32
Team Owner
Does he get checks in the mail, for providing energy into the grid?
#33
Sanest Florida Man
Good question. I had to look it up, since he hasn't gotten anything yet.
https://www.energysage.com/net-metering/duke-energy/
It varies by state, and probably energy company but that's what it is in Florida for Duke Energy
Though his electric bill didn't have a customer charge either. His bill was $4.99, only because his wife signed up for some home electrical insurance program that covers the outlets and wiring in the house. He wants to cancel that but that was the only charge on the bill.
https://www.energysage.com/net-metering/duke-energy/
It varies by state, and probably energy company but that's what it is in Florida for Duke Energy
Though his electric bill didn't have a customer charge either. His bill was $4.99, only because his wife signed up for some home electrical insurance program that covers the outlets and wiring in the house. He wants to cancel that but that was the only charge on the bill.
#34
Senior Moderator
thats my biggest issue with it right now. even with all my electricity usage with with my 400 gallon aquarium it would take me 8 years to recapture to break even, at which point id probably have to sink more money into replacement/upgraded components. Id love to have solar with the battery aspect of it for my aquarium alone for if the power were to go out but i just cant justify the cost.
#35
Sanest Florida Man
Why would you need to upgrade components? The Powerwall is just like a Tesla vehicle battery. They've been tracking the degradation of those batteries across hundreds of cars and they're holding up really well.
https://electrek.co/2018/04/14/tesla...radation-data/
Battery degradation is one of the biggest concerns for electric car owners and potential buyers, but data from Tesla battery packs have been very reassuring so far.
Now the latest data shows less than 10% degradation of the energy capacity after over 160,000 miles on Tesla’s battery packs.
A group of Tesla owners on the Dutch-Belgium Tesla Forum are gathering data from over 350 Tesla vehicles across the world and frequently updating it in a public Google file.
We have previously reported on the data, but they have since added many more vehicles and those vehicles have been driving a lot more – completing more battery cycles.
The data clearly shows that for the first 50,000 miles (100,000 km), most Tesla battery packs will lose about 5% of their capacity, but after the 50,000-mile mark, the capacity levels off and it looks like it could be difficult to make a pack degrade by another 5%.
The trend line currently suggests that the average battery pack could cycle through over 300,000 km (186,000) before coming close to 90% capacity.
Here are the relevant charts from the data gathering effort (full chart on the left and zoomed to 80% on the right):
There are a few outlier battery packs out there and they tried to figure out why by gathering other data, like frequency of DC fast-charging and daily state of charge, but there’s no clear indication that any of those factors have any significant impact based on their data.
Now the latest data shows less than 10% degradation of the energy capacity after over 160,000 miles on Tesla’s battery packs.
A group of Tesla owners on the Dutch-Belgium Tesla Forum are gathering data from over 350 Tesla vehicles across the world and frequently updating it in a public Google file.
We have previously reported on the data, but they have since added many more vehicles and those vehicles have been driving a lot more – completing more battery cycles.
The data clearly shows that for the first 50,000 miles (100,000 km), most Tesla battery packs will lose about 5% of their capacity, but after the 50,000-mile mark, the capacity levels off and it looks like it could be difficult to make a pack degrade by another 5%.
The trend line currently suggests that the average battery pack could cycle through over 300,000 km (186,000) before coming close to 90% capacity.
Here are the relevant charts from the data gathering effort (full chart on the left and zoomed to 80% on the right):
There are a few outlier battery packs out there and they tried to figure out why by gathering other data, like frequency of DC fast-charging and daily state of charge, but there’s no clear indication that any of those factors have any significant impact based on their data.
#36
Sanest Florida Man
He has paid off his solar panels already, and the temp has cooled enough that he's back to generating more energy than he's using. It should stay mostly like that for the next 6 months since it doesn't get that cold down here. He'll have a lot of net metering credits built up during the cooler months. he's also going to upgrade the windows in the house since they're still single-pane which are very common down here. Since getting the system installed he's generated 62% of his own power, that includes the first month in which the system was installed and monitoring but the panels weren't turned on, and it doesn't include the rest of the year so it may rise to 70-75% by the end of the year. He's hoping that with the new windows and more efficient AC he'll get up to 100%.
#37
Just had a company come by for a free high-pressure sales quote for window replacement. I was expecting it to be expensive, but not $20k expensive. It would take a long time to recoup that investment.
#38
Sanest Florida Man
He got a few quotes for windows, they were in the 15k to 20k range
#39
Sanest Florida Man
The following 2 users liked this post by 1StGenCL:
#1 STUNNA (11-03-2019),
civicdrivr (11-12-2019)