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Tesla's energy storage enables people to use solar energy at night, without the process being a big hassle. If it gets cheap enough, it will make solar power co

by marvin 10y ago

Tesla's energy storage enables people to use solar energy at night, without the process being a big hassle. If it gets cheap enough, it will make solar power competitive with fossil power in most scenarios. Currently, the battery installations are a cost-competitive alternative to fossil ways of covering peak load. Calling it useless is probably a stretch. Ditto with Tesla's cars; they aren't a drop-in replacement for gasoline cars in all scenarios but I've heard more than one Tesla owner say that they will never buy a gas-powered car again. So obviously that implies greater utility for the person in question than any current gas-powered car.

soufron 10y ago
You're kind of right. Let's say they find the right uses for existing tech that's not being used as it should.
jsprogrammer 10y ago
Are Tesla's energy storage solutions available anywhere outside their vehicles?
- dv_dt 10y ago
  Yes. Tesla Powerwall, a home battery. https://www.tesla.com/powerwall https://www.tesla.com/powerwall
  - jsprogrammer 10y ago
    I don't think those are planned to ship until 2018.
    - dv_dt 10y ago
      "During the first quarter of 2016, Tesla delivered over 25 MWh of energy storage to customers on four continents. Over 2,500 Powerwalls and nearly 100 Powerpacks were delivered in North America, Asia, Europe, and Africa.[33]" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesla_Powerwall https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesla_Powerwall I don't know if those were still pilot program devices or if they've hit some level of regular production. 2500 units is still a good start.
intended 10y ago
So what happens to the batteries when they go bad or old?
- collinmanderson 10y ago
  Yes, likely you'd need to get all-new batteries every 10 years[1] or so. (And likely recycle the old ones.) The good news is that batteries are getting about 8% more efficient every year (price per kwh) [2]. So 10 years from now batteries will be 1.08^10 = ~2.15x as efficient [3]. So when you replace them, they'll cost half as much for the same amount of energy storage (and probably half the space too). It's basically Moore's law for batteries except slower. [1] https://www.tesla.com/powerwall https://www.tesla.com/powerwall [2] https://cleantechnica.com/2015/03/26/ev-battery-costs-already-probably-cheaper-than-2020-projections/ https://cleantechnica.com/2015/03/26/ev-battery-costs-alread... [3] or is it 1/(.92^10)? That would be 2.3x

by marvin 10y ago

soufron 10y ago

You're kind of right. Let's say they find the right uses for existing tech that's not being used as it should.

jsprogrammer 10y ago

Are Tesla's energy storage solutions available anywhere outside their vehicles?

dv_dt 10y ago
Yes. Tesla Powerwall, a home battery. https://www.tesla.com/powerwall https://www.tesla.com/powerwall
- jsprogrammer 10y ago
  I don't think those are planned to ship until 2018.
  - dv_dt 10y ago
    "During the first quarter of 2016, Tesla delivered over 25 MWh of energy storage to customers on four continents. Over 2,500 Powerwalls and nearly 100 Powerpacks were delivered in North America, Asia, Europe, and Africa.[33]" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesla_Powerwall https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesla_Powerwall I don't know if those were still pilot program devices or if they've hit some level of regular production. 2500 units is still a good start.

intended 10y ago

So what happens to the batteries when they go bad or old?

collinmanderson 10y ago
Yes, likely you'd need to get all-new batteries every 10 years[1] or so. (And likely recycle the old ones.) The good news is that batteries are getting about 8% more efficient every year (price per kwh) [2]. So 10 years from now batteries will be 1.08^10 = ~2.15x as efficient [3]. So when you replace them, they'll cost half as much for the same amount of energy storage (and probably half the space too). It's basically Moore's law for batteries except slower. [1] https://www.tesla.com/powerwall https://www.tesla.com/powerwall [2] https://cleantechnica.com/2015/03/26/ev-battery-costs-already-probably-cheaper-than-2020-projections/ https://cleantechnica.com/2015/03/26/ev-battery-costs-alread... [3] or is it 1/(.92^10)? That would be 2.3x