Melbourne's first Powerwall 2 has been installed at a three-bedroom, one storey house in Coburg. Brendan Fahey and his wife Josephine added Tesla's shiny new battery to their home to complement their existing solar panels, after Brendan calculated that the Powerwall 2 could take his energy bill down almost to zero.
Last week, Tesla announced Australian pre-orders for its solar roof, with installations starting in 2018. The idea is fantastic - replace your house roof with solar tiles that look good, generate power and are even more durable than existing options. But in the real world, is it worth the price? We crunch the numbers to find out.
I spent a decade working in the Australian energy industry. So last week's tweet by Elon Musk, that he could “fix” Australia’s power issues by installing enough battery powering 100 days was intriguing.
How much can a family living in a four-bedroom house save by using the Tesla Powerwall and good ol' solar power? The figure has come in at $2110.46 a year for the Pfitzner family. Here are the details.
While the economics of Tesla's Powerwall are still being debated, this hasn't stopped Glenvill Development's "YarraBend" from going ahead. Situated in Alphington, Victoria, 6.5km from the Melbourne CBD, YarraBend promises to be the world's first full-equipped "Tesla" suburb.
Back in May, 2015, we crunched the payback figures for the Powerwall, based on an assumed Australian cost and example electricity prices. Now there are local installed costs available, we have broken out the calculator and gone over the figures. The question is, can the Powerwall give a decent payback time?
