Powerwall
-- posted December 2015 --
Powerwall is a rechargeable battery system designed for storing power in residential houses and buildings. Developed by the Tesla company, the battery adopts the same lithium-ion technology that the company has been using in its electrical cars.
Follow the link if you are interested to watch a 7:05 minutes video providing an overview of the product:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvlolmFX-rc
Powerwall is designed to be hung on a wall, and resembles a piece of art. The benefits are that, for instance, the energy produced by a solar panel can be used at night or in cloudy and cold days. Another alternative is charging the Powerwall during the off-peak hours and using the stored power during the peak hours to reduce the electricity bills. The battery employs a nickel-manganese-cobalt cathode, and can be cycled 5,000 times. With daily cycling, it should last for about 15 years.
The system currently is not very efficient, and its price of $3,000 for the 7 kWh model and $3,500 for the 10 kWh model outweighs the benefits that buyers can gain from the product. For instance, a household in the USA on average consumes about 30 kWh per day. However, as with other similar products, over time its efficiency will improve and the price will reduce.
The significance of Powerwall is in its potential to disrupt the traditional power generation and distribution companies, and ultimately to lead to their bankruptcy. Imagine how cool it could be if in, say, 10 or 20 years from now, the battery system and the solar panels are so efficient and affordable, that you can just disconnect from the power grid and forever forget about paying another electricity bill. And as this will be important for the developed countries, for the developing countries, where the electrical power is often unreliable, expensive, or inaccessible, it can be crucial in empowering billions of people and substantially improving their lives.
It is also worth mentioning that, to stimulate competition, the chairman of Tesla, Elon Musk, promised that the company won’t initiate patent infringement lawsuits against anyone who uses the technology behind Powerwall in good faith, which by the way also applies to the technology used in Tesla cars.
