Tesla Powerwall

[mikech]

Mmm, wonder if this makes installing a small solar cell array on my roof and using this to run my Aquacal all year round viable?? We have reasonably low utility rates here so can store some of that to run the heater as well. Be handy to have backup electricity for the house too when we get those frequent power outs during storm season.

http://www.teslamotors.com/powerwall

Mike

 

[JasonLion]

While the Tesla Powerwall is a fascinating product, it really has next to nothing to do with swimming pool heat questions. As long as you have access to utility power, storage systems are not going to have much impact, perhaps changing the pricing of electricity a little, but otherwise not changing anything to do with your electrical usage issues.

The Tesla Powerwall makes far more of a difference for people who do not have access to utility power.

 

[pooldv]

I am an electric car geek! We've been driving electric for years, we have 2 Leafs and a Volt. And Teslas are awesome, of course. We have saved many, many thousands of dollars on gas and maintenance.

This battery is going to revolutionize home electricity and even the power grid and electric generation. They have industrial scale batteries in trials in neighborhoods that will immediately restore power when the power goes out by routing around downed power lines or powering the grid if a plant goes down or there is a brownout due to lack of available capacity.

But, it is too new and too expensive for individual use yet. As much as we wanted to install solar power we could not come close to justifying the cost. Payback is measured in decades, not years.

The only justification I can see for you is the convenience having backup power for power outages, even then you would likely want to recharge it from the grid, not a solar array. Our reliability is extremely high here.