Tesla has commercially launched its range of second-generation home and grid-scale battery storage products in Australia, with the installation of its fully integrated 14 kWh residential Powerwall 2 units. The company’s 1 GW-scale factory in Nevada is being used to manufacture these batteries to meet the demand in various countries including Australia, which has been tapped by Tesla as a key early market for battery storage solutions.
Tesla Powerwall 2 is 30 per cent smaller and sleeker than its predecessor. It costs $6,000 per 14 kWh battery pack, with installation and supporting hardware starting at $2,000. Thus, the second-generation batteries can be stacked with double the energy storage capacity at nearly half the cost per kWh of their predecessors
Powerwall 2 is a “plug-and-play” battery that is fully integrated with Tesla’s own inverter technology. This means that it can be installed in any solar system, thus eliminating the need to purchase new inverters.
Other noteworthy features of the new range are that the products can be wall mounted or ground mounted, and can be used both to increase solar self-consumption and meet backup power demand in case of a grid outage. Powerwall 2 has a usable capacity of 13.5 kWh, an operating temperature range of -20 °C to 50 °C and a 10-year warranty, and a round-trip efficiency of 89 per cent.
According to the company, the cost of Tesla’s battery storage system, which is currently between $400 and $675, will continue to decrease with the economies of scale already being achieved through its current scale of production.
