The Necessary Missing Piece Unveiled, Tesla Powerwall & Powerpack, by Elon Musk
Dear Friends, Visitors/Viewers/Readers,
When Elon Musk speaks, we listen!
Elon Musk (Flickr: Elon Musk-The Summit 2013, CC Attrib-Heisenberg Media)
The electric enthusiasm is palpable in the auditorium! One can feel the energy is ready to boil over….for this is what we (The World) have all been waiting for, the cost effective battery storage technology that would enable us to truly see the transformation of our world! Let this very historical date be remembered, Tesla Motors, rather, Elon Musk, announces the arrival of Tesla Powerwall, on April 30, 2015 in LA.
Tesla Powerwall (credit: Tesla Motors)
I’ve been following the progress made by Tesla Motors for quite some times for it is critically connected to the future of our Solar Energy. The intermittency of solar energy depends on the rate of progress or research being made in battery technology in the electric vehicle/auto industry. As Elon refers to the Sun as “this handy fusion reactor in the sky…producing ridiculous amount of power,” he also points out the amount of surface area needed for solar panels to power the entire U.S.A. is rather small (and mostly in solar rooftops). Furthermore, the size of the battery required to transition all of U.S.A. to Solar With Battery would only be 1 pixel…to no longer needing fossil fuel to generate electricity! But there are shortcomings in existing battery technology:
- expensive
- unreliable
- poor integration
- poor lifetime
- low efficiency
- not scalable
- unattractive
To overcome these shortcomings, Elon unveils for us, on this very memorable day of April 30, 2015, The Tesla Powerwall ! Imagine our future world where batteries would be space-efficient wall-mounted, with a simple and elegant design (choices of colors), with integrated safety systems, thermal control, and dc-dc converter. It would work well with our solar systems. It would enable us to be free from worries about power outage and even potentially go off grid. At the cost of $3,500 (for the 10kWh version and $3,000 for the 7 kWh version) it is the best affordable safe solution to our energy concern. It is also possible to stack up to 9 Powerwalls together, enabling 90 kWh. This is a fantastic solution especially for area with intermittent energy source or remote area: residents from these areas would now be able to meet their energy needs through “Solar Panels with Tesla Powerwall” without the need of electricity lines. This will propell the progress of many remote areas.
You can order the Tesla Powerwall now by going to teslaenergy.com . They will start shipping in about 3-4 months. More will be ramping up next year as the transition will be made into Tesla Gigafactory in Nevada.
Tesla Gigafactory (CC Attrib-Steve Jurvetson) in Tesla Gigafactory in Nevada
Toward the end of the presentation, Elon also brought forth the larger, scalable Powerpack, designed to scale infinitely. An order by a utility for 250 MWh installation (using Powerpack) has already been placed. For dramatic effect, of course, we’ve been presented with the demonstration in an auditorium that is completely powered by the Sun, with storage by the Tesla Powerwall.
To demonstrate the feasibility of transitioning our world into renewable energy world—100% Solar (primarily)/Wind Energy, Elon has also shown us the data for such transitions:
- 16,000 GWh from 160 million powerpacks (for U.S.A.)
- 90,000 GWh from 900 million powerpacks (for the world)..primarily solar
- 200,000 GWh from 2 billion powerpacks (for all transport, electric generation, and heating included)
THANK YOU, ELON! I’ve known that Solar/Renweable energy is the way to go more than 30 years ago (I’m sure that I was not alone), but it took some one like you to help to show us how it can be done!
THANK YOU, ELON, for making the designs and plans of gigafactory all open source! So, we earthlings will be able to transition quickly!
I am looking forward to the day when CO2 emission will be a thing of the past. Oh, what a clean, efficient, and smart world we will all live in!
Our future will be bright and sunny because there are people such as Elon Musk on planet earth…who may soon be on other planet(s), with the help of SpaceX!
Gathered, written, and posted by sunisthefuture-Susan Sun Nunamaker
~have a bright and sunny day~
Please also get into the habit of checking at these sites below for more on solar energy topics: www.sunisthefuture.net
www.youtube.com/user/sunisthefuture
www.kiva.org/team/sunisthefuture
www.facebook.com/sunisthefuture
www.pinterest.com/sunisthefuture
Tags: Elon Musk, gigafactory, Powerpack, Powerwall, solar, Steve Jurvetson, Sun Is The Future, sunisthefuture.net, susan sun nunamaker, Tesla, teslaenergy, teslaenergy.com, teslapowerwall.com