Tesla Powerwall - Thoughts?

[Caymanite]

My apologies if this topic has been discussed before.  What do people think about the Tesla Powerwall?  Apparently, each 6.4 KWH battery will cost about $3k.  I live in the Cayman Islands which has sunny days just about every single day but also around $.40 per KWH currently.  I am thinking about putting two Powerwalls in a new condo that we are purchasing pre-construction.  I am anticipating that other costs will bring the total installed price of around $25-30k (labor, inverters, solar panels).  We typically use around 30 KWH a day on average, more during the summer.

[Abe]

I'd wait to see more details about long-term reliability before committing. The warranty for KWH storage is worth looking at, it drops in fairly short order over the first few years. A grid tie is probably more reliable and economical

[rothwem]

My main thought is that it seems awfully expensive.  How much energy do you save with a powerwall, and what's your ROI on that $30k?

[gaja]

It is just a battery in a nice wrapping. Depending on how much space you have available, I would do a few calculations on how much kWh/$ you could get from old fashioned boat batteries or something like that.

[aasdfadsf]

It sounds like you're currently spending about $4380 a year on electricity. Ouch.

Assuming your investment (solar + powerwall) covers all of your electricity needs, you're getting a minimum 14.6% return on your investment per year. It's hard to see anything wrong with that.

The only caveat I can think of is that the cost of solar panels and especially the powerwall batteries is likely to fall sharply in the next few years, so waiting a bit might pay off. But it sounds like installation, etc. are your biggest costs, so even if the cost of the powerwall falls in half, you'll make up for it by installing now.

[BORN SAVER]

It sounds like you're currently spending about $4380 a year on electricity. Ouch.

Assuming your investment (solar + powerwall) covers all of your electricity needs, you're getting a minimum 14.6% return on your investment per year. It's hard to see anything wrong with that.

The only caveat I can think of is that the cost of solar panels and especially the powerwall batteries is likely to fall sharply in the next few years, so waiting a bit might pay off. But it sounds like installation, etc. are your biggest costs, so even if the cost of the powerwall falls in half, you'll make up for it by installing now.

if his cost analisist is correct it sounds like a good idea. But I forsee the price of the power wall dropping dramically in the next few year. If I'm not mistaken I would belive there coming out with a power wall version 2 some time this year so you may want to hold off a little bit to sEE what the deal is with that

[Caymanite]

Thanks for the comments and analysis (aasdfadsf).  I just looked and it seems that the cost is now around US$.25 per KWH (we used 1,364 KWHs last month...it is REALLY hot!).  I am guessing on the cost for the complete package but will be receiving some hard numbers soon.  I agree that I would like to wait as long as possible .  I probably have another year or so until the installation will be allowed by the developer.

[v10viperbox]

Do you get a discount for power off peak? Skip the solar altogether.

IE I can fill a power-wall out here in California off peak with the electric car credit at 0.11c a kwh at night then use it during the day at what I believe is about .39c a kwh at peak. Two of them would cover about 15kwh would save me 1617$ a year give or take in total power costs. 

[forummm]

Do you get a discount for power off peak? Skip the solar altogether.

IE I can fill a power-wall out here in California off peak with the electric car credit at 0.11c a kwh at night then use it during the day at what I believe is about .39c a kwh at peak. Two of them would cover about 15kwh would save me 1617$ a year give or take in total power costs. 

That's not economically advantageous given the cost of the Powerwall, it's capabilities, how rapidly it degrades, etc. We had another thread in the Investor Alley section on Tesla discussing this.

[libertarian4321]

I need to get one of these.

You know, for the zombie apocalypse?

[gaja]

Do y'all need/want batteries, or batteries in a fancy wrapping?

[Kaplin261]

Can you avoid using AC power in the new condo and just use a low voltage system on DC power? Just about everything now days uses DC power. It just doesn't make since to take DC power from a battery use a inverter to covert to 120v AC and then convert it back over to DC to run your laptop or TV.

Can you also add in a solar water heater to compliment the system and reducing your power needs?

You said your building the condo, can you build it air tight and super insulated?