The entire structure you see in the latest video is the pilot section. The completed plant will be at least 4-5 times the current footprint. Notice how large the leveled construction pad is with respect to the current structure. My guess is they are concentrating on getting the pilot pack assembly equipment setup first, which they said would be online before the end of 2015, and then will finish the rest of the building where the pilot cell production will take place sometime next year.
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Tesla Gigafactory
- Thread starter domenick
- Start date
There is a more recent flyover that shows the switch yard in more detail. It looks like there are poles for the incoming power, transformers and some batteries in containers with inverters along side those battery containers.
Tesla Gigafactory - Drone fly over - October 2015 - YouTube
g-force
Member
I'm pretty sure those containers would contain the incoming high voltage switchgear, transformer protection relays and the outgoing feeder circuit breakers. Those two smaller cabinets outside could possibly be the standby control system UPSs but most likely are the auxiliary transformer and earthing transformer. Now that I think about it, the the control system UPS would be inside in the air-conditioning.
Yeah - looks interesting. There's a bunded area next door to the building. I'm thinking something to do with water. Possibly an RO plant, water treatment or electric fire pumps inside the building with some tanks and maybe a backup diesel fire-pump in the bunded area outside - eventually. I am not sure at all TBH.
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gjunky
Trifecta: Solar and both cars are EVs
Are those transformers or PowerPacks? If this is a pumping station, perhaps it has a battery backup. I don't think Tesla will use Diesel Backup Generators....
JRP3
Hyperactive Member
dhanson865
Well-Known Member
I'll give the exception that construction crews will use fossil fuels and there may be heavy grid use as the Solar PV and Wind get installed and come on line but...
Since Tesla is bringing in power from two directions from two seperate electric companies and have thier own onsite power generation from solar and wind with battery backup I'd have to call any gas or diesel generator a tertiary or quaternary backup.
Dual Primary = Grid Power
Dual Secondary = Wind + Solar PV
Sole Tertiary = Battery (lots of Powerpacks)
Sole Quaternary = fossil fuel generators
and then I'd assume by the time the build out is complete they would try to move Grid Power down to the Tertiary Role and move the others up eventually giving us
Triple Primary = Wind + Solar PV + Geothermal
Sole Secondary = Battery (lots of Powerpacks)
Dual Tertiary = Grid Power
Sole Quaternary = fossil fuel generators
You could argue about which goes on what level (should the batteries and grid power share secondary status in the end? Should there be a Sole Primary with the other renewable bumped down to secondary status? Should Battery move up into and make a Triple Primary?).
But however you bundle or separate those power sources I can't imagine them ever using fossil fuels as a backup except for a near Zombie Apocalypse style outage. It'd have to be dark in the daytime (ash clouds, biblical rain, or something) and be still (no wind for significant periods) longer than thier battery backup design can handle AND the power from TWO different electrical grids would have to be unavailable.
The site should never be without power, you just might have to reduce or stop production using the highest power equipment to keep within the supply limitations.
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Hopefully not. If biodiesel made sense, why do the farms not use it themselves? What I'm getting at is that you put more petroleum fuel in than you get biodiesel out. Not only that, but you get to add in the water use, fertilizer, and field runoff into the equation.
Some farms are installing solar and batteries for remote pumping. I think it is becoming cost effective against diesel or biodiesel.
That makes sense. As for the generator discussiont hat started this, I'd expect a battery backup and a generator for extended outages. I doubt there will be much that can stop GF production once it starts. I'm really excited for the first interior images of a complete assembly line, and I expect it's a lot closer than most of us think. I saw in a previous post that they stated somewhere that large equipment instalation should be finishing up by December. Did I mention I'm excited?
Yes, I would hope that diesel generator is on the bottom if at all on their priority list for backup. With batteries and stacked and redundant inverters one could argue that there is no need for fossil fuel backup. That is certainly consistent with Tesla's mission.
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MassModel3
Member
I'll submit that wind and solar will be secondary and tertiary, in whichever order. Primary will likely be the one that nobody has yet mentioned but which will never reduce because of night, clouds, storms, etc. One of the energy sources mentioned by Tesla in the early days before construction even began was geothermal.
The modeling says otherwise. Your tax dollars at work at NREL.gov.
You might also be interested in pumped hydro. The following was built in the 1970s:
Ludington Pumped Storage | Consumers Energy
dhanson865
Well-Known Member
I googled that and found
Three Reasons Tesla Picked Nevada for Gigafactory : EV WORLD.COM [1290]
If Tesla’s Gigafactory can run on 100% renewable energy, why can’t others? | Computerworld
I either didn't know or had forgotten that they were going to do geothermal as well.
I know the Solar PV and Wind can be implemented in phases (nice modularity) will they have to do the geothermal all at once or will it be modular as well?
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JRP3
Hyperactive Member
Depends, bio can be made from waste cooking oil without petroleum fuel or much of anything else.
MassModel3
Member
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