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Blog Tesla to Bundle Solar, Battery Products
- Thread starter Ty_McMahan
- Start date
I do not know what the policies are in WA, but it makes complete sense in MD (and I say this as somebody who did get PWs.) For many, the grid is very reliable, and full net metering with no time-of-use rates means there is no cost benefit to storing your power versus sending it to the grid - in fact, there is a loss, because running the power through the PW is less efficient than sending it to the grid and getting other power back when needed.
My point is not to disagree with your decision or situation - I elected PWs to guard against the chance of an outage and for possible future options to arbitrage, and because there are state rebates available. So, there are a number of reasons - both financial and non-financial. But I think it is clear there are very good reasons - and benefits - to solar without PWs. It just depends on the individual preferences and the applicable utility interconnection agreements.
I think both Tesla and customers were getting frustrated by the utility agreements needed for installation. This arrangement should simplify installation as no power goes back to the grid. Cheaper and faster installs. But, it adds significant cost for anybody buying just to save money on electricity, pushing back the break-even point even further. If I lived in a state with net metering, I would be reluctant to take on this new expense unless I was specifically looking for emergency power during outages.
IF this new solution does not allow any power back to grid, would be a huge change. But, for me, would never consider since I do not have that much money to burn.
From the blog, citing the tweets:
I do not read this as no power going back to the grid. It sounds like the main difference is that the solar would not directly feed the grid but would always feed the PW. The PW would then feed the grid. Whether this "laundering" of the energy through the PW actually makes a difference in terms of utility interconnections remains to be seen. I am not convinced in our area that the utilities will treat it any differently, particularly if you want the benefits of NEM. It will also be interesting to see the details of exactly how the energy is flowing (in terms of number of conversions from DC to AC.
xtnvieira
Member
My wife and I are buying a house that already has solar but no battery storage. If we want to get a couple Powerwalls is our best bet now to get them 3rd party?
Thats currently your only choice, as you can not currently purchase powerwalls only to add to existing solar from tesla.
I hear the backlog for PW;s might already be into 2023. Sure interesting no other company has seemed to make a dent, yet
xtnvieira
Member
Thanks for the reply, I guess what I’m really asking is: are 3rd party solar companies also restricted from buying PWs from Tesla given the new bundling change?
Currently (pre this announcement from musks' twitter account regarding bundling PV an ESS) some third parties have had product flow issues trying to get these from Tesla.
We dont currently know if this will change much. For example, if the powerwall product is physically changed in some way, it may change availability for this (for example). The short answer is, we dont know, but I would expect that you will need to contact your chosen third party and ask them (or move quickly, to ensure you get an order in before the product changes if, in fact, it changes).
Totally get where you are coming from. It comes down to everyone's individual situation and location. Our grid (hydro) in SW WA is very reliable at the moment, but with the increase in wildfires on the West Coast, it doesn't matter how reliable our grid is today if the infrastructure to deliver power burns down tomorrow. A big factor for me to choose PW's was seeing the trends in extreme weather/climate change and not wanting to rely on utilities to deliver power with the increasing frequency, strength, and devastation of weather events. The main strategy was to be completely independent of utilities as we are already on well and septic. Solar was the last puzzle piece. Not to mention... As a cybersecurity analyst, I also worry about existing malware hiding on our critical infrastructure that can cripple our power grid. Case-in-point, look at what just happened with the Colonial Pipeline. Do what's best for your situation, but I'd encourage everyone to try to achieve energy independence. I can't wait for those 4680 cells to go into Powerwalls!
With Cybertruck and Semi waiting around the corner, I'm not sure there will be enough 4680 for PW, but I think LFP may be an option since Tesla only going to use them for the M3SR now, it's ok to be bulky for home storage, no? Regardless, people buy home insurance, auto insurance and health insurance, so is it that wrong to look at PW as energy insurance on top of other benefits (I know, you get 1:1 NEM, fine)?
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