Tesla battery for home. Ok for a bike?!

[John F]

Tesla cars ave unveiled a new battery for use in the home that can be charged by solar. It promises to be be "the future" and is a new type of battery, or so they say.

Some thoughts
1) if it's so good why haven't other electric car makers got them?
2) Have they really got such an amazing battery, or is just a tweak on Li-Ion types
3) Can I have one for my Woosh, and if not when?
4) Why doesn't the press releases give technical info?

Comments?

 

[flecc]

They have acknowledged that it is just their usual lithium technology, I think they are just hoping for an additional market among the wealthy trend setters.

As one university professor remarked, albeit exaggerating slightly, who is going to pay £10,000 to store £2 worth of electricity?

He's right, it's a non event. We already have the odd home here in the UK with battery storage of current, one was shown on TV last night, but it was a huge installation for little purpose.

Tesla's is physically too big for your Woosh and the wrong shape since it's a wall panel.
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[trex]

tesla will sell two units, 7KWH and a 10KWH.
I saw a short video clip on BBC breakfast this morning, some guy in London has it on evaluation. If they sell the 10KWH unit at $3000/£2,000 then it's very competitive, assuming that it has sufficiently long life, 10 years or more. Let's say you store 10kwh each day at night tariff to offset your peak time consumption, that would give you about £0.5-£1 saving a day, 365 days a year (£200-£400 saving per annum), a good above average ROI compared to other forms of investment.

 

[flecc]

Let's say you store 10kwh each day at night tariff to offset your peak time consumption, that would give you about £0.5-£1 saving a day, 365 days a year (£200-£400 saving per annum), a good above average ROI compared to other forms of investment.

Tesla's intention though is charging from solar panels and on that basis I can't see it being viable in the UK.

Charging from the night tariff would make more sense at present, but changes in interest rates during ten years could scupper that. Also if it caught on the energy companies would also scupper it by changes in the night tariff.
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[anotherkiwi]

We need honorable members to write to Elon Musk to get him interested in supplying cheaper pedelec batteries!

 

[VictoryV]

Tesla's intention though is charging from solar panels and on that basis I can't see it being viable in the UK.


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We had a 4kw Solar Panel installation on 30 April 14 The first year results :


Electricity produced 4280 units, well exceeding anticipated forecast on installation of 3200 units
Feed In Tarriff Payments Recieved (Index linked and Tax free for 20 yrs)
Aug 14 £320
Nov 14 £135
Feb 15 £92
One-off Gas rebate: £150 in September 2014
Annual Savings in reduced monthly energy payments
Gas £360
Electricity £120
Peak Instant Power for the year 3604 watts
Peak Instant Power in December 2880 watts
The system is working perfectly, on reasonably sunny days I can cook a roast dinner using only solar power even in the winter.
The Gems system provides all the hot water we need for free.

During the daytime on reasonably sunny days we are off grid unless I put the kettle on (3000 watts) Through the night we use about 1 to 2 units (KWH) for TV, video and then the Fridge freezer. So a 7.5 KWH battery would easily cover our night usage and is rechargable during the day with no problem. For more info see PDF

 

[flecc]

We had a 4kw Solar Panel installation on 30 April 14

Thanks for the information, clearly the in situ installation works well for you. However, I can't see any installation cost or mentions of the varying time period depreciations of the various components of the installation.

They will of course radically change the position.
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[VictoryV]

Thanks for the information, clearly the in situ installation works well for you. However, I can't see any installation cost or mentions of the varying time period depreciations of the various components of the installation.

They will of course radically change the position.
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The installation cost £8000. The solar panels are guaranteed for 25 years, and have an expected life of 50 years, they lose about half a % efficiency per year. The electrical conversion system is guaranteed for 10 years and is 99+% efficient with no degredation in service.

 

[flecc]

Thanks VictoryV, I also noted the longer guarantee on the panels which is another benefit.
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[VictoryV]

Thanks VictoryV, I also noted the longer guarantee on the panels which is another benefit.
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There is also one more FIT payment due any time now which will encompass the 4th payment for the year. The FIT is paid every 3 months against the reading of the export meter attached to the dc/ac inverter which produces the mains ac for use within the house.

The "Granny Bonds" do not provide such a return, and you have to claim the tax back if you are a non-taxpayer. This does not apply to the FIT payments, they are CPI linked, tax free and are paid for the first 20 years use - they are over and above the actual fuel savings on gas and electricity. Our gas saving is so high becuase our house only had gas heated hot water so we had to run the boiler all year. Now with the solar panels we use them to supply the hot water via an immersion heater all year round and our boiler is off from April to October until we need central heating again.

 

[John F]

Excellent info thanks. I've been toying with getting a solar setup for a while, but it seems like a minefield with ever changing goal posts, so I've done nowt

Where's the best place to start?

 

[VictoryV]

Excellent info thanks. I've been toying with getting a solar setup for a while, but it seems like a minefield with ever changing goal posts, so I've done nowt

Where's the best place to start?

In the PDF there is a link to Y Solar who installed my kit.

Y Solar: Phone: 0844 272 0036, E-Mail: info@ysolar.co.uk, Web Site: www.ysolar.co.uk

Their reviews http://www.reviewcentre.com/Solar-Energy/Y-Solar-www-ysolar-co-uk-reviews_1717268#Reviews. Mine can be found for May 2104

They came top of the recommendations by "The Eco Experts" and I truly am very very pleased with my kit. The inclusion of the GEM system to provide hot water via the immersion heater is outstanding. GEM is the product of Apollo Solar Electric systems an independent company in their own right and their kit can be added to any Solar PV system you choose

Apollo Solar Electric: Phone 01788 511055, E-Mail: sales@apollosolarelectric.co.uk

If you live near Biggleswade you are more than welcome to come and have a look at our installation.

There are also schemes that are "free" the installers put in the kit and they receive the Feed in Tarriff for 20 years and you get the power savings. You also need to consider the aspect of your roof in relation to the sun. See attached: