Tesla Changes World

Moments in the past have shaped the future - whether it be the cavemen and women discovering the flame, Wright brothers discovering flight, Edison discovering photography, or Steve Jobs’ introduction of the iPhone - and today, another may have just unearthed.

A few hours ago, Elon Musk, the incredibly successful billionaire entrepreneur who is behind PayPal, SpaceX and Tesla, announced a new, tested and proven battery that will be able to power households, neighbourhoods and planets just by using the sun - oh and it is off-the-grid.

Often these presentations explore a concept or an idea - but Musk’s presentation has already been made, it can be pre-ordered (for delivery in 3 months) and, if collectively used, will change the world.

Tesla, the company behind the Tesla electric-automobile, has produced a lithium-ion battery, named the Tesla Powerwall, that is attractive, safe, more compact, and ultimately effective to have in a household, office-building or skyscraper.

“Our goal is to fundamentally change the way the world uses energy,” said Elon Musk in his unusual late night press address. 

“The issue with existing batteries is that they suck…they are expensive, unreliable, and bad in every way” Musk continued.

Going off-the-grid is Musk’s ultimate goal, and with the PowerWall he believes this is possible. 

The battery can provide a number of different benefits to the customer including:

• Load shifting – The battery can provide financial savings to its owner by charging during low rate periods when demand for electricity is lower and discharging during more expensive rate periods when electricity demand is higher

• Increasing self-consumption of solar power generation – The battery can store surplus solar energy not used at the time it is generated and use that energy later when the sun is not shining

• Back-up power – Assures power in the event of an outage

Powerwall is available in 10kWh, optimized for backup applications or 7kWh optimized for daily use applications. Both can be connected with solar or grid and both can provide backup power. The 10kWh Powerwall is optimized to provide backup when the grid goes down, providing power for your home when you need it most. When paired with solar power, the 7kWh Powerwall can be used in daily cycling to extend the environmental and cost benefits of solar into the night when sunlight is unavailable.

See Elon Musk's presentation below.