Is the Tesla Powerwall a hero in a half Shell?

Following Joju’s first residential installation of the Tesla Powerwall Residential Sales Manager, Jon Cowdrill, tells us a little bit more about the Tesla Powerwall as well as the other options on the market.

The Tesla Powerwall – Hero in a half shell?

Yes, we think so. There are plenty of battery options on the market but the Tesla Powerwall is an elegant, high capacity storage system with one of the best prices per kWh going.

The DC coupled system can be installed alongside a Solaredge or SMA inverter. Both are excellent  inverter choices.

The AC coupled system can be installed on pretty much any inverter. That means if you already have a solar panel system, the chances are you will be able to get a Powerwall if you like.

The battery has 6.4 kWhs of usable capacity. Very meaty indeed, most households only use 10 kWh of electricity per day.

Joju Solar are now certified installers of the Tesla Powerwall and at the time of writing this, there are plenty in stock.

The price below includes VAT but only if installed at the same time as a full Solar Panel installation. A retrofit Powerwall will cost a little more.

Please call or email for more information.

Approx installed price	£4,500 (Current offer price)
Total capacity	6.4 kWh
Type	DC battery Storage
Benefits	Increased self-consumption, protection against rising energy prices, promoting de-centralised energy, total energy balance reporting via the Solaredge inverter portal, looks great!

What are the other options?

There are huge and varied alternatives to the Tesla Powerwall and contrary to Elon Musk’s statement, they don’t all “suck”!

A highly configurable alternative to Tesla would be the SMA Sunny Island. It can be linked to a variety of batteries including the excellent LG Chem 6.4 kW battery.

The Maslow system, built by London’s very own Moixa energy is famous for its DC micro-grid allowing us to install solar powered DC lighting circuits and USB charging ports which will work off grid and with no system losses from DC/AC/DC conversion like in regular PV set ups.

Sonnen have come out with an attractive and modular alternative to the Powerwall called the Eco 8. Sonnen have installed over 10,000 systems in Germany, so much that they have created a Sonnen community to allow Solar and battery owners to trade energy with each other and the wider public. Can we replicate this in the UK?

Victron have been producing storage systems for over 30 years. They are highly configurable to suit any requirement. The Hub 4 system is relatively low cost and is ideal for AC home storage.

Please note, these are our current approximate offer prices and only apply when installing at the same time as a solar PV system. When retrofitting batteries onto existing systems, prices may vary. In addition to this, some of the systems may require a witness test from the local DNO (District Network Operator) to ensure they properly isolate in the event of a power cut. This will be around £300.

SMA Sunny Island with LG Chem	£5,900               6.4 kWh
Maslow	£2,830               2.0 kWh (extendible)
Sonnen Eco 8	£3,101                2.0 kWh (extendible)
Victron Hub 4	£2,844               2.0 kWh (extendible)
Tesla	£4,500                6.4 kWh

 

Further Reading

• Since this article was published, the Tesla Powerwall has been discontinued as of February 2017, and replaced with the larger Powerwall2.  You can download our free Installers Guide to the Powerwall 2 here.
• We live blogged the install of our first Powerwall2, so you can see how easy the installation was.
• Take a look at our case studies on the original Powerwall, and the new Powerwall 2
• Fans of Tesla products might like our review of their integrated roof tile offering