[h=1]Elon Musk announces the Powerwall: Solving the Energy Problem[/h] May 1, 2015 Kishore Ganesh Leave a comment
It is no secret that we have an energy problem. Most of our energy needs are met by fossil fuels that may get completely depleted within the next few years, and the problem is that we don’t have a backup plan. Even after so many decades, we are still relying on fossil fuels and alternative forms of energy haven’t yielded.
This is primarily because of energy storage. There aren’t any efficient energy storage solutions right now, and so the energy generated by Solar Panels, Wind Mills, etc go to waste for the most part. At times where these forms of energy aren’t available, such as when it is cloudy or when the winds aren’t fast enough, there isn’t a way to harvest the energy they have generated till now. The energy is used directly, and any surplus energy goes to waste.
Elon Musk, the man who is looking to change the world with his outlandish concepts, is looking to solve this energy problem with long-term energy storage solutions that are easily scalable.
The first part of his plan is for homes, with something called the Powerwall that can store between 7-10 kWh of energy. It will weigh around 220 pounds, and will be mounted on a wall, and thankfully, Tesla will take care of the installation.
The Powerwall is connected to the Internet, in order to create a grand system of interconnected grids that can efficiently manage energy. Installing the Powerwall can help people store solar energy, and they can either rely on it completely if their energy needs are relatively low, or they can rely on it as a backup when the power grid goes down.
DC to DC and DC to AC Converters will be inbuilt. While this does offer a lot of benefits and savings for the consumer, it is only a part of Musk’s plan.
The second part is where Elon’s grand idea truly comes into its own. What are we talking about? The Powerpack. It is a bigger version of the Powerwall, and it is the size of a refrigerator. It starts from a 100kWh capacity, and the kicker is that the Powerpack is infinitely scalable. That means you can chain up as many Powerpacks as you want to get the energy storage you need. It is mainly for large enterprises who would like to keep everything running in case of a power cut, and also for utilities who would now be poised to better utilize green-sources of energy. It can also mean huge-savings for large companies that use a lot of electricity during peak times.
It would take only 2 billion Powerwalls to meet the world’s energy needs, and much lesser to meet the needs of the US. This is truly revolutionary, and can help push the adoption of green energy.
The final piece of Elon’s puzzle is the 5 billion dollar Gigafactory that Tesla is building in Nevada. This factory will have an enormous production capacity, and Elon claims that its production capacity can be more than that off all lithium-ion battery production plants in the world, combined.
The best part is that Musk hinted at an open-sourcing of these patents, in order to accelerate adoption. This is similar to what Tesla did earlier, open-sourcing its patents to improve the pace of innovation in the automobile industry.
The Powerwall will start from $3000 for the 7kWh model, and going up to $3500 for the 10kWh model. It would be available in different colors, and will be covered by a 10 year warranty. It can be ordered now.
Details about the Powerpack are not known right now, but Tesla may announce these details soon.
What do you think? Are you up for an energy revolution?
Elon Musk announces the Powerwall: Solving the Energy Problem | Tech Geek Forever
It is no secret that we have an energy problem. Most of our energy needs are met by fossil fuels that may get completely depleted within the next few years, and the problem is that we don’t have a backup plan. Even after so many decades, we are still relying on fossil fuels and alternative forms of energy haven’t yielded.
This is primarily because of energy storage. There aren’t any efficient energy storage solutions right now, and so the energy generated by Solar Panels, Wind Mills, etc go to waste for the most part. At times where these forms of energy aren’t available, such as when it is cloudy or when the winds aren’t fast enough, there isn’t a way to harvest the energy they have generated till now. The energy is used directly, and any surplus energy goes to waste.
Elon Musk, the man who is looking to change the world with his outlandish concepts, is looking to solve this energy problem with long-term energy storage solutions that are easily scalable.
The first part of his plan is for homes, with something called the Powerwall that can store between 7-10 kWh of energy. It will weigh around 220 pounds, and will be mounted on a wall, and thankfully, Tesla will take care of the installation.
The Powerwall is connected to the Internet, in order to create a grand system of interconnected grids that can efficiently manage energy. Installing the Powerwall can help people store solar energy, and they can either rely on it completely if their energy needs are relatively low, or they can rely on it as a backup when the power grid goes down.
DC to DC and DC to AC Converters will be inbuilt. While this does offer a lot of benefits and savings for the consumer, it is only a part of Musk’s plan.
The second part is where Elon’s grand idea truly comes into its own. What are we talking about? The Powerpack. It is a bigger version of the Powerwall, and it is the size of a refrigerator. It starts from a 100kWh capacity, and the kicker is that the Powerpack is infinitely scalable. That means you can chain up as many Powerpacks as you want to get the energy storage you need. It is mainly for large enterprises who would like to keep everything running in case of a power cut, and also for utilities who would now be poised to better utilize green-sources of energy. It can also mean huge-savings for large companies that use a lot of electricity during peak times.
It would take only 2 billion Powerwalls to meet the world’s energy needs, and much lesser to meet the needs of the US. This is truly revolutionary, and can help push the adoption of green energy.
The final piece of Elon’s puzzle is the 5 billion dollar Gigafactory that Tesla is building in Nevada. This factory will have an enormous production capacity, and Elon claims that its production capacity can be more than that off all lithium-ion battery production plants in the world, combined.
The best part is that Musk hinted at an open-sourcing of these patents, in order to accelerate adoption. This is similar to what Tesla did earlier, open-sourcing its patents to improve the pace of innovation in the automobile industry.
The Powerwall will start from $3000 for the 7kWh model, and going up to $3500 for the 10kWh model. It would be available in different colors, and will be covered by a 10 year warranty. It can be ordered now.
Details about the Powerpack are not known right now, but Tesla may announce these details soon.
What do you think? Are you up for an energy revolution?
Elon Musk announces the Powerwall: Solving the Energy Problem | Tech Geek Forever
