Family that installed Australia’s first Tesla Powerwall pays just 46 cents a day for power

The Pfitzner family, from Kellyville Ridge in NSW, were the envy of many when they installed the first Tesla Powerwall system in Australia, which has helped the family of four cut their electricity costs to just 46 cents per day.

After four years of operation, the family has now detailed the dramatic cost savings that the battery system has helped deliver the family, after the family received Australia’s first Tesla Powerwall System in 2016 which included 6.4kWh of lithium-ion battery storage and was paired with a 5kW rooftop solar installation, which both helped to significantly cut the family’s use of electricity from the grid.

The system was combined with a grid management system, a software platform developed by the Canberra-based company Reposit, which helped optimise the operation of the battery in combination with the rooftop solar system and the dynamics of the wider electricity grid.

The total system has worked to save the family an average of $2,115 each year on their electricity costs while allowing the family to use their air-conditioning and household appliances as they normally would.

The household, which includes Nick and Danielle Pfitzner and their two kids, consists of four-bedroom home with an internal laundry, air-conditioning, appliances, a pool and an outdoor entertaining area.

Following the installation of the solar and energy storage system, the electricity costs for powering the household have dropped to an average of $45.16 per quarter, a more than 90 per cent fall compared to costs prior to having the system installed demonstrating how cheaper and sustainable power can be used by families without the need to significantly alter their living arrangements.

“Nick [Pfitzner] was one of the first people in the world to have his Tesla Powerwall installed, and effectively started what we term the ‘battery boom’ globally,” CEO of Natural Solar Chris Williams, who completed the installation, said.

“To see the numbers stack up after four years proves the technology is truly here to stay and will likely only continue to grow with a huge demand worldwide.”

By cutting the family’s electricity costs by up to 90 per cent, the solar and battery installation is expected to achieve a payback period as short as seven years.

“The Tesla Powerwall has truly unleashed savings that many sceptics never before thought possible. In the case of Nick Pfitzner, he is the first in-market case study to reveal the long-term truth about how the financials stack up and the one the world will watch for years to come,” Williams added.

Following the first Tesla Powerwall installation, Williams has observed a surge in demand for battery storage systems, estimating that there has been a 15,000 per cent worldwide increase in home battery installations in the past four years.

According to data published by the Clean Energy Regulator, the cumulative number of rooftop solar systems that have been paired with battery storage approached 20,000 systems across Australia by the end of 2019, with more than 6,000 systems installed in 2019 alone.

The Clean Energy Regulator figures are also likely to be an underestimate, as they don’t account for stand-alone battery systems, or systems not reported to the Regulator.