Australian households across four states will finally be able to get their hands on Tesla’s Powerwall battery, as the US company prepares to announce the first “authorised” local installer of the much-hyped residential energy storage system.
Australia was named by Tesla in September as one of the first key markets – along with North America – to receive deliveries of the sleek-looking lithium-ion battery units, sparking a race for the EV maker to keep up with pre-order demand.
The California-based EV maker said then that it would be launching the Powerwall in Australia in late 2015, alongside North America and the DACH market in Europe, through a “growing list” of Tesla Energy partners.
But in a statement from Tesla on Wednesday, it was confirmed that Australians would be able to “put their money down” for the batteries before Christmas. Another statement will be released on Thursday morning naming an authorised Powerwall reseller, who is believed to begin installations starting January 2016.
According to Tesla spokesman Heath Walker, two Powerwall models will be available in Australia: a 7 kWh unit designed for residential use in combination with a solar system, and a 10 kWh unit that can store power for a week, for backup use.
The price of the units has yet to be announced, but in the US they wholesale for $US3000 and $US3500 respectively.
As we have have noted here before, while the Powerwall looks great and has a small footprint, it doesn’t include a solar inverter, or an energy management system, so needs to be paired with compatible technology if it’s being used to store and manage rooftop solar generation.
Of course, the Powerwall is by no means the only offering – or potentially even the cheapest – on the Australian market. As we have written here, there is a large and growing number of different-sized battery storage systems being offered, as well as a variety of different chemistries.
But it has been one of the most talked-about technologies in the energy storage space, credited with putting a rocket under the sector. Certainly, demand for the Powerwall – and other battery systems – in Australia is expected to be considerable.
According to a recent report from the Climate Council, the amount of battery storage capacity installed in Australia will grow 50-fold over the next 10 years, leading to a scenario where half of all households nation-wide have solar and storage.
Sophie is editor of One Step Off The Grid and deputy editor of its sister site, Renew Economy. Sophie has been writing about clean energy for more than a decade.
