It promises to turn the electricity utilities on their heads. These battery storage units, currently retailing for approximately US$3000, can turn a home into a standalone energy provider if there are enough requisite solar panels, and there is an inverter.

Elon Musk thinks you’ll get a charge out of his latest product: the Tesla Powerwall, a wall-mounted battery that stores up to 10 kiloWatt-hours of electricity. Musk calls it “the missing piece” in the puzzle of how to wean ourselves off dependency on fossil fuels and power grids.

Originally part of the Tesla Car manufacturing business, this spin off towards general domestic homes, plus businesses on a larger scale, is making people alert to the incredible possibilities.

If you look at the unit size in comparison to Elon the presenter, it doesn’t look too daunting to have in your garage or whatever room in your house you install it?

The Powerwall introduced by Tesla Energy puts everything you need (except a DC/AC inverter) into a relatively stylish package about the size of a 50-inch flat-screen TV. It’s designed to be hung on a wall, even an exterior wall. Up to nine PowerWalls can be “stacked” for additional storage.

Your individual house requirements (partial or completely off the grid) will determine the number of PowerWalls, solar panels, inverter and associated installation cost.

A single Powerwall might well get the average household through the night, unless it’s one of those nights when everyone needs space heaters. Up to 9 Powerwalls may be desirable if you want to go fully off-grid or if lengthy power outages are common in your area.

[Source – Bob Rankin plus ABC program segment]