Culture
People Went Absolutely Nuts for Tesla's New Batteries
Can production keep up with the “crazy-off-the-hook” demand?
On April 30, Tesla announced the launch of mounted Powerwall battery packs that collect reserves of energy generated by homes' solar panels. The concept is simple: It’s about energy storage.
There are questions about how feasible it really is to hook the batteries up to existing solar panel technology. But in theory, here’s how it works: Residents can connect the rechargeable battery to already-installed solar panels and then draw upon the stored energy whenever they need to—say, in the case of a disaster or grid-down scenario. The batteries—which have a 10 year warranty—come in two models: 10 kWh weekly cycle and 7 kWh daily cycle. For context, Tesla estimates that the average refrigerator uses about 4.8 kWh per day.