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Tesla Powerwall Battery Storage – Certified Installer

Certified Installers

MSC Heating is officially designated by Tesla as a ‘certified installer’.

Certified installers have had to jump through hoops to obtain certified installer status. They have been vetted by Tesla and take part in various, on-going training and support activities.

Installation standards for Tesla Powerwall certified installers are monitored very carefully. Tesla send round inspectors from time to time to ensure installations are perfect.

Tesla has set the bar very high when it comes to keeping its customers happy.

Tesla Powerwall is the most technologically advanced home battery storage product in the UK in 2020

The Tesla Powerwall, also referred to as Tesla Powerwall 2, is manufactured by the American company, Tesla, Inc.

It allows you to:

1.Store excess solar electricity for later use
2.Store cheap, off-peak electricity for later use
3. Power devices in your home
4. Support EV charging from a renewable source
5. Have power in a power-cut, with the Backup Gateway 2
6. Keep your solar PV system working in a power-cut, with the Backup Gateway 2
7. Use 5KW continuous power discharge

Tesla, Inc.

The company Tesla has become a house-hold name together with the likes of Google, Amazon, Uber, Facebook, Apple, etc.

Its CEO, Elon Musk, is a pioneer of several industries, including electric vehicles, battery storage, space exploration, and – bizarrely – drilling tunnels.

Tesla built the first, famous Gigafactory in Nevada, USA. It’s an absolutely massive factory that churns out batteries as fast as they can make them for both the Powerwall and Tesla electric cars.

Tesla Powerwall Battery Cells

The Tesla Powerwall product uses the same battery cells as the Tesla cars.

This is good news. Think about it. A Tesla electric vehicle can function in very cold weather (e.g. Finland), as well as in a very hot environment (e.g. Dubai).

Each battery cell has its own temperature management system that keeps the battery at an optimum working temperature.

The Tesla Powerwall 2 can therefore be mounted either internally in your home or on an external wall exposed to the elements.

No other battery products currently available in the UK can function properly below freezing. So, if you have limited suitable wall space inside your home for battery storage, the Powerwall is your only choice for external mounting.

The Tesla Warranty is for 10 years, including unlimited charge cycles, minimum 80% energy retention over 10 years.

Tesla Powerwall Storage Capacity

The Powerwall 2 also packs a considerable punch for its size.

It is 1,150mm tall, 755mm wide, and 155mm deep.

But inside that relatively small form factor comes a great deal of storage capacity. It holds 13.5 kWh of electricity, when fully charged.

The Tesla Powerwall cost in the UK, supplied and installed, can be found in the section below.

It is very good value in terms of price per kWh of storage, even though the overall price including installation can seem daunting.

Power in a Power-cut

In March 2019, Tesla released the ‘Backup Gateway 2’ which allows you to use the electricity stored in your Powerwall in the event of a power-cut.

Of course you might argue, “I never get power-cuts!” For many people that will be true. However, there are also many locations in the UK where power-cuts are surprisingly common. If that’s true for you, read on…

With a Backup Gateway, you gain two major advantages if there is a power-cut:

  • You can power devices in your home, using electricity stored in your Powerwall, and
  • If you have solar panels, they will continue to work, providing electricity both to your home and your Powerwall.

The Backup Gateway 2 next to its big brother, the Powerwall

Point 2 is really important. Solar inverters have to – by law – turn off if there is a power-cut, otherwise the electricity from your panels might electrocute an engineer working to repair the line.

However, the Backup Gateway gets round this problem. It completely isolates your house from the grid. In this way, the Backup Gateway makes your solar inverter think it is still connected to the grid, and so it carries on working.

In addition, Backup Gateway 2 for Tesla Powerwall provides you with energy management and monitoring for solar electricity self-consumption, plus time-based control. All this is managed via the Tesla app.

The Backup function kicks in very quickly in a power outage. In fact, you may not even notice there is a power-cut at all. The first clue you’ll get that there is no electricity in the area is when your neighbours come round asking why your lights are still on!

How is the Powerwall wired up in your home?

Tesla Powerwall AppAt least two people will turn up on installation day, as the Powerwall is very heavy.

Here is a typical installation process for the Powerwall:

  1. The Powerwall box is taken out of the delivery van and moved gently to the base of the wall where it will be installed.
  2. One of the electricians then screws a mounting bracket from the box into the wall.
  3. Next, the Powerwall is carefully placed upright onto a hoist.
  4. The Powerwall is lifted up and then eased back down onto the mounting bracket.
  5. At this point the Powerwall is hanging nicely on your wall.
  6. Then your Backup Gateway – the brains of the system – is mounted on the wall. This might be near the Powerwall or near your electricity import meter.
  7. The Gateway is connected to your main fuse board.
  8. Next, the Powerwall is connected to the Gateway.
  9. It’s also possible for your solar panel system to be wired into the Gateway.
  10. Then CT clamps are placed in appropriate places so that the Gateway can monitor all essential energy flows in the home.
  11. There will also be isolators put in at various points for safety.
  12. The Gatweway can communicate with your home router via Wi-Fi, though a wired ethernet connection is also recommended.
  13. The electrician then commissions the system and you’re ready to go.

Tesla Powerwall Price

Although the headline Tesla Powerwall price can seem high, it’s actually good value for money in terms of cost per kWh of storage.

The typical cost of the Powerwall in the UK, supplied and installed, is about £7,000 + VAT. That is for both the Powerwall battery itself, plus the new Backup Gateway mentioned above.

Battery installations in the UK attract VAT at 20%. So the total cost to the residential purchaser would be £10,495 inc. VAT @ 20%.

Please note: after the new VAT laws introduced on 1 October 2019, if a home battery is installed at the same time as a solar PV system, then the labour component of the battery and solar installations will have VAT @ 5% applied and the materials component of the battery and solar installations will have VAT @ 20%.

However, putting the solar PV and battery installations together in this way – on the same invoice – usually works out £200-300 more expensive. It’s cheaper to have the solar panel installation put in on one invoice @ 5% VAT, and then the battery installation submitted on a separate invoice @ 20% VAT.

Tesla Powerwall – who is it for?

The Tesla Powerwall 2 is a premium product. There are cheaper home battery products out there, with lower storage capacity, but none as good value as the Powerwall.

Typical buyers include:

  • Tesla car owners with solar panels (if you own a Model 3, Model S, or Model X – what are you waiting for?)
  • Other brand EV car owners with solar panels
  • Customers who want the very best storage technology available today
  • People who want to make use of smart tariffs
  • Customers who want an aesthetically pleasing, all in one product
  • Home owners who would like to mount the battery outside
  • Customers who suffer from power-cuts
  • People without solar panels who want to charge the Powerwall with cheap, off-peak electricity at night and let it out during the day when prices are high
  • Tech geeks who want to monitor all the energy flows via the classy Tesla app

VIDEO REVIEW

Powerwall
Tesla

Interviewed: Robert Llewellyn
Organisation: Tesla
Date published: 10 September 2017
Length: 1 minutes 39 seconds

Product Details

Here is all the data you need to evaluate the Tesla Powerwall.

We display the information in the same format for all the battery storage products we list, so you can compare and contrast.

The prices below include the Backup Gateway 2, allowing you to access electricity stored in your Powerwall in a power-cut.

Product name
Tesla Powerwall
Manufacturer
Tesla, Inc.
Place of manufacture
USA
Storage capacity
13.5 kWh
Power output rating (discharge)
5 kW
Power output rating (charge)
3.68 kW
Dimensions
1,150 mm tall, 755 mm wide, and 155 mm deep
Weight
114 kg
Mounting options
Floor or wall mount
Mounting location
Inside or outside
Operating temperature
–20°C to 50°C
Defect warranty
10 years
Degradation warranty
20% degradation at 10 years
Cycle warranty
Unlimited cycles
Throughput warranty
Unlimited throughput
Permitted uses
Solar electricity capture and discharge, Off-peak grid electricity capture and discharge
Typical cost, fully installed
£10,495 inc. VAT @ 20%
Typical price per kWh of storage
£622 inc. VAT @ 20%

If you would like more information on any of our energy efficient heating systems including Ground source heat pumps, Solar pv, Underfloor heating or Battery storage, then please call or email us. We are happy to discuss enquiries from across the UK including West Midlands, Worcestershire, Oxfordshire, Warwickshire, Wales, Northamptonshire, Staffordshire, Gloucestershire, Greater London, Wiltshire, Berkshire, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Cheshire, Shropshire, Essex and Lincolnshire

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