At the end of April, Tesla announced Powerwall, its lithium-ion battery solution for the home. Powerwall can be hooked up to both residential solar systems as well as the conventional power grid. The function of this product is very simple, it stores excess solar power that can be used during off-peak hours when the sun is not out, and hence there’s no natural solar energy for a few hours. Tesla has announced a slight change in plans which is going to offer Powerwall customers more bang for their buck.
During the company’s annual shareholders meeting at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California the CEO of Tesla Elon Musk announced that the company is going to double Powerwall’s output to 7KW at peak and 5KW for steady usage.
Musk also said that this change does not mean that customers are going to have to pay more. The prices will remain constant at $3,000 for the 7KWh daily cycle version and $3,500 for the 10KWh weekly cycle version.
Tesla has already seen hefty demand for the Powerwall as it got more than 38,000 reservations in just the first week alone. Many complained that the steady output of 2KW wasn’t going to be enough for the average household which is why Tesla had decided to double it.
Powerwall deliveries are expected to start later this summer and then scale up in 2016 as the company starts producing the battery packs at its Gigafactory, which is based in Nevada.