Tesla Battery Project Seeks To Turn Vermonters' Homes Into Tiny Power Plants

[MelissaB]

As our reliance on solar and wind energy grows, so does the challenge of reliability: The wind and sun can’t be turned on and off whenever people need electricity. One part of the solution is energy storage.

That’s why Vermont’s largest utility, Green Mountain Power, is piloting a new project: It’s sold 500 Tesla home batteries to customers, both for the homeowner’s private use, and for the utility to draw on as a source of electricity.

Green Mountain Power is the first utility in the country to pilot the Tesla Powerwall battery in this way.

Both the utility and Tesla are betting that this could be the way of the future, as we increasingly rely on disparate power sources in fields and homes — and not on massive centralized power plants.

More here: http://digital.vpr.net/post/tesla-battery-project-seeks-turn-vermonters-homes-tiny-power-plants#stream/0

[braddy]

1. I don't get it, 6 hours of lights and refrigerator is it for about $7500.00?

"The battery itself stores about 6.4 kilowatt hours of energy, which could power the bare-bones needs of an average home for about six hours. It’s not meant to be relied on as a back-up generator that could power a home for days, but for Orantes, who lives downtown, it should be plenty to meet his needs.

He had thought about getting a generator before, but didn’t want to keep diesel or gasoline around and deal with maintenance in the winter.

The battery and the inverter combined cost $6,500, not including installation. But Orantes has opted to pay monthly installments of $37.50 for 10 years — a total of $4,500. The price is reduced for homeowners who to allow Green Mountain Power to pull power from the battery."

[Yo_Mama]

2. You don't need a generator for a six hour power shortage. This seems useless to me

Good for the utilities; useless for the homeowners.

The utilities will be able to dampdown power supply to these homes when they are short, but what it meaningfully does for the homeowner I can't imagine.

[braddy]

3. All those 1000s of dollars could sure be spent for more preparedness than a low use 6 hours.

I wonder who these people are, wasting money like this? It is a puzzlement.

[felix_numinous]

4. K&R

[Vinca]

5. I love this idea, but I'd have to wait until it's improved over the years to function

for more than 6 hours and the cost will have to come down. We have frequent power outages in the winter and have a Kubota generator that's been incredibly reliable. We bought it new in the mid-80's for about $3,500 and it runs the whole house.