Off-grid living is a hope for many of us, and on this site we have been talking for a long time about how LENR could make that a viable and inexpensive possibility. But LENR, of course, is not the only energy technology that can be used for this purpose.
Home-based solar installations are becoming increasingly popular in some parts of the world, and now Tesla Motors is beginning in Australia to roll out its Powerwall batteries, which are designed to solar store energy in homes which have solar panels installed.
This article in Mashable looks at the first home-based installation of a Powerwall system: http://mashable.com/2016/01/28/first-tesla-powerwall/#vt.mqVTNsgq9
Tesla has focused on Australia for its Powerwall roll-out because it has a sunny climate and a growing base of people using solar panels, and grid-supplied electricity is also very expensive relative to other countries.
The article features a homeowner named Nick Pfitzner who has the first Powerwall installation in the country.
From the article:
According to Pfitzner’s calculations, for his family, there should be a return on investment in less than eight years. “If [power] prices go up, or in the likely scenario we get a carbon tax back, it’s going to be good.”
Not content with simply installing the Powerwall, Pfitzner said he is planning to look into reselling his stored excess power at peak times. “That’s the next step,” he said “With solar power, I can resell a little back to the grid.”
I would imagine this would be seen as an attractive proposition for many homeowners who can afford to do it, especially where utility bills are high and there’s plenty of sunshine. Energy independence is an attractive idea for many people, and I would imagine that Tesla will get plenty of interest in their Powerwall systems, and will provide some competition to companies like Leonardo Corp. who are still working on domestic LENR products.