Tesla has announced that it has installed over 500,000 Powerwalls to date, according to reporting from Electrek. The milestone signals the growing popularity of powering homes with clean solar energy.
Powerwall is an integrated battery system that can store solar and other energy for later use. Combined with solar panels, it could be a way to significantly cut down on your energy bills in the long run — once you get past the typical initial cost of between $9,200 and $14,200 determined by This Old House.
The installation number shows a significant uptick since the Powerwall 2 was introduced in 2016. Tesla installed 100,000 Powerwalls from 2016 to 2020 and reached 250,000 by the end of 2021. With the company installing 250,000 Powerwalls over its first six years of sales and another 250,000 over the last two years, it is clear that the install graph is curving upward.
The system can also be combined with a Tesla-branded solar roof, which differs from simply placing solar panels on your existing roof. The Tesla version replaces the entire roof rather than installing the panels on top of the existing shingles.
The comprehensive coverage of the solar roof comes at a substantial cost, though, with one middle-size estimate done by Forbes coming in at $64,000 (with two Powerwalls).
Tesla notes on its website that "Solar and Powerwall orders qualify for a federal tax credit" and indicates that this can be up to 30% of the cost of a system. It also mentions state and local incentives that may be available.
If you have a lot of money to burn, though, there is an entire mansion in Malibu that originally listed for $32 million that runs on a Tesla Powerwall and Tesla solar roof. The mansion, branded as Zero One, claims to be the "first zero carbon-ready home."
In the long run, however, it is possible to use Tesla solar roofs and Powerwalls to save money — and many of their customers seem happy with the products. One Tesla superfan wrote about his experience of powering his home with a Powerwall for The Cool Down and says that "a year later running the fully electric system, I have zero regrets."
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