Tesla to unveil new battery unit

• 9 years ago (2015-04-30)
• Junior Isles

North America 1021 Renewables 776

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Tesla Motors is set to announce a new pack that could revolutionise the energy market.

Energy supply is a big business and a key market for Tesla, which has spent millions developing batteries for its range of electric cars. Such batteries, in theory, could be used to store power overnight (when costs are lower) from intermittent green energy sources like solar and wind.

According to investment analyst Trip Chowdhry, the Tesla battery system is basically an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) that is large enough to be able to keep residences powered-up even during storms and blackouts.

Reports from the Wall Street Journal suggest that Tesla could use as much as 25 per cent of its capacity at its new $5 billion gigafactory in Nevada to produce batteries for businesses and homes. By 2020, the factory will produce more lithium ion batteries than all the current factories producing that product today, says the company.

However there are a number of challenges that Tesla will still need to overcome to ensure the success of its home-battery, such as cheaper variants as well as a general lack of demand from homeowners thus far.