That guy with the name like an elk who’s building the supercar named after a Serbian-American engineer. Quick: What’s his name?
Doesn’t matter. The point is that he’s investing billions in a company that will manufacture and sell residential solar batteries. The kind that could power your home— or your kids’ home, or your grandkids’ home, depending on which expert you choose to believe.
This is either the biggest thing since the internal combustion engine or it’s another hippy-dippy dream scheme from a Silicon Valley wafer who struck it rich with PayPal.
Solar sounds good in theory. It’s renewable, non-polluting and is available all around the world, to rich nations and poor. But the market for solar power has been hampered by the fact that the sun must be out to generate electricity and that there is no viable, affordable way to store excess electricity until it’s needed.
Well, along comes American ingenuity. A California company, SolarCity, has just started selling a rechargeable battery called the Powerwall for $3,000.
The lithium battery, which is about the size of a mini-refrigerator, will store power from sunny days to be used on cloudy days. Excess energy can be sold to the grid (which, as you can guess, is not thrilled about this new industry).
Analysts say cost-effectiveness depends on where you live. People in Florida who already own solar panels could realize a 100% return on their $3,000 investment in three years. Homeowners in Oregon, on the other hand, might be in for a 16-year wait before they break even.
In Florida, where usage is high because of air conditioning, people use 29% more electricity than the average American. Floridians’ payoff would come in less than three years. The most savings would be realized by people who live where electricity is wicked expensive: Hawaii and California. Huh. Just where SolarCity is based!
There are issues to be resolved, such as the cost of solar panels ($15,000?) and the storage capacity of the Powerwall. Still, we can’t help but think that this is a breakthrough, and that solar is now rounding the bend into economically feasible territory.
SolarCity says it has sold out of batteries (anticipated production) through 2016. And they haven’t even opened a franchise in Miami yet!
By the way, if you came up with the name Elon Musk, you are correct. Doesn’t it remind you somehow of an antelope? Or a solar-powered Energizer Elk, maybe.
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