The biggest name in energy storage for 2015, Tesla, has teamed up with a number of Australian distributors to bring their low-cost batteries into homes in 2016.
In December, Tesla and Origin Energy announced that they had teamed up, with Origin acting as a retailer of Tesla’s Powerwall battery storage option.
The Tesla Powerwall is a wall mounted rechargeable lithium ion battery which is suitable for indoor and outdoor installation.
Origin Chief Executive Officer Energy Markets, Frank Calabria, said, “By offering rooftop solar with home batteries, Origin is able to provide households with greater control over their energy use than ever before.
“Customers can now also make their investment in solar work harder, as excess electricity produced during the day can be stored for use at a later time when the solar panels do not produce electricity.”
Mr Calabria said, “Origin is Australia’s leading energy retailer with more than 400,000 solar customers, and Tesla Energy has quickly established itself as a global leader in battery storage, so we are delighted to be collaborating on Origin’s first solar and battery offering.”
Origin is bundling the Tesla Powerwall with Trina solar panels and the Solar Edge inverter as part of a home energy solution. Customers can be the first to have the Tesla Powerwall installed by ordering it on the Origin website.
The Solar Edge inverter uses solar optimisers on each panel to deliver improved system performance and has been approved by Tesla Energy for pairing with the Powerwall.
“Origin is providing customers with a simple, no-fuss solution by allowing them to buy their solar system, inverter and battery product from us, have it installed and monitored by us and enjoy the benefits of our post sales service support,” Mr Calabria said.
“Home batteries will not be for everyone at this early stage, but with more than 80 per cent of solar PV owners in a recent survey indicating they would consider buying a home battery, Origin is ideally placed to help consumers find the right solution for them with our end-to-end offering.”
While Origin was the first utility to be named a distributor for the Tesla Powerwall, others quickly followed suit, including CitiPower and Powercor, South Australian Power Networks, Ergon Energy and United Energy. A number of private companies have also been named as distributors, including Natural Solar, Simply Energy, SunEdison Australia and CSR Bradford.
All distributors expect to begin supplying and installing Powerwalls early in 2016, and it is expected that Tesla will continue to add to its authorised distributors in Australia as the year goes on.