Everything we know about Tesla’s massive commercial battery, the Powerpack

Danielle Muoio

2016-11-11T17:00:12Z

Tesla has some bold plans for energy coming in 2017, and its massive commercial battery, the Powerpack, will play a huge role in what's to come.

Tesla is in the midst of buying SolarCity in a deal worth $2.6 billion, which shareholders will vote on November 17. Tesla CEO Elon Musk is looking to disrupt the solar industry during a potentially difficult time under President-elect Donald Trump, a climate denier putting the fate of solar subsidies into question.

A big component of Musk's energy plans hinges on the success of the Powerpack — a generally overlooked product for lacking the same sexiness as Tesla's solar roof tiles or at-home battery.

But technically, the Powerpack could play a more important role in Tesla's energy vision than either the Powerwall or solar roof. Here's everything we know about the commercial battery:

First, some basics. The Powerpack is composed of 16 individual battery pods, built with a cooling and heating system adopted from the Model S. It's designed to power large businesses or even entire cities, unlike Tesla's Powerwall, which is reserved for at-home use.

Like the Powerwall, the Powerpack draws energy from grid when utility rates are low and can function as a backup generator. It can also store solar energy.

The Powerpack is massive at a weight of 3,575 pounds. It's capable of storing up to 200 kWh of energy per pack.

As for cost, that's a bit unclear since Tesla recently removed pricing information from its website. In September, two 210 kWh battery packs cost $145,100 all in, including the cost of an inverter and installation.

Source: Electrek

Since that time, Musk unveiled Powerpack 2, which now comes with a Tesla inverter included. Tesla says the updated commercial battery "provides twice the energy density and a more seamless integration into multiple levels of the grid."

"The Tesla inverter paired with the Powerpack 2 allows storage to be available to the utility industry at price points and with functionality previously unknown," Tesla wrote in a blog post.

Tesla did not return Business Insider's request for comment on the Powerpack's current cost.

Tesla has struck deals with several utilities for the Powerpack.

Most recently, Tesla was selected to provide 20 MW/80 MWh Powerpack system at the Southern California Edison Mira Loma substation, making it the largest lithium ion battery storage project in the world. The Powerpacks will charge by drawing energy from the grid during off-peak hours.

But as a better indicator of how the Powerpack fits into solar installation, SolarCity is using Tesla's 52 MWh Powerpack to bring 20 years of power to the Hawaiian island Kaua’i. SolarCity built a 12 MW solar farm to help supply the power.

There are currently 300 MWh of Tesla batteries deployed in 18 countries, Tesla wrote in a blog post.

The Powerpack is a larger cash cow for Tesla than the Powerwall. Musk said in 2015 that Tesla expects "80% if not 90% of all the stationary storage we sell will be the Powerpack, not the Powerwall."

Source: Greentech Media

The Powerpack is one of several Tesla Energy products the company plans to push forward with a SolarCity merger.

Tesla also recently unveiled the new version of its at-home battery, Powerwall 2.0, which also comes with an inverter included.

The battery can store 13.5 kWh of energy and provide 5 kWh of continuous power, but will improve to 7 kWh at peak. This means that the Powerwall 2.0 has twice the energy and twice the storage as the previous 6.4 kWh Powerwall. It will cost $5,500.

Tesla also recently unveiled its solar roof product. Tesla will sell four types of solar roof shingles to provide an alternative to traditional solar panel installation.

All three products — Powerpack 2, Powerwall 2.0, and the solar roof — show Tesla's plan to dominate the solar industry in both a commercial and residential setting.

How that will pan out will depend on government support of solar installation as well as Tesla's production process. Tesla will produce the solar cells for its solar roof product in Buffalo, New York. The company also has plans to build another Gigafactory in Europe to aid in vehicle and battery production.

Tesla