Living just outside of Cleveland, Ohio, using solar power to replace the electrical grid is an impracticality most of the year. The overcast pallor of of the sky during fall, winter, and most of spring would only allow for a trickle of energy during those months. When Tesla first announced their solar roof panels, I used their power estimator tool to see if it would be worth it over the long term economically. The results were… not encouraging.
Oooo, a net cost of only $1600 over 30-years. Tell me more!
But the practicality of Tesla’s Powerwall was put to the test by Carlo Costanzo, and it seem to come through with flying colors. Located in the sunnier climes of Florida, Carlo barely noticed a 2.5 hour power outage. The Powerwall seamlessly kicked in when the grid failed, making his the only house still lit in his development. The only issues came from his ISP, which lost power at a local relay station, thus knocking out his internet. Other than a few light flickers when the grid came back on, it seems like an entirely smooth experience.
Sadly solar power probably needs to be another order of magnitude more efficient to make sense in my neck of the woods. But for those with the sunlight to spare, Carlo’s experience seemed very polished.
Carlo Costanzo comments:
Read more at: First real-time outage using the Tesla PowerWall 2
