Tesla's New Battery Could Solve One of Solar Power's Biggest Problems

So far, specific details are thin on the new battery designed for home use that Tesla’s announcing next week. But just based on what we do know, it’s a pretty big deal. The quest for a good battery that can store home-generated power is kind of like the holy grail for a renewable energy future. This one product might change everything.

A New York Times article published earlier this week essentially sets up the problem that Tesla’s battery will solve. In Hawaii, 12 percent of homes have some kind of solar energy, by far the highest rate for any place in the US at the moment. In fact, that rate is growing too quickly—solar customers are dumping so much energy back onto the grid that they’re taxing the delicate and often aging infrastructure that was only designed to deliver power to homes. What’s happening in Hawaii is actually indicative of what’s going to be an issue everywhere as many cities start to see an increase in large-scale solar implementation: There’s going to be too much energy generated, and nowhere to put it.

Utility companies might spend the money to upgrade the grid, but even then it’s difficult for them to predict how much more capacity they’ll need (and of course those costs will certainly be passed down to consumers). The absolute best idea is for homeowners to start installing batteries that can store the power for later use instead of giving the power back to the utilities, something called peak load shaving. It’s not just solar power that can be stored, of course—it can also come from wind turbines or hydroelectricity or the treadmill you rigged together to juice up your house with kinetic energy read more

Home solar power system los anegles