Tesla’s domestic battery technology has arrived in our neck of the woods, with households that install the system looking at savings of up to $600 on their quarterly power bills.
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With the battery was installed at their home two weeks ago, Michael and Monica Morse are the first people in the Central West to embrace a Tesla Powerwall.
From July 1 this year households in most states – including NSW – have been faced with an increase to their electricity bills of up to 20 per cent.
The Morse’s are confident they can avoid that cost, with their system geared towards using the house-generated electricity first.
“It takes it from the solar panels first, the battery second and the grid third,” Mr Morse said.
“That means it can reduce our power bills to almost nothing.”
With the potential to save almost $600 every three months, Mr Morse said the decision to switch to the world-famous technology was an easy one to make.
“When you were at your mother’s knees, she talked about death and taxes being the only certainty in life,” he said.
“The next certainty in life is your power bill will go up and it goes up in big chunks.
“We like certainty in our lives and that’s why we like the Powerwall battery.”
The battery has the ability to store 13.5 kilowatts of power and can run the house’s power, for a certain amount of time, if the main circuit switch is not on.
Rural Green Energy director Darryl Leahey said saving money with the Tesla Powerwall depends on scaling.
“The bill would go from $700 to $100 per quarter,” he said.
“We know on the first of July that power bills went up in excess of 20 per cent. Having energy from the sun and storing it in the battery is price that doesn’t become relevant anymore because you’re producing your own energy.
“The payment periods with the rising energy prices are running from four to six years. If you look at the return in investment, you’re getting a 20 to 30 per cent return in year one.”
Ms Morse said more people in the region should invest in solar panels “because they are environmentally friendly to use”.
In April, Tesla launched an electric car recharge station at the historic Abercrombie House and announced its intentions to install a supercharger station in the Central West at Bathurst.