I was excited to be invited to the launch of the Tesla Powerwall 3 home battery storage system in Sydney recently. This upgrade to the current Powerwall 2 product brings with it a variety of new features which enhance performance, increase durability, make installation easier and reduces packaging waste - to make what Tesla calls “the best value home battery solution on the market”. Without testing the unit personally to confirm these claims it’s hard to confirm or deny, however on paper the unit does look impressive.

While the physical size and battery storage capacity remains the same as the Powerwall 2 at 13.5kwh, the main performance upgrade the Powerwall 3 gets is an integrated solar inverter which increases the solar to grid efficiency to 97.5% (as opposed to 87% of a typical external inverter - I was told by staff). This means the unit can support up to 20kw of solar power input (roughly 50 x 400w panels)

The Powerwall 3 supports 3 solar inputs and can deliver up to 10kw of power on backup power, up from the 7kw of the previous unit. The battery is also scaleable up to 4 units, and coming in 2025 a system expansion feature will be launched, allowing further capacity.

Tesla claim that with current energy market prices the Powerwall 3, when coupled with a solar PV can deliver savings of 77% over 10 years. Given the fluctuation in energy prices seen in recent times now that renewables are powering 39.4% of the Australian grid (Clean Energy Council figures) Tesla are spruiking the benefits of the product as a standalone installation without solar. Being able to draw energy from the grid at times of low cost (middle of the day on sunny/windy days), then using this at night time when demand is high is reported to reduce a yearly energy bill by more than half.

The new unit is IP67 rated and can operate in temperatures from -20 > +50º C, we don’t recommend installing in water features like the above image, however we’re impressed by the overall durability of the unit. The Powerwall 3 also features battery pre-conditioning technology, which will anticipate when power from the sun will be available, and pre-heats or cools the battery cells to ensure optimum conditions for charging.

Great work Tesla, I’m looking forward to seeing one of these units go into one of my projects soon…