The storage revolution has just been given a kick-start, as sales of Tesla’s much-vaunted Powerwall home battery unit have now begun in Australia, with the first units expected to be installed in January.
The first three local installers for the wall-mounted, rechargeable lithium-ion battery were announced this week: electricity retailers Origin Energy and Simply Energy, and Sydney-based solar installer Natural Solar.
Origin said the 7 kWh Powerwall could be purchased immediately, with installations expected to commence in February 2016. Origin is bundling the Tesla Powerwall with Trina solar panels and a SolarEdge inverter, with prices starting at $16,500.
Natural Solar went one better, saying it will begin installing the battery across Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne and Adelaide as early as January. It is offering a variety of Powerwall bundles with Fronius or SolarEdge inverters, with prices starting at around $14,000 fully installed. The company is also promoting a $0 deposit special on Tesla systems.
Natural Solar managing director Chris Williams said Natural Solar’s engineers are more than prepared to meet any number of requests for the Powerwall Home Battery. The company said it had received “an influx of enquiries” from consumers since the Powerwall was announced earlier this year.
“The world has been waiting for a product just like this unit and we are proud to be at the forefront of its installation throughout the country,” Mr Williams said.
Simply Energy did not release details of its battery packages, saying only that “the Powerwall solution will be available to purchase coupled with our solar offering or fitted to an existing solar installation”.
Tesla has previously said its battery would be available through a “growing list” of local partners, and more authorised resellers are expected to be announced soon.
