Tesla expands Powerwall-to-grid program to cover most of California
- Reference: 1660847407
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2022/08/18/tesla_expands_powerwalltogrid_program/
- Source link:
[1]Trialed last year with multiple California electricity companies and rolled out in Pacific Gas and Electric's (PG&E) service area [2]in July , the program will see Powerwall owners paid $2 for every incremental kilowatt-hour of energy they provide during power company-specified "load management events."
Now, with an [3]expansion into Southern California Edison's (SCE) coverage area, Tesla's VPP program has almost the entire state's electrical grid covered, that is if Powerwall users actually sign up.
[4]
SCE seems to think at least some Powerwall owners are game and is expecting 3,000 customers to sign up for the program, which the company said could reduce energy needs by 10 to 15 megawatts, enough to power 11,250 homes, SCE said.
[5]
[6]
PG&E didn't provide particular estimates, but said that if all eligible Powerwall owners participated in its program, the available megawatts "would be equivalent to the energy generated by a small power plant."
Tesla Powerwall owners in [7]PG&E's coverage area or [8]SCE's zone are eligible to join the program if they receive service from one of the two aforementioned companies, have a residential account, aren't enrolled in any conflicting demand response or VPP program, and have a valid [9]Rule 21 interconnection agreement , which governs the sale of energy from homeowners back to the grid.
A taste of the all-electric future
As the US introduces [10]more renewable energy sources with variable outputs like wind and solar, distributed energy resources (DERs) like grid-connected Powerwalls are likely to become central to energy infrastructure.
[11]Elon Musk sells Tesla shares worth $6.9b as Twitter lawsuit looms
[12]Tesla Full Self-Driving 'fails' to notice child-sized objects in testing
[13]California accuses Tesla of false advertising over Autopilot
[14]Remember the humanoid Tesla robot? It's ready for September reveal, says Musk
DERs can include any sort of residential power – solar panels, heat pumps, batteries or EVs with vehicle-to-grid capabilities – as well as commercial energy plants. In the case of grid-scale renewables, this equates to more acreage for less power, which makes supplementing with residential energy all the more important.
DER networks can vary in composition and reliance on residential power generation; in the case of the PG&E program, Tesla Powerwalls are scheduled to automatically add energy to the grid from 4 to 9pm in May through October when demand is especially high.
[15]
[16]According to the US Department of Energy, DERs have the potential to help agencies meet energy mandates, save money, lower electricity consumption and reduce environmental damage. The Environmental Protection Agency [17]says distributed energy generation is also ideal for capturing energy that would otherwise be wasted, and reduces line loss suffered when power is transmitted over long distances.
Whether lithium-ion batteries, like those at the heart of Powerwalls, are the best technology to install at thousands of homes is up for debate. They're prone to fire and explosion, even [18]weeks after damage occurs, and when ignited [19]can burn for days . Solar panels – which feed energy to Tesla's batteries – aren't immune to [20]safety concerns either.
Still, rising energy costs, climate change, and a recent White House call to modernize the grid with [21]clean energy DERs may prove a more critical reason to install distributed resources around the US, be they made by Tesla or not. ®
Get our [22]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.tesla.com/support/energy/powerwall/own/california-virtual-power-plant
[2] https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220707005833/en/25000-PGE-and-Tesla-Customers-Invited-to-Form-World%E2%80%99s-Largest-Distributed-Battery-to-Support-Electric-Grid-Reliability
[3] https://energized.edison.com/stories/powering-through-the-dog-days-of-summer
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2Yv62hyFVzkctuCeyAhf0SQAAAMk&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Yv62hyFVzkctuCeyAhf0SQAAAMk&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33Yv62hyFVzkctuCeyAhf0SQAAAMk&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://www.tesla.com/support/energy/tesla-virtual-power-plant-pge-2022
[8] https://www.tesla.com/support/energy/tesla-virtual-power-plant-SCE-2022
[9] https://www.cpuc.ca.gov/rule21/#:~:text=Rule%2021%20governs%20CPUC%2Djurisdictional,cost%20to%20the%20host%20utility.
[10] https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=50818
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2022/08/10/elon_musk_sells_tesla_shares/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2022/08/09/tesla_autopilot_child_testing/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2022/08/08/tesla_california_autopilot/
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2022/08/05/tesla_musk_robot/
[15] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Yv62hyFVzkctuCeyAhf0SQAAAMk&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[16] https://www.energy.gov/eere/femp/distributed-energy-resources-resilience
[17] https://www.epa.gov/energy/distributed-generation-electricity-and-its-environmental-impacts
[18] https://www.theregister.com/2022/06/23/tesla_model_s_explodes_after/
[19] https://www.theregister.com/2021/08/03/tesla_megapack_fire_australia/
[20] https://www.theregister.com/2021/12/06/sec_tesla_investigation/
[21] https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/04/20/fact-sheet-biden-harris-administration-creates-cost-saving-clean-energy-opportunities-to-combat-climate-crisis/
[22] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: $2/kwh is a lot of money
But cheaper than having a bunch of gas turbine plants built and on hot standby.
Re: $2/kwh is a lot of money
Yea, I was wondering if that $2.00 per kWh was a typo. My rate is around $0.08 or $0.09 per kWh (depends on season).
Re: $2/kwh is a lot of money
I read it as a one-time rebate based on the maximum rated capacity of the battery system, in which case the amount isn't nearly as outrageous (especially not when compared to the cost of purchasing and installing the system in the first place).
Re: $2/kwh is a lot of money
It's only going to be paid during "load management events", which I think is PG&E for "getting close to a partial blackout or brownout". During these times, $2/kWh is probably at or below the marginal cost of getting more generation online.
Over here in the UK, National Grid recently paid over $11/kWh for a couple of MW of additional power from Belgium to stop demand disconnection in the south east.
Re: $2/kwh is a lot of money
Residential peak rate is about $0.25/kWh and rising. This offer is good for SolarEdge and maybe some other batteries too. As I understand it, it's used for testing and emergencies only.
I didn't sign up because the invitation is indistinguishable from a phishing email. There's literally nothing official about it, no references from official sites, and nobody at PG&E or SolarEdge replied when I asked if it was real.
Re: $2/kwh is a lot of money
They probably need to offer an incentive.
Based on a recent solar panel installation with batteries in the UK, it is obvious the house owner will need to install additional batteries over and above what is necessary for their needs, or risk running out of stored electricity themselves during the "load management events".
Aside: The batteries make a huge difference to solar panels; correctly sized and you draw very little from the grid. Given the change in energy prices, my friend expects to recover the installation costs within 3 years, with batteries having a circa 10 years life and the panels circa 25 years...
A good start... but V2G is better...
V2G (Vehicle 2 Grid, bidirectional charging actually) would be way more useful; cars typically have 5x to 10x the capacity of a Powerwall.
The fly in the ointment is that Tesla's aren't currently wired to feed power out - so no software update is going to "fix" this.
Still, it's a good start and perhaps the non-Tesla-plug versions, CCS, might have the tweaked hardware to allow this?
Re: A good start... but V2G is better...
As I understand it, the CCS standard doesn't currently allow for V2G, and all the trials I have heard of use the Nissan LEAF with its CHAdeMO connector.
Over here in Europe, by the way, Teslas have been using CCS since the advent of the Models 3 & Y, and the older Models S & X can be retro-fitted to support CCS with a small(ish) adapter.
GJC
Re: A good start... but V2G is better...
The real flies in the V2G problem are:
1) When my car has been plugged into its charger for a couple days, I expect it to be fully charged, not half charged (or less), when I jump into it to go somewhere.
2) Who pays for the additional wear and tear on my battery and charging infrastructure? Because it sure as hell won't be me! I'm altruistic enough to give away my extra veggies to anyone who needs them, but I draw the line at loaning out the power tools used to grow them.
Re: A good start... but V2G is better...
1, you charge your car for cheap overnight on cheap overnight baseload electricity. When there is peak demand from 6-8pm you stop charging or sell power back to them. You get reduced price electricity and get paid for any sent back.
2, except for totally discharging, the most damage is to do with charging rate and temperature. Slowly charging and discharging at home with the rate set by the battery computer is the best thing for you battery - compared to driving.
There is definitely a price I would agree to this for - and I only pay $0.10/kwh
Re: A good start... but V2G is better...
For $2/kWh, you can afford some slightly higher bills.
What grinds my gears is how schemes like this offer good money to the people who need it least. If you have a powerwall, you're not exactly on the breadline.
Re: A good start... but V2G is better...
Your battery wears out sooner - what's the cost for replacing the battery? I recall some Telsa plans to build the battery into the frame of the car ~ WTF.
Before anyone gets too excited, what about the effect on battery life
It's well known that the batteries in Electric Vehicles degrade as more charging / discharge cycles are put on them, resulting in sometimes significantly lower capacity after a couple thousand cycles.
The Tesla Power Walls aren't any different and quite possibly may have even less available use cycles.
The cost of replacing vehicle batteries is very substantial (if even possible) so vehicle to grid would not seem to be a good idea for the owners of the vehicles.
Even with your power wall, signing up for such a scheme might mean the lifespan is cut in half or even more, and those are not cheap either.
I could see some governments trying to mandate it, so then the question is, will they be paying the owners for the replacement costs since they could easily have cut the useful working lifespan in half?
Re: Before anyone gets too excited, what about the effect on battery life
The marginal rates on offer (as per the $2/kWh quoted in the article) make the slightly shortened battery life very much financially worthwhile. And it is only a slight shortening - most V2G trials I have seen only use something like 10% of the total battery capacity, rather than a full discharge/charge cycle, so degradation is minimal.
GJC
$2/kwh is a lot of money
My electric rate is about $0.10/kwh, so that's 20x the market rate.