Even though Tesla made several significant improvements to the Powerwall with its latest generation, and it virtually has no competition as we discussed, it will still only make sense economically in markets with high electricity rates or significant incentives to deploy energy storage – unless someone simply wants to use it for backup energy storage.
Sweden confirmed that it will be one of those markets as the government announced a new significant incentive this week for homeowners to install battery packs.
Starting this month, the government will cover 60% of the cost of a home battery pack up to 50,000 Swedish Krona (~$5,400).
It’s clear that the incentive program was designed for the more expensive home battery pack options before the introduction of the Tesla Powerwall 2.
In Sweden, Tesla sells the Powerwall 2 for 61,000 Swedish Krona (~$6,600 USD), but with installation and additional hardware (12,300 SEK), Tesla estimates it will add up to a total 0f 73,300 Swedish Krona ($7,900 USD), which adds up to taking advantage of almost the entire incentive and getting an installed energy capacity of 14 kWh for less than $3,000.
Tesla is currently taking reservations for the Powerwall 2 in Sweden and it aims for installations to begin in “the summer of 2017”.
Andreas Gustafsson, program manager within the Research and Innovation Department of the Swedish Energy Agency, which oversees the new incentive program, told Renewable Energy World:
“The scheme represents a complementary support system to the existing scheme supporting solar PV generation in Sweden. It’s one step, but an important step towards establishing a smart, distributed grid based around clean, renewable energy. It’s expected that in supporting the installation of batteries, we’ll enable two outcomes — one to enable better use of solar PV generation systems. The second is to help establish smarter, more flexible grids that can contribute to stabilize the grid against fluctuations in frequency and voltage.”
The initiative is motivated by Sweden’s goal to become free from fossil fuels for electricity generation by 2040. The program will run until the end of 2019.
Tesla has a fleet of about 2,000 vehicles in the country and the automaker partnered with a local electric utility to supply its Swedish Supercharger network with 100% renewable energy and even to offer Tesla owners completely free charging at home on the utility’s network.
If you want to install a solar array at your home, business (and maybe combine it with a Tesla Powerwall to get your own little microgrid), you can see if it makes sense for your property and if you can be saving money on your energy bill with a free solar quote here
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