If you’re looking to reduce your carbon footprint and save money on your electricity bills, installing solar panels on your roof is a fantastic first step. But to really maximise your energy independence and savings, you might consider adding a Tesla Powerwall to your solar energy system.
By storing excess energy generated during the day for use at night or during power outages, a Tesla Powerwall will help you optimise your solar self-consumption, reduce your reliance on the conventional electricity grid, and ultimately lower (or eliminate!) your electricity bills.
Let’s explore some tips for optimising your solar energy with a Tesla Powerwall, so you can get the most benefit from your solar investment. Whether you’re interested in maximising solar savings or increasing your energy independence, a Tesla Powerwall is one of the best batteries on the market to help you achieve your goals.
Read more: Pros and Cons of Solar Energy in 2023
What is Tesla Powerwall and How Can it Benefit You?
Tesla Powerwall is a rechargeable lithium-ion battery that stores excess solar energy generated during the day for use at night or during power outages. When the grid goes down, the Powerwall automatically becomes your home or business’s energy source, keeping your lights on, appliances running, and phones charged without the need for generators, fuel, or noisy upkeep.
By combining solar panels with a Tesla Powerwall, you can recharge the battery with sunlight and keep your home powered for days, without any interruptions to your daily routine. The length of time your Powerwall can keep your property powered depends on your system size and storage capacity (Powerwall is stackable), but on average it can continue to provide power to your home for up to a few days. This is assuming that there is no sun to recharge your batteries and you keep your electrical usage to a minimum.
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With Tesla Powerwall, you can enjoy peace of mind knowing that your home will always have a reliable source of power. The three major benefits of pairing your Powerwall with solar to maximise the solar energy you produce are:
- Optimise your solar self-consumption
- Reduce or eliminate your electricity bills
- Increase your energy independence
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Springers Solar customer case study - 16kW Three-Phase SolarEdge-Optimised and Tesla Powerwall Connected Solar Energy System
The Tesla Powerwall is one of the most trusted and reliable solar batteries currently on the market. With an energy capacity of 13.5kWh, the ability to stack up to 10 Powerwalls, and a 10-year warranty, we highly recommend the Tesla Powerwall for our customers seeking a battery solution for their property.
Read more: How To Use Your Solar Battery During a Blackout
Why It's Important To Optimise Your Solar Self-Consumption
Installing solar on your property is an investment - one that you should take seriously. A high-quality, tailored solar system will continue to produce solar energy for your property for decades, so you should carefully consider the type of system you want, the size of the system, and who is installing it.
A good solar installer (like us!) will analyse your energy usage patterns and consumption rates to determine what sized solar system would suit your needs best. They will also ask what your future energy needs will look like:
- Are you planning on installing additional electrical fixtures or appliances to your property, like a pool or air conditioning?
- Are you planning on making the switch to electric vehicles, and if so, will you require an EV charger?
- Are you interested in eventually installing solar batteries and having additional energy security in the future?
Read more: Can I Add a Solar Battery to my Existing Solar Installation?
Read more: QLD Electric Vehicle Subsidy
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These types of questions help determine what solar system size you require. Future-proofing your home is critical when it comes to solar, as not only is it difficult to upsize your solar system later, but it’s also expensive.
So what does this have to do with solar self-consumption? In short, the size of a solar energy system has a significant impact on solar self-consumption. Larger systems produce more electricity, meaning more energy is available for self-consumption.
For example, let’s say your solar generates 20kWh of electricity every day, and your home consumes 10kWh. The remaining 10kWh of excess solar energy gets exported to the grid for a feed-in tariff, and your self-consumption rate is 50%.
Unfortunately, feed-in tariff rates are becoming more and more measly. Where homeowners used to size up their solar system in order to export a large amount of solar to the grid for credits on their electricity bills, this is now an extremely inefficient way to decrease the payback period of your investment in solar.
Read more: Feed-In Tariffs VS. Solar System Sizing
The best way to improve your solar self-consumption is to simply use as much of the solar you produce as possible. This is the key to maximising your solar savings.
"Solar self-consumption is the key to maximising your solar savings.
Installing a solar battery, like Tesla Powerwall, is the best way to improve your self-consumption."
Installing a solar battery, such as Tesla Powerwall, is the golden ticket to achieving this, as any excess solar energy you produce during the day is stored in your battery and can be used at night or during an outage. For the previous example, the additional 10kWh can be sent straight to the battery and used up overnight, resulting in a self-consumption rate of 100%.
Improving your solar self-consumption with a battery has a direct impact on the amount of money you save on your electricity bill because you are more self-sufficient and don’t need to rely primarily on the grid to power your home at night or during blackouts.
Why It's Important To Monitor The Performance Of Your Solar Panels And Tesla Powerwall
Monitoring the performance of your solar system and Tesla Powerwall is essential for ensuring that your system is functioning optimally, maximising energy efficiency and savings, and identifying potential issues early.
You can easily track the performance of your Tesla Powerwall with the Tesla App from your mobile. The Tesla App monitors your home’s energy production and consumption, giving you valuable real-time insights into your energy usage.
You can customise your settings to optimise your system for solar savings, energy independence, or outage protection, depending on your personal goals. The app also offers instant alerts and remote access, allowing you to control your system from anywhere at any time.
With the ability to track your energy usage and adjust your settings on the go, you can have greater control over your energy costs and enjoy the peace of mind that comes with having a reliable and efficient energy system.
A good solar installer (like us!) will set you up with your solar panel’s monitoring platform, allowing you to also track the performance of your array on any given day.
A good solar installer (like us!) will set you up with your solar panel’s monitoring platform, allowing you to also track the performance of your array on any given day.
The key things to pay attention to in your monitoring platforms are:
- Solar energy production
- How much solar is being charged into the battery
- How much solar is being exported to the grid
- State-of-charge
- Energy self-consumption
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Springers Solar customer case study: screenshot of Tesla Powerwall state-of-charge and usage (blue curve) over a month period. Also displays the production curve of solar (yellow curve) and any draw from the grid (red curve).
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Springers Solar customer case study: screenshot of SolarEdge solar panel monitoring. Displays daily solar panel production, including total kWh produced over a week period.
Monitoring both your solar and your battery performance allows you to achieve the following things:
- OPTIMISE ENERGY PRODUCTION: by keeping track of how much energy your system is producing and consuming, you can adjust your usage patterns to maximise your solar self-consumption and minimise your reliance on the grid.
- SAVE MONEY ON ELECTRICITY BILLS: by identifying areas where you can improve your energy efficiency and self-consumption, you can reduce your reliance on the grid and save money on your energy bill.
- IDENTIFY ISSUES AND MAINTAIN SYSTEM HEALTH: by quickly identifying and rectifying issues or malfunctions that may be affecting your system’s efficiency or effectiveness, you can prolong the life of your system. We offer after-sales servicing so you don’t need to worry about this - our dedicated team of support staff monitors your system performance so that you can rest assured everything is working exactly as it should.
Tesla Powerwall Will Only Save You Money And Perform As Promised When Installed By a Reputable, Certified, And Long-Standing Installer
Always choose a solar installer who has been trading for at least 10-15 years. A long-standing installer will be able to honour their warranties and service guarantees. A ‘solar orphan’ is someone whose installer has fallen out of business and thus has no points of contact for warranty claims or system support (unfortunately, this happens a lot more than you may think!).
Your solar installer should also complete a site inspection and analysis of your personal energy needs to design a system that is most suited to your energy goals. On-site inspections are preferable, as this will help to avoid any hidden fees or additional costs that may be incurred come the day of installation (as pricing is always subject to inspection).
In summary, the most important things to look for when selecting an installer are evidence of customer testimonials focused on reliability and honesty, a high standard of workmanship, warranty periods, and quality components.
Springers Solar | Queensland's Most Experienced Solar Installer
Springers Solar provides quality components with proven performance, backed by industry-leading warranties, and dedicated after-sales support. Thousands of satisfied customers over more than 21 years of operation make Springers Solar one of the most established and experienced solar companies in Australia.
Springers Solar has received multiple awards for design and installation and is a certified/preferred installer for a large range of solar panel, inverter, and solar battery manufacturers, including Tesla, REC, and SolarEdge.
Our dedicated in-house team of electrical engineers, project managers, solar PV designers, solar installers and electricians work closely with you before, during, and long after your project is completed. Springers Solar offers an industry-leading 10-year workmanship warranty which is a testament to our qualified staff and offers you outstanding value and peace of mind.
Maximising Solar Energy with Tesla Powerwall