Solar Power is cutting edge technology with new and evolving ideas. Tesla has made a huge advance in solar technology. Tesla’s innovative electric cars, spacecraft, and solar power systems lead the way in technology, lowering the human carbon footprint, and sustainable living.
What is a Powerwall?
Tesla created the Solar Powerwall, a battery that is installed with solar panels that absorbs the heat from the sun and stores it to be used later. The Tesla Powerwall stores unused energy so the homeowner or business can use the energy when needed.
The Powerwall is a battery that hangs on a wall and is controlled and monitored through an app on your phone. No maintenance is required. If your power goes out, this battery kicks in and runs your electricity with all its stored energy, even for prolonged power outages.
Nevada’s Sustainable Gigafactory 1
The Gigafactory 1 in Sparks, Nevada epitomizes Tesla’s commitment to sustainability. This facility runs entirely off of renewable energy and zero emissions. Gigafactory 1 has a solar rooftop and sustainable design features that eliminate the need for gases and fuels.
Waste heat is saved and used to heat the building and recirculating water supply enabling an 80% reduction in water consumption.
Sustainability and Benefits of Owning a Powerwall
Tesla’s goal is to speed up the world’s switch to sustainable energy. This goal is shown in every Tesla product and service. Here are two sustainable benefits to owning a Tesla Powerwall.
Battery Recycling
Tesla’s lithium-ion batteries are made from materials that are recycled. They work with different partners to recycle spent cells, modules, and battery packs so they can refresh and reprocess those materials to use for new products. These lithium-ion batteries are in all of Tesla’s Powerwalls, electric vehicles, and charging stations. When those batteries reach the end of their life, they are recycled and used again.
Tesla’s battery recycling procedure is as follows:
- When a Tesla product is decommissioned it is sent to a Tesla facility to be disassembled.
- The batteries in the product will be discharged to a low charge, and the modules are removed from the packs. Valuable materials are removed from the modules to be used for scrap metal recycling.
- When they get to the facility, batteries will be rendered inert and will be deconstructed. Constituent metals will be recovered in another procedure.
Materials that are recovered from Tesla modules are cobalt, copper, nickel, steel, aluminum, and lithium. These materials are refined and repurposed to be used in other products.
Tesla’s products all use recycled materials so there is zero waste.
Zero Waste
Recycling of materials in the manufacturing of Tesla’s Powerwalls, cars and energy products is crucial. Tesla’s facilities work hard to manage their material waste streams in the most environmentally safe way. Over 90% of the materials at the factory come straight from the landfill. They recycle reusable materials and compost organic materials.
Tesla has a large recycling team that is dedicated to sorting materials and baling commodities for resale. This team also works on densifying styrofoam, which many people believe to be unrecyclable.
Tesla’s zero waste efforts redirect materials that can be recycled and reused from landfills and also plays a role in Tesla’s bottom line in the form of millions of dollars in recycling revenue.
On top of its recycling efforts, Tesla has a mature product reuse program. This is the onsite inventorying of usable products for future use. Tesla has saved millions of dollars by recycling and reusing products from computer monitors, metal racking, electrical testing equipment, and sometimes even robots. Tesla tries to restore all materials before deeming them unusable.
You can feel proud when using a Tesla Powerwall because they are made using recyclable materials and use a zero-waste policy.
How Private Residences Use Powerwalls
Powerwalls are installed with a home solar panel system. The size of the Powerwall is engineered for daily use in a home. It stores energy from the sun for immediate and helps reduce reliance on grid electricity. The Powerwall relies on the sun and even in long power outages, your home will still be able to have power. The switch from grid to battery power is seamless and keeps your home powered 24/7. On your Tesla app, you can control and monitor your Powerwall from anywhere at any time.
Off-grid with Powerwalls
Can you go completely off-grid with a Tesla Powerwall? Not quite, but it’s a good starting point. You will find that your power bills are lower and you will be able to store electricity for your own use later in the day when the sun goes down. This, however, does not mean you are completely off the grid.
One Powerwall can give your home extra hours of power once the sun goes down. However; the more Powerwalls you use (you can install up to ten for each system) will provide more days of electricity. This is useful for power outages that could last for weeks.
Be Sustainable with the Tesla Powerwall!
If you are ready to reduce waste and want to add a Powerwall to your existing solar panel system or get a whole system, you can find everything you need at Sol-Up. Along with their top-of-the-line solar power systems, Sol-Up is a certified installer of the Tesla Powerwall. If you have any questions, you can give us a call, we’d be happy to help!
