Update Sep 6 2023: My mistake – Tesla updated the price on the website a couple of months ago – not this week – to $12,100 and I missed it at the time. I’ve updated the post and the price guidance for installed systems to reflect this.
Powerwall Hardware Price
The hardware-only price for the Powerwall battery and Gateway is now shown as $12,100 on the Australian Tesla site.
If installed before 31 December 2023, you can also save another $750 as a rebate from Tesla.
Here’s an updated history of the Powerwall + Gateway price in Australia (including $750 Tesla rebate):
- Feb 2017: $9,000
- Feb 2018: $9,600
- Oct 2018: $12,350
- Jul 2019: $11,700
- Oct 2020: $12,500
- Feb 2021: $13,300
- May 2021: $12,750
- Mar 2022: $13,700
- May 2022: $14,650
- Oct 2022: $16,230
- Feb 2023: $14,599
- Apr 2023: $12,900
- ~June 2023: $12,100
- Aug 2023: $11,350 (after Tesla rebate)
Approximate Installed Prices
If you are installing your first Powerwall and it’s a straightforward installation (battery next to the switchboard, 2 circuits on backup, no switchboard upgrades, no bollards, single-phase), then you can expect a fully installed Powerwall to start at $15,500-$16,000 before the rebate.
If you are installing a second Powerwall and it can mount onto the existing one, expect a second battery to cost $12,500-$13,000 before the rebate.
My mate Sean recently installed his second Powerwall despite limited winter solar energy generation. This was so he could take advantage of SA’s solar sponge super off-peak daytime tariff. He is stoked – despite getting it done just before the rebate was announced.
I have a 5 year old Powerwall, and would love to add a second. Unfortunately my Powerwall is within 600mm of my living room window, and since the initial installation, Australian Standard 5139 has been adopted that prohibits batteries within 600mm of windows of inhabited rooms1. So, no second Powerwall for me.
Tesla Nearly Kicked Me Off Their VPP
In other Tesla news, the company recently threatened to kick me off their SA Virtual Power Plant (VPP), because Tesla’s automated system noticed I’ve recently added 14 kW of solar power capacity to my vintage 6kW system2.
The Tesla VPP rules mandate a maximum of 15 kW of solar for every Powerwall installed. I offered to export limit to 15 kW, because I like the bundled Tesla Energy Plan from Energy Locals and would like to stay on it. They came back to me and insisted on a 15 kW generation limit – which was interesting.
Footnotes
- Australian Standard AS5139 is quite strict about where solar batteries can and can’t go. ↩
- 20 kW of microinverters across 3 phases ↩
About Finn Peacock
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Correct me if I’m wrong but the big downside of Tesla’s Powerwall is it doesn’t work for 3 phase – increasingly common in Australia, and it doesn’t support offgrid – also increasingly common.
Assuming you do a full 13.5 kWh cycle each day for 10 years, no degradation over that period etc, you’re looking at about 29c per kWh. If you only use two-thirds of original maximum capacity each day over the 10 years – which is below the expected degradation level, you’re looking at closer to 43c per kWh. With the exception of those living in SA, is it actually worth it?
There is one obvious exception to the pure cost analysis – reliability. Given AEMO is warning that SA and Victoria will have blackouts this summer, with NSW facing them by 2025, backup capability or even offgrid might be something home owners in those states will need to consider, with QLD having to follow suit by 2030. With electricity demand rising, coal, gas and diesel generation being closed down, insufficient replacement generation capacity being built, and Australia facing “hot dry conditions, with elevated bushfire risks, and El Niño weather patterns” the national energy market itself is at risk. But while Tesla’s Powerwall does backup, it doesn’t do offgrid, right?
https://www.news.com.au/technology/environment/climate-change/australia-facing-decade-of-summer-blackouts-higher-energy-prices-without-urgent-action/news-story/b6217d80f30613ee1783d8f010f4bd09
Powerwall works great on 3 phase. I have a 3 phase home and Powerwall with my essential circuits and a third of the solar on the same phase as the Powerwall. It has not missed a beat in 5+ years.
Full 3-phase backup is very niche and best served with 3 x Victron or Selectronic battery inverters IMO.
Interesting. Clearly I’ve been mislead by your Tesla Review section: https://www.solarquotes.com.au/battery-storage/reviews/tesla-review.html
It states “cannot support a 3-phase load” but perhaps that’s partly me not thinking in terms of ‘essential circuits’. I’ve no clue how my wires are divided, nor any clue how to work out which rooms\appliances\plugs are on what.
The Powerwall cannot support (backup) a 3-phase load. But it can happily sit on one phase of a three-phase home and backup loads on that phase.
Looks like another good reason to keep the house on single phase!
Which is easy for me…. as a low energy consumer…. with no 3 phase appliances.
“The Tesla VPP rules mandate a maximum of 15 kW of solar for every Powerwall installed. I offered to export limit to 15 kW, because I like the bundled Tesla Energy Plan from Energy Locals and would like to stay on it. They came back to me and insisted on a 15 kW generation limit – which was interesting.”
It is interesting the writer doesn’t know why this limit is in play by Tesla. They are part of any PW install, not just ones that are part of the VPP. Nothing to do with the export limit, but everything to do with the powerwall being able to control/absorb the solar load during a grid outage.
If you have 20kw of solar and the sun comes out on cloudy day, the PW(s) have to soak up the power and if it can’t it has to start tweaking the Hz to tell the inverters to trottle output (as it does when the battery is full).
The problem on a large system in a cloudy day, is this could go from 3000w output to 18000w in a very short time, which is too much power for the 2 PW units to soak up during a grid outage.
The 20 kW solar is microinverters across 3-phases – so that reasoning does not apply.
Yes if 20kw is over 3 phases then it would comply with the PW2 island limits etc.
But it appears you answered your question in the VPP article you linked to. As part of the eligibility eequirements for Tesla VPP program being
“Residents of South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales, South East Queensland (Energex Network) and the Australian Capital Territory. PV system less than 15kW and no zero export restrictions in place.”
Tesla has a 15kw PV limit, so installing 20kw is in breach of this, hence why they are requesting you limit to 15kw generation to stay within this.
Yes – I know the eligibility requirements. What I find interesting is why they have a 15 kW generation limit and are not happy with a 15 kW export limit. I didn’t think they’d care what happens behind the meter.
The eligibility requirements are the eligibility requirements. Surprising a lot of power companies do care about what happens behind the meter by imposing limits on what you can have. ie you can’t have 20kw of solar on a single phase, even if you are exported limited to 5kw or under. Why? Who knows other than their crazy rules says you can’t.
But I’m guessing by having a generation limit for the VPP it stops people having a massive solar system charging the battery and then dumping it out over and over during a single day. I guess only Tesla will really know.
Hi,
Well, most of that conversation went straight over my head. 🙂
I have a 15.77kW solar system installed late last year. I’m on 3 phases, with a Goodwe inverter. What is the bottom line for me, can I think about adding battery storage, and what would be your recommendations?
Cheers,
John
I have similar setup (20kW solar, 3 phase, goodwe inverter), and a single powerwall works very well for me. But my entire house is on only one of the phases (due to 3 phase install being to my workshop, and the house being a sub-board off a single circuit on the main board). My powerwall backs up the house (only), and seems to be getting charged from the full power of the solar (well, up to 5kW anyway).
Hi,
Yes, I have a constant debate with myself about needs and wants. Do I really need a battery setup, because since my solar has been installed, I have not had a single bill? Currently, on average I’m producing about 90 + kWh per day, which I’m really happy with.
Cheers,
John
Its great to see the prices of the Powerwall dropping and with the rebate making it a worthwhile option to invest in. The challenge is to find an installer who will charge a fair price including installation.
In my case I am looking at stacking a second Powerwall to an existing one on 3-phase power (in Melbourne). On Tesla’s site I see the cost of the Powerwall without the gateway being only $10,400 and if I consider installation costs I was looking at around $12k (as mentioned in the article) given that the installation should be relatively simple as it is adding a second Powerwall to an existing setup without needing an additional gateway.
However, the minimum rate that I have been quoted so far is $13k which seems pretty high with every installer claiming that they are the best and offer the cheapest price! Can only hope that Tesla offered an option to purchase with a fixed installation price on their website rather than routing an enquiry to another “certified installer”.
Was this price actually confirmed with Tesla prior to posting?
Beacuse there’s certainly mixed messaging out there
“is now shown as $12,100 on the Australian Tesla site“
Thanks, but I’m pretty sure that’s been the case for the last couple on months.
You may wish to dig a little deeper….. 😉
done – and post updated – my mistake – lesson learned
Interesting. I looked at Tesla and the price quoted is in fact
$10,400 for battery only. I do believe Sash wanted this as a second battery.
https://www.tesla.com/en_AU/powerwall/get
Hi Finn, thanks for all your great information and advice. We have a Powerwall 2 going in today and researching an optimal plan…
Can you confirm that you’ve now switched from AGL VPP to the Tesla VPP (Energy Locals)?. I refer to the last paragraph of the above article “I like the bundled Tesla Energy Plan from Energy Locals and would like to stay on it.” andthis post (?April 2023) where you state you are with the AGL VPP https://www.solarquotes.com.au/battery-storage/virtual-power-plants/#:~:text=Most%20VPPs%20(but%20not%20all,having%20a%20battery%20%3D%20blackout%20protection.
An interesting loop hole with this plan (in their favour) is that although they guarantee no more than 625kW/h discharge of your battery per year, there is NO cap on the amount of times they can charge your battery. I have asked for clarification on this from Tesla but no response yet apart from a cut and paste of the T&Cs that only mention the 625kW/hr discharge cap…. What has been yours or anyone else’s real world experience with this aspect? How often are they charging your battery from the grid (when not otherwise necessary)?
Also, from 5th Oct (in SA at least), Energy Locals have just upped their Tesla Energy Plan daily access charge and ToU tariffs (by on average 30%) and decreased the the feed in tariff (by 17%) without any change in the Grid Support credit payments….
(Further to my last post)
We’re planning on just staying with AGL (current provider) and seeing how things go WITHOUT the VPP for the 1st 30 days of the new battery (deadline to get the new battery credit on the Tesla Energy Plan) and then will probably go ahead and sign up with Energy Locals and just suck and see for a year or so with the logic that with $1220 in credits in our pocket we’ll come out ahead. (I note that we only have a 5kW solar rig so we will still be getting some bills that can be soaked up by these credits)
Beyond this the benefits of the Tesla Energy Plan become less clear but unless they start making it more worthwhile in terms of Grid Support Credit increases to offset their plan daily charge / tariff increases and feed in decreases they may struggle to keep us.
I do note that the Shoulder (Solar Sponge) ToU tariff on the Tesla Energy Plan ($0.17) is significantly cheaper (~50% cheaper) than any other plan out there I can find – which I’m assuming will make a big difference for us in winter when our little 5kW solar array will no longer be able to keep us charged and we’ll be charging from the grid most days in preparation for the peak evening period.
Is all this making sense? Are we missing anything? Thank you!
Yes – I’m still on the Tesla Energy Plan – but your comment made me check my email and yes – they are putting up the rates:
Tesla often charge the battery overnight to get through the morning peak (we get up very early in my house) but almost never charge from the peak rate.
I may change to IO Energy now those rates have changed though:
Wow that is an innovative plan! 6 hours of 8c juice a day! As long as your battery covers 5-9pm each day then its a win, win, win.
Of course you’ll no longer be on a VPP and getting any grid support credits but I guess at this point (without the new $1000 battery credits in your pocket) there is not much value in this as it is nullified by the additional costs incurred by the VPP’s charging of your battery from the grid where you would otherwise not need to.
Seems the case for a VPP is still pretty thin (beyond any initial sign up benefits) IMO, any feel good community support factor is more than offset by the understanding that the power retailers are making a handsome additional profit using your battery for arbitrage…