Tesla/Solar power baws - PowerWalls in lieu of standby generator?

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I'm either going to do a gas-powered standby generator for the entire house (haven't decided on utility natural gas or off-grid propane)

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just letting you know, NG is basically the very last utility to go off line in an event. Basically no reason to get a propane tank unless you do not have NG provided at the site.

If i were building and was going the powerwall and panel route i do think i would want a NG powered generator for hurricane preparedness. Looks like powerwalls really only give you 1-2 days of power if the grid goes down.

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Well, let me tell you a story about that - true story, funny story, I happened to be caught in a catastrophic natural disaster (in an official capacity, rhymes with Hatrina). We had a gas fired generator on the roof. City utilities - we had all lights, power, even network connectivity (such as it was) and A/C until the city (rhymes with Sue Orleans) cut off the natural gas supply.

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The City shut off the gas. The gas infrastructure was not damaged. Just an FYI all those new pump stations NOLA are now running on NG except for the big one on the west bank which runs on diesel.

So the city might be less reluctant to shut down the NG if something were to happen again. At least the Federal government (USACE) wont(maybe i should say shouldnt) allow the city to shut the gas off to these stations.

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But then again I wouldn't need the batteries until I lost power.

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I'm thinking the batteries and panels can be scaled up, to a degree, too. Work one's way up to about 5-7 days of power. Any day you can add juice back to the batteries with solar is a win.

Plus, solar and batteries can eventually pay back the cost with electicity savings. That standby generator and gas you burn during a crisis is all lost (it's insanely expensive to run your house off gas compared to utility power).

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That standby generator and gas you burn during a crisis is all lost (it's insanely expensive to run your house off gas compared to utility power).

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yea but paying 500-1000 bucks extra one month where your power was out for a week is well worth it IMO. yet you paying 100k in batteries that only last 4-5 days i think would be more beneficial to get a gas powered for the days where power is off for longer than your 1-2 days the batteries can handle.


I have a standby at the house i just bought and it saved my arse already on move it day. The retards at ENTERGY didnt listen to just transferring the service on closing day and shut my fricking power off that morning. Took until 7pm that night to get a guy out to turn it back on and then it saw it was a new meter. All they had to do was turn it on from their mainframe but i had to run the generator all day and they wasted the guys time to come out.

I am interested in the powerwall though if i ever build though.

Interesting thought. I'd been contemplating putting in a NG generator at some point. Neighborhood lines are buried but we still manage to lose power frequently. Our lot is probably too shaded to put any panels up but the powerwalls would make for an interesting alternative to a generator. Would have to figure out how much an Hvac would suck power to figure how long it would last. One of them would probably work well for our semi-regular 3-6hr outages. Probably not so much for a hurricane, at least long term.

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What's the expected life of the batteries?

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It all depends on the usage.

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Also, correct me if i am wrong, but Louisiana does not have price fluctuations per hour.

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Some utilities have piloted programs, but I don't know if they are consistently available and certainly don't appear to be universally available.

On the other hand, solar seems to be cost effective in the deep south - more solar availability and higher A/C costs to offset.

I happen to be in Texas and could sign up for advantageous plans that help pay for this. But before I moved from Louisiana, Cleco offered me a plan that had peak and off hours rates.

One thing I've been keeping an eye on is the tech they acquired buying Maxwell Batteries. Allegedly Maxwell has a dry cell battery in development that increases energy density, increases durability/lifespan of the battery, and is more environmentally friendly.

I know they are looking into it for their cars but I assume they will put it in the powerwalls as well.

Hopefully by the time I'm in the market, the solar roof and battery tech have matured a little more.

I also wonder if this setup would result in no temporary outage between the power going down and the generator kicking on.

ETA: Tesla has some big "Battery Day" event scheduled for September 22nd where they present info about latest developments.

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Last month, Tesla announced its annual shareholder meeting and Battery Day presentation will take place Sept. 22, with CEO Elon Musk telling analysts the event would include a "big reveal" of developments in battery technology, and supply chains for the company.

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If you are staying in your house for awhile I would recommend solar.

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Next house is last house.