Tesla’s rechargeable battery can power your home — here’s how it works (TSLA)

As mentioned before, the Powerwall can store electricity that is generated by solar panels during the day to use later in the evening. It can also serve as a backup power supply in case there’s an outage.

Above you see Tesla’s solar roof, which can generate electricity for Powerwall 2 to store.

The battery can also draw electricity from the utility grid when rates are low and store it for later use.

Powerwall 2 differs from Tesla’s first generation Powerwall in a few ways. Aesthetically, Powerwall 2 is flatter and more rectangular. It weighs 269 pounds and is 6.1 inches deep.

For comparison, Tesla’s first generation Powerwall weighed 200 pounds and is 7.1 inches deep, making it a bit lighter, but more clunky than Powerwall 2.

Perhaps a more important update is that Powerwall 2 now comes with an inverter included in its price instead requiring a separate purchase. The inverter plays a critical role by converting the electricity generated from the solar panels into an alternating current that can be used for power.

That alternating current is then sent to your home’s electrical panel to power your home.

Tesla’s Powerwall 2 costs $5,500 and can store 14 kWh worth of energy. For reference, the average electricity consumption for a residential customer in 2015 was 901 kWh per month.

Source: US Energy Information Administration

A single battery can provide 5 kWh of continuous power, but will improve to 7 kWh at peak. That means that Powerwall 2 has twice the energy and twice the storage as the previous 6.4 kWh Powerwall.

Above you see Tesla’s first generation Powerwall.

The Powerwall comes with an app so you can monitor your solar energy use and also get alerts if cloudy weather is on the way.

“You can actually, if you want, go completely off grid — you can take your solar panels, charge the battery packs, and that’s all you use,” Musk said during the unveiling of Tesla’s first-generation Powerwall in 2015.

It should be noted that the Powerwall doesn’t allow all users to completely disconnect from the grid.

Rather, it enables users to power their homes independent from the grid, but most users would still need be connected to the grid for periods of high demand.

The Powerwall 2 can only be set-up by a certified installer. The installations, which cost $1,000, will begin January 2017.

You can read about other at-home battery options on the market here.