Elon Musk’s Tesla, in partnership with South Australian government officials, announced their free provisions of solar panels and batteries to at least 50,000 homes in South Australia on Sunday. They are turning the solar-enabled homes into the “world’s biggest virtual power plant” that could lower energy bills by 30 percent.
In 2017, Elon Musk built the world’s most extensive Li-ion battery and has now been operating and providing energy to more than 30,000 houses in South Australia. This project aims to resolve the power outages in the state.
South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill said they will now deliver the world’s largest virtual power plant after building the world’s biggest battery last year. He further said that they would utilize homes to produce energy for the South Australian grid, with participating households benefiting with significant savings in their energy bills.
The companies will conduct their trial to about 1,100 public housing properties. They will be provided with a 5KW solar panel system and 13.5kWh Tesla Powerwall 2 battery, free of charge, that will be financed through the sale of electricity.
After the trial, they will install another network of solar panels and batteries to 24,000 public housing properties and then will commence their plan for at least 50,000 households over the next four years, according to South Australia’s virtual power plant website .
The South Australian Government has announced a scheme to build the world’s largest virtual power plant with Tesla, which will provide 50,000 homes in the next 4 years with #solar panels and batteries | @Tesla #renewables https://t.co/mPLxEd8Wvl pic.twitter.com/Si3st0APN7
— Corrs Projects (@CorrsProjects) February 4, 2018
Tesla stated that the virtual power plant would be powered by 650-megawatt hours of battery storage and 250 megawatts of solar energy. It further noted that it would deliver a capacity as massive as the gas turbine or coal power plant, according to Phys.org .
Currently, there is ongoing registration for those households who want to participate in the project. The rollout will be financed by the state government with about Aus$2 million or $1.6 million USD grant and an Aus$30 million loan from the taxpayer renewable technology fund.
This project could give new life to Tesla, which aims to introduce solar energy through its solar panels. Elon Musk also established the SolarCity in San Mateo, California, in 2016, and its residential and commercial panel installations have been escalating in the United States ever since. SolarCity is in partnership with Panasonic, in which it manufactures solar module components.
