Tesla Powerwall

Image via Tesla.

Tesla Motors made big headlines this past week when they announced the Powerwall, a sleek solar/backup battery system and major aesthetic upgrade to banks of golf cart batteries daisy chained together.

Aside from the slim/sleek form factor, Powerwall is powered by the same state of the art lithium ion batteries that run Tesla's electric cars. I've heard rumor that these are just hundreds of 18650 batteries daisy chained together, but either way, li-ion are the best battery tech available today good for many more cycles than older technologies--more dependable and basically maintenance free, too. Laptops, smart phones and similar have been running on this tech for years now.

It's actually a pretty smart business move on Tesla's part, since current battery banks products are so crappy, hobbyist/pieced together. Powerwall lowers the barrier of entry to the average person--it's a self contained, plug and play unit, and pretty slick looking too...versus a big tangled mess of deep cycle batteries daisy chained together.

At $3,500 for 10 kw/h, it's not dirt cheap, but not out of this world expensive, either. And of course, it's only the battery--you'd need an inverter to connect in with the house and power things, and a source of electricity to charge it up. That could be grid power, solar (Tesla's intention), or some other off-grid source of electricity. I'd ballpark $10k-$15k total to be set up with panels and inverter...probably some government incentives to help ease that pain, too.

Realistically, 10kw/h is not enough to power the average American home. Small electronics, TVs and such would be no biggie, but throw in A/C, refrigerators, electric dryers and so on and you'd deplete your Powerwall pretty quickly. You can, however, daisy chain the units together for increased capacity. Tesla showed off a cabinet that would store 10 of the Powerwall battery banks - giving 100 kw/h capacity. These are more targeted towards businesses and utilities, but a well funded prepper with serious power needs could certainly do worse.

That said, with some careful selection of appliances, power conservation and build techniques, a survivalist retreat could of course be made much more efficient than the average American home...you don't need A/C to live, can dry clothes on a line, use propane or wood for cooking and heating needs.

The Powerwall may be a bit of a niche piece of technology, but it's pretty cool, too. Time will tell if the solar-electric vision for the future comes to fruition, with panels, Powerwalls and Tesla cars parked in garages across the company. Right now, the all important economics don't really make sense for the average household--but the market is certainly maturing, the technology becoming more user friendly and prices becoming ever more affordable.

Pretty cool time to live in and interesting technology to watch grow.

The Goal Zero Switch 8 Backup Battery

The Goal Zero Switch 8 is a simple backup battery for your i-devices or smart phones. At it's heart is a 3.6volt 2.2aH Lithium Ion battery (3.6 x 2.2 = 7.92 watt hours, round up to 8 to get the Switch 8), which is enough power to fully charge most phones out on the market, plus potentially some extra.

Tech-focused BOB

I came across this last night and thought this was an interesting enough to pass on. A bit of a different approach for a BOB--focuses heavily on having and sustaining tech capabilities. What do you guys think?


Check it out >

Folding Solar Panel Test

So I did have some time to get the new panel out and give it a very basic run through. My iPod touch was completely drained/dead, so it became the test subject. I set the panel up and plugged it in--tada, the iPod was instantly charging. I left it to charge for about 2 hours, in which time it went from completely dead to about 2/3rds charged. Not bad. I also tried to charge my PowerMate 400 (car jumpstarter/inverter/compressor thing), but it didn't appear that the panel was putting out enough power to charge it. I had to run some errands, so that was the extent of the testing for today.

The panel works as intended and is fairly fool proof. Plug the correct connector into the panel (the panel has some kind trailer-type electric hook-up), plug your car charger into that and then charge as normal. Position is important--the iPod charged faster when the panel was in a better position relative to the sun. It started out in an ideal position and went from 0% to over 50% in the first hour of charging. In the second hour, the sun had moved and the panel was no longer in as good of a position--it charged only about 15 to 20% in that time.

Now some pictures. First up is the panel folded up. It's quite compact--about the size of a folder or large day planner. Weight is around a pound.

Panel unfolded and ready to start charging. The panels are flexible and made to take a beating--apparently they will work even with a bullet hole! This model is rated for 12.5 watts.

Finally, a close up of the connector. I've got a dual USB charger plugged into the 12VDC adapter. I haven't tried two devices at one time--not sure how it would cope! Probably fine.

Overall, I'm pretty happy! It's lightweight, portable, completely silent and completely renewable. Being able to give an iPod/cell phone a good charge in 2 hours is pretty great.

For the weight and capability, a folding solar panel is a no-brainer to add to any set up where you plan to support portable electronics (phones, radios, NVDs, GPS, flashlights, etc.).  I will continue to put it through its paces. Now I need to get an inventory of rechargeable batteries and a 12VDC battery charger.

This particular panel is a "P3" model made by Global Solar; Sunlinq is I believe their equivalent civy brand. They're usually quite pricey, but deals are out there on eBay. If you're okay with paying full-retail, you can get the Sunlinq 12 watt panel on Amazon for about $170. If you want the camo/military model, Ready Made Resources has several of the P3 models in stock (starting at $300!).

Portable Solar Update

I received the portable solar panel mentioned in this post. I haven't had time to do any thorough testing, but initial impressions are good. Tomorrow I should have some time & hopefully good weather and will get it out for testing.

TEOTWAWKI Portable Solar Power Update

I did some further scouring and searching of the interwebs following my post yesterday about having portable solar power and came across a pretty darn good deal on a new folding, 12.5 watt solar panel. Basically this panelbut the "military" model in desert camo. $80, shipped, new. Good deal. And with my curiosity in portable solar piqued--and my budget tight--this fit the bill. It's on the way to me now...I'll post pics and updates when it arrives.

I know, I know, it's only 12.5 watts. But, from what I can tell, it should put out more than enough power to charge cell phones, AA/AAA battery chargers, iPods, GPS, etc. via 12v DC/cigarette lighter power cords. I also have a Black and Decker Electromate 400--basically a big battery pack with a built in charge controller and inverter--that I think this panel should be able to "top off" if I keep usage on the conservative side. Will this set up support anything big for an extended length of time? Certainly not--no fridge or even a normal sized laptop, I imagine. I'm looking into DC-powered battery-operated power tools at the moment--seems like they would need 3-5 hours to charge with this panel, but I'm not sure if it's feasible.

However, I think it will be a good foray into solar power, and I plan to expand the set up in bits and pieces. I'll keep you posted!

Again, if anyone knows of any portable solar power communities or forums on the interwebs, please share!

Portable Solar Power

I don't know much about solar power or wiring up electronics in general, but I know that I want to get a portable solar setup at some point. Something that I could use to charge AA and AAA batteries, batteries for power tools, run a laptop, run a radio, etc. Maybe a mini fridge and a small TV if I'm feeling ambitious. I want the setup to be mobile.

Unfortunately, the solar industry seems to be very much still in a DIY stage, with little information out there--at least that I've been able to find. Sure, there's the little foldable Solio chargers, but those are good for recharging a cell phone or iPod and not much else. And there are couple cheap looking solar battery chargers--which may honestly be a good "first step" for a neophyte like myself. Beyond those, we get into pricey foldable solar panels like the Brunton SOLARIS.

During some web searching today, I came across this company--Powerenz--which has several setups that look to be exactly what I'm looking for. They've even got camo colors and Maxpedition or Pelican cases for some of their models. Very cool--but very expensive, and to me, it looks like they've just purchased components from other companies, put their branding on them, put the components together into "kits" and then charge you a premium.

I may be wrong, and they've certainly got the setups that I'm looking for, but I'm left with the feeling that I could do a little bit of learning, source the components myself, and put together my portable solar set up for less. Crazy? Not much savings there? Let me know.

So, does anyone have any good resources, tutorials, etc. for this kind of portable set up? Foldable panel, fairly lightweight battery, durable--total setup under about 30 pounds. Looks like I will need a 30-60 watt panel--maybe more. From my web searches, it looks like the panels will run $500-$1000--pricey indeed. If possible, I'd like to keep the whole set up under $750--hoping that it's possible.

So--if you've got any knowledge of portable solar--or know where to find it--please share! Any panel recommendations (# watts, model, etc.) or battery type would be greatly appreciated!