Tesla Power wall in the United States and Portugal – A Comparative Analysis on the Use of Storage with Small Scale Photovoltaic System

Tesla Power wall in the United States and Portugal – A Comparative Analysis on the Use of Storage with Small Scale Photovoltaic Systems

Volume 2, Issue 1
SANDY RODRIGUES , FÁBIO FARIA , ASHKAN IVAKI, NUNO CAFÔFO , XIAOJU CHEN , F. MORGADO-DIAS

Published online: 29 February 2016

Article Views: 32

Abstract

The work presented in this paper analyzes the use of storage solutions by comparing different scenarios in which a Power wall can be used. These scenarios compare different states of the United States of America and Portugal, considering the electricity prices and billing system in each of the regions. The potential savings provided by using the Powerwall result mainly from different hourly tariffs, and in California, it can be of 0.21€/kWh in the summer and 0.12€/kWh in the winter; in Hawaii, it can be of 0.26€/kWh plus approximately 800€/year on fixed bill savings. In Alabama, it can be of 0.10€/kWh, and finally, in Portugal, it can be up to 0.19€/kWh, since all the cities or states practice different electricity prices and grid injection schemes. The scenarios considered for this work involve a 100% self-consumption regime in which grid injection is not considered even though it is allowed in some cities or states. To evaluate the economic impact of the Power wall, different economic methods are used, such as the Profitability Index, the Internal Return Rate, and the Discounted Payback Period of the Investment. Other base economical parameters include interest rate, maintenance, operations rate, inverter replacement rate, Powerwall Battery replacement, VAT tax rate, electricity evolution rate, electricity price, prices for a PV system connected to a Powerwall system, and PV degradation rate are also considered. The overall results show that Portugal is not attractive in any scenario while in several scenarios for the United States, considering the different states, the investment can be doubled or tripled, including using the Powerwall without a PV system.

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To Cite this article

S. Rodrigues, F. Faria, A. Ivaki, N. Cafôfo, X. Chen and F. Morgado-Dias “Tesla powerwall in the United States and Portugal–A comparative analysis on the use of storage with small scale photovoltaic systems,” International Journal of Technology and Engineering Studies, vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 5-12, 2016.