Tesla batteries are a home battery that charges using electricity generated from solar panels, and powers your home in the evening.
It also fortifies your home against power outages by providing a backup electricity supply. So basically with a battery you can live independent from the grid and you will still have power during emergencies.
If you want panels get them through Solar Planet! They have the best deals and you can get a Tesla battery included in your system and still receive a 30% tax credit.
The Tesla battery was one reason I went with Solar City, thinking I would have faster access to it. This is what we learned last Fall from our sales rep, who was excellent: the battery is now in production and should be available mid-2016, but there is already a waiting list for it, so the soonest I could get one would be sometime in 2017.
Also, you need a specific inverter for it, so you have to request the inverter that will transfer power to BOTH the grid and the battery, otherwise it will not work. Use of the battery backup – at least in the City of Los Angeles – is not allowed unless an emergency or disaster occurs. At that point DWP (Department of Water and Power) would allow the energy stored in the battery to be used by the property owner. There is probably a protocol, or established procedures that will need to be followed.
More information to come as it becomes available about Tesla batteries. But if you hire a solar panel installer to come to your home for a quote, you might as well ask them about the Tesla battery and see what they say.
