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I have fond memories of the Tesla Powerwall. A colleague of mine had the honor of having the first ever Powerwall 1 installed in South Africa. Then a couple of years later, I participated in a groundbreaking project. Tesla collaborated with Zimbabwe’s largest mobile network operator to roll out what was at the time the world’s largest deployment of AC-coupled Li-ion batteries in the telecoms sector. 520 Powerwall 2s were installed at 260 telecom sites. Each site benefited from much improved battery autonomy, with two Powerwalls giving 27 kWh of usable energy. This configuration provides at least 8 hours of backup power at each site, as each site has an average load of just over 3 kW.
Powerwall 1 and 2 were commercially available for both homes and businesses to buy in South Africa. Powerwall 3 is Tesla’s newest home battery, following the releases of Powerwall 1 (2015) and Powerwall 2 (2017). With over 850,000 units already installed worldwide, it is rapidly becoming a leading choice for energy storage.
Powerwall 3 also offers reliable backup protection. In the event of a power outage, it automatically takes over as your home’s energy source, which will come in quite handy in load-shedding-prone South Africa.
The latest version of Tesla’s Powerwall, Powerwall 3, you get more power, greater efficiency, and enhanced backup protection. Powerwall 3 has over twice the power of Powerwall 2, and it offers flexibility to power homes of all sizes. In South Africa, the inverter delivers up to 11.04 kW of power, allowing homeowners to save more by powering a wider range of appliances. This is pretty cool! That means where users generally had to rewire come circuits to isolate larger loads, this will be less of an issue with Powerwall 3.
The integrated solar inverter makes Powerwall 3 more energy-efficient, reduces the complexity of installations by eliminating the need for extra wall boxes, and negates the need for a third-party inverter. This also ensure a cleaner look for installations as well as reducing the number of potential points of failure. Tesla says Powerwall 3 supports up to 20 kW DC of solar, providing 11.04 kW AC of continuous power per unit and has the ability to store up to 13.5 kWh of energy. Powerwall 3 can also support the start of heavy loads rated up to 185 A LRA, meaning a single Powerwall 3 can support the power needs of most homes. Powerwall 3 is designed for fast and efficient installations, modular system expansion, and simple connection to any electrical service. Based on LFP chemistry, Powerwall 3 offers advantages such as improved safety, longer lifespan, and better thermal stability.
The 11.04 kW is pretty cool, and it means those homes with an EVSE can comfortably charge their EVs with Powerwall 3 as well. Although the market is still quite small, sales of battery-electric vehicles (BEV) breached the 1,000 units per year mark in South Africa for the first time ever in 2024. Last year, 1,257 BEVs were sold in South Africa, up 35% from 929 units sold in 2023. Tesla EVs are not yet available in South Africa, but I hope Tesla is looking into bringing their EVs to South Africa soon.
Tesla adds that Powerwall 3 is designed with an advanced thermal management system based on insights from Tesla’s Model 3. Powerwall 3 operates efficiently in a wide range of temperatures (-20°C to 50°C) and is built for both indoor and outdoor installations. It can withstand high humidity and even operate in up to 60 cm of floodwater, providing reliable power in challenging conditions.
On the customer experience side of things, it is seamlessly integrated into the Tesla ecosystem, and Powerwall 3 can be controlled through the Tesla app, making it adaptable to various home energy needs. Starting from March 4, 2025, Powerwall 3 will be available to order through Rubicon in South Africa.Homeowners interested in getting a quote can contact a Tesla Powerwall Certified Installer through Rubicon or Tesla’s website
Here is the Powerwall 3 datasheet
The Powerwall 3 starts from 1 Powerwall R 139,300 (excluding VAT) and 1 Energy Gateway from R 18,850 (excluding VAT).
The rooftop solar market, and the solar market overall, has been booming in South Africa over the last couple of years. According to the latest snapshot of the current installed renewable energy generation capacity from ESKOM, there is now over 6GW of utility-scale renewable energy generation capacity, inclusive of about 3.4GW of wind. ESKOM estimates that South African homes and businesses have installed over 6.1GW of rooftop solar! That’s over 12GW of renewables developed over the last decade or so, with most of the rooftop solar developed over the past 4 years. All of this capacity is quite significant in a country with a total installed electricity generation capacity of about 60GW. All of this wonderful sunshine is now contributing to South Africa’s own duck curve.
Smart energy storage devices such as the Tesla Powerwall will really come in handy in this kind of environment. One of the coolest things I like about what Tesla has been doing overseas is integrating Powerwalls in Virtual Power Plant programs. I hope in the near future we will see these VPP platforms in South Africa as well. There are some companies such as NeedEnergy in the Southern African region that are working in the VPP sector, and hopefully we will see these VPP programs incorporating Tesla Powerwalls in South Africa sooner rather than later.
Image courtesy of Tesla
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