Tesla battery cuts family’s power bill.

A Sydney family claims its power bill has plummeted in the 12 months since installing a Tesla Powerwall battery.

The Pfitzner family, the first to install a Powerwall in Australia, has finally been able to calculate its first 12 months of Tesla Powerwall battery use.

Nick Pfitzner, a programmer in Kellyville Ridge, in Sydney’s northwest, says the family’s power bill dropped 92 per cent over a year since installing a Powerwall in January last year. Instead of paying $2289.17 in 12 months, Mr Pfitzner says he paid $178.71 in the 12 months. He says his figures include any connection and other administration charges.

However Mr Pfitzner has around 5 years to go before the savings break even with the equipment outlay.

The savings don’t take into account the capital cost of the solar energy panels, inverter, battery and installation costs. Natural Solar, which installed the system, says the units can take around 6 years before the savings exceed the original capital outlay costs.

The Pfitzners are self-admitted power guzzlers. Their family home is based in Sydney’s Hills District. There’s 2 adults, 2 children, four bedrooms, an internal laundry, a pool and 2 outdoor entertaining areas.

Last year Tesla sold a 7 kWh unit with a daily cycle designed for home use, and a 10 kWh battery that stores power for a week, for backup use. Units cost $15,000 upwards.

And last year Natural Solar managing director Chris Williams said his company was offering a full Tesla solution of 20 x 250 watt solar panels, an inverter and Powerwall installed for about $15,000. Adding a Powerwall to an existing solar installation would cost about $9500.

Installations of the Tesla Powerwall 2 with a 14 kWh battery will soon get under way.

Mr Williams today said it was “unheard of” for families to pay 50 cents per day for power from the grid.

“In a market where power bills are continually soaring and people are celebrating a slight reduction in their quarterly running costs, it’s almost unheard of for a family to be able to power their house for as little as 50 cents per day, “Mr Williams said.

“Based on the first twelve months of power bills the return on investment and payback period is at six years,” he said.

The family is not the first to experience a big drop in grid power charges since converting to solar.

The Australian reported this month that Mark Lollback, the Australian chief executive of GroupM, the world’s biggest media buyer, had seen his $500-a-month electricity bill slashed to virtually nothing after spending $25,000 in solar panels and batteries. He expects to pay the system off in little more than five years.

Natural Solar says it has received 100,000 inquiries about Tesla powerwall since December 2015 but has yet to offer figures about the number of Tesla battery units sold.

The International Renewable Energy Agency says battery storage for electricity could increase from less than 1GW today to 250GW by 2030.