Tesla Powerwall 2 and 3 - Updated April 2024
The new and upcoming Tesla Powerwall 3
Released already in the USA, and coming to Australia, the new Tesla Powerwall 3 !!
But almost certainly not coming to Western Australia, ever. !!
No matter how rich and powerful Elon Musk is, he will struggle to defeat the bureaucracy of Western Power.
Western Power Rule No. 1
No single phase inverters allowed greater than 5kW. Tesla Powerwall 3 is 11.5kW single phase.
Western Power Rule No. 2
No inverter capacity software modifications allowed.
The Tesla can't be software crippled down to a 5kW inverter for WA.
Western Power say that if it can be crippled in software, it can be uncrippled, and therefore can't be trusted.
They aren't picking on Tesla here. They say the same to every manufacturer.
Over on the East Coast where they have a 10kW single phase inverter limit, I foresee less problems.
Tesla will either make a 10kW version or software cripple (which is allowed over there) it to 10kW.
Do I think Tesla will make a 5kW version just for WA?
Do I think they will make a three phase 11.5kW version just for WA three phase customers?
No, and no.
Happy to be proven wrong of course by Tesla, but there will be no special favours from Western Power.
Tesla Powerwall 2
This is a 13.5kWh battery with a battery charger and 5kW single phase inverter inside.
It's not a solar or hybrid inverter. It can't connect to solar panels at all.
If you have solar already then this Tesla battery can charge itself from any surplus solar power you have.
It goes like this...
Solar panels and solar inverter make power, which goes to feed the house loads first.
Any surplus, that would normally go to the electricity meter gets intercepted by the Powerwall.
It detects this surplus with a CT clamp.
It also uses the CT clamp to determine whether the house needs power from the battery later in the day.
There's a second box next to the Powerwall 2 battery called the Gateway.
This is where all the cabling goes to and where the backup runs from.
Yes you can add a Powerwall 2 to ANY house.
If you have solar already you can leave that exactly as it is and install a Powerwall 2.
It doesn't care about what solar inverter you have.
It charges itself from surplus power that's already been converted to AC by the solar inverter.
Actually, it DOES care a little about what solar inverter you have.
During a blackout the Powerwall 2 can send battery power to your house on designated circuits.
It can even do a magic trick of fooling your solar inverter into thinking there's no blackout going on.
It does this 'grid-forming' trick so that it can top up the battery during the blackout.
However it can only perform this magic with a 5kW single phase solar inverter.
If your solar inverter is 3 phase you are out of luck.
Once the battery is empty, that's it. Lights out.
If you are on the east Coast of Australia where 10kW single phase inverters are allowed...
You are probably going to be out of luck too on this score.
If it sees more than 5kW coming at it from the inverter it's going to throw a hissy fit.
Are Tesla Powerwall 2 or 3 batteries the absolute best?
Absolutely and categorically, no, they are not.
They currently don't use the safest cell Chemistry (Lithium Iron Phosphate.
They are 'one size fits all' monoliths.
Say you want 10kWh of storage. Well, you have to under-utilise your 13.5kWh Tesla.
Say you want 15kWh of storage. Well, you have to buy 2 x Tesla's giving you 27kWh at huge cost to you.
Are Tesla Powerwall 2 great value for money.
The Powerwall 2, with Gateway and CTs, installed by someone who is Tesla Certified is about $15,000.
Sometimes it is $16,000, sometimes it's $14,000.
Price bounces around. When stocks are good it's cheaper, when low, it's more expensive.
$15,000 / 13.5kWh of storage = $1,110 per kWh inc install and backup.
That's a very fair price, but nothing out of the ordinary.
Will I have enough solar power to charge a Tesla Powerwall 2
If you have a single phase 5kW solar inverter and 6.6kW of panels then possibly not.
From early May through to the end of August your daily solar production will be about 15-20kWh.
House loads get supplied first which will probably use up 10kWh.
That leaves 5kWh to 10kWh of solar to charge up a 13.5kWh battery.
In fact, with all the AC to DC conversions required you probably have 3kW to 8kWh of available power.
Yet again, this is another example of the penalty we pay for living under Western Power's unchallengeable thumb.
Our 5kW single phase inverter limit is so ridiculous.
or email
This review was written by Andrew MacKeith, Solar4Ever service manager since 2011.
Solar4Ever is located in Morley (Perth), WA 6062
