Tesla Powerwall is a solution for storing energy for use at a later time, and the price, along with its relative value, will depend on a variety of factors, including how many Powerwall units a consumer needs. While Tesla is no stranger to offering battery-related solutions, Powerwall takes the company’s energy goals off-road and into the home. Although the price will vary by household, here’s a brief explainer on some of the more general pricing points consumers might want to know before placing an order.

Tesla is probably best-known for its electric vehicles. With a variety of Model-branded EVs to choose from, the company offers an option for most buyers. The Tesla Model S is the best choice if you want Tesla’s fastest and most capable consumer vehicle. The Model X delivers similarly robust power in a larger SUV footprint. The Model 3 and Model Y are cheaper versions of the S and X, respectively, offering the core Tesla experience at a lower price. Outside of its cars, Tesla also offers power and energy solutions for the home — including solar panels, solar roofs, and the Powerwall.

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Tesla’s Powerwall stores energy for emergency situations, such as during a power outage. The Powerwall can detect when an outage occurs and then automatically enable itself to provide power to the home and all the electrical devices inside. It also stores extra solar energy so you can keep reducing your electrical grid usage even when there’s not much sunlight. Think of it as a backup generator/battery for your home’s solar energy. There’s no denying that the Powerwall is an impressive piece of tech, but it also has many people wondering how much a Tesla Powerwall costs for all that functionality.

How Much Tesla Powerwall Costs

Tesla Powerwall

At the time of publication, Tesla doesn’t sell the Powerwall as a standalone product. Instead, you need to purchase it when signing up for Tesla’s Solar Roof or Solar Panels. As part of that process, a Tesla Powerwall can be purchased for $11,000. That’s an increase over the $7,500 price Tesla used to charge in 2020, which was already higher than the $3,000 price a Powerwall originally cost in 2015.

When signing up for Tesla’s Solar Roof or Solar Panels, you can purchase up to 10 Powerwalls for your home. And while buying multiple Powerwalls means spending even more money, the cost per unit is significantly less. Where one Powerwall costs $11,000, buying two Powerwalls is $18,000 — or $9,000 per unit instead of $11,000. Tesla recommends how many Powerwalls you should buy depending on your home and current electricity bill, so it’s important not to over or under-buy when making the initial purchase.

As for the cost of the total Solar Roof or Solar Panels purchase, that varies dramatically from home to home. As a rough example, 12.00 kW of solar panels with one Powerwall costs $35,118 — but that’s before an estimated federal tax credit of over $9,000. Your final price may be substantially lower or higher depending on your home, but regardless of how that changes, a single Powerwall will always cost $11,000 on top of the rest of your solar system.

Is Tesla’s Powerwall Worth It?

Whether Tesla’s Powerwall is worth it will largely come down to the individual home and its requirements. Arguably, in areas where homes are more frequently prone to power outages, having a way to keep the lights on could make Powerwall an excellent option. As is often the case with Tesla, the outlay is where things are expensive, but the company’s products tend to come with the expectation that their true cost will be lower over time.

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A Powerwall is also extremely useful for homes that don’t always have ample sunlight. Since the Powerwall stores solar energy and backs it up for later use, it acts as a reusable battery on cloudy days when your solar panels/roof don’t get adequate energy. On a home with 12.00 kW solar panels, one Powerwall is enough for about 2.5 days of ‘whole home backup.’ If you get two Powerwalls for that same setup, you’re looking at more than seven days of backup energy.

Considering the Powerwall’s utility — and that you can only buy one during the initial Solar Roof or Solar Panels purchase — it’s safe to say that the Powerwall is probably worth it for anyone already outfitting their home with solar energy alternatives. It’s integrated with the rest of Tesla’s solar products, can save the day during a power outage, and keeps your solar energy running during cloudy weather. The $11,000 price tag is certainly hard to swallow, but it should be money well spent in the long run.