Tesla Solar + Powerwall Gives Texan Electricity In Middle Of Blacked Out Neighborhood
Natural disasters. They are seen by many as a reason to buy Tesla solar panels and a Powerwall, or any rooftop solar plus energy storage setup. A home energy storage system isn’t cheap, and in places where an energy storage system doesn’t earn you enough money to pay itself off over time, I’ve often thought of it as a rather expensive insurance policy. However, times are a changing and there are more and more severe natural disasters occurring — whether superfires in California, superstorms in Florida, or superfreezes in Texas.
One tweet caught my attention last week when it had just a few views. A Tesla fan (and Real Madrid fan) in Texas tweeted out a short video/GIF of his home and the surrounding neighborhood. The neighborhood was completely dark, while the lights were on in his home and in front of his garage. He has Tesla solar panels and a Tesla Powerwall. The others, apparently, don’t.
Only house in my whole neighborhood with power. All because of @Tesla solar and Powerwalls. @elonmusk #getTeslasolar pic.twitter.com/A2Q1lRUEg1
— Christian Garza (@Hey_JustTIC) February 16, 2021
In this context, and with the enormous amount of pain and suffering occurring in Texas and surrounding states this past week (not to mention the price gouging), a Tesla Powerwall combined with a rooftop solar power system sure does seem highly sensible. And, after all, what are the chances of extreme events like this over a 20 year period in California, Florida, Texas, and elsewhere? Texas suffered through a similar storm and power outages a decade ago. Florida routinely gets slammed with large hurricanes that sometimes knock out power for days and result in premature deaths from lack of air conditioning.
I guess that’s the point with insurance — it seems expensive until you need it. And, again, a Powerwall is essentially a hardware version of insurance.
No pressure, of course — everyone should evaluate their own needs, income, and interests — but if the disastrous week in Texas has you thinking more about this electricity backup plan (like it has me thinking about it), feel free to use my referral code for a $100 discount on solar panels or a Tesla Solar Roof (can just click those links when ordering or use the code zachary63404 for the discount) and add on a Powerwall or two.
Unfortunately (and fortunately for some), there is no doubt we will see more videos/GIFs like the one above in the coming years as the world continues to heat up, the climate gets more disrupted, and “natural” disasters get more extreme. I hope to never be on the catastrophic end of one of those disasters, but I increasingly think it’s likely I will live through one. Hopefully utilities and grid operators at least get a bit better at preparing for them, and that growing use of distributed energy resources aid in the grid reliability, grid resilience, and human ability to weather such storms.
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