We all know that Tesla’s all-electric car catalog is really, really cool. Who wouldn’t want to have a Tesla Model S, X, 3, and/or Roadster in her garage? But Tesla’s energy products also have great potential to hasten the world’s inevitable shift towards sustainable energy.
Yesterday’s Tesla shareholder letter and accompanying conference call outlined, in part, the current status of Tesla energy products and the future of this component of the company. As utilities, energy companies, commercial entities, and homeowners quickly realize the benefits of battery storage, the picture will look increasingly brighter for Tesla Energy — even if the numbers right now are a bit lackluster.
With the acquisition of SolarCity and Gigafactory 2, Tesla offers a full suite of energy products that incorporates solar, storage, and grid services. As the world’s only fully integrated sustainable energy company, it is encouraging businesses and people to think electric car + solar panels + battery storage as an integrated whole.
What yesterday’s investor and media announcements indicated, however, is that Tesla Energy is in transition. There is tremendous demand, but relatively low Tesla solar volumes are expected in 2018. In total, cash flow from solar is anticipated to remain neutral and relatively stable for the remainder of 2018, the company said.
In May 2018, Tesla reached the goal of deploying 1 GWh of energy storage worldwide after fewer than 5 years. Near-term goals are to add another 1 GWh of energy storage within 9 to 12 months.
Demand for Tesla’s energy storage products can’t keep up with production even as the company continually adds capacity. That means growing energy business revenue in the remainder of 2018, but more around the corner.
In response to a question from CleanTechnica Director Zachary Shahan, Tesla CEO Elon Musk stated, “we’re kind of cell starved for Powerwall right now, so we actually had to artificially limit the number of Powerwalls because we don’t have enough cells. So we’re solving for that very rapidly and we expect to ramp up Powerwall and Powerpack production substantially later this year and early next — as well as ramping up retrofit solar and then the Solar Roof.”
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