So, in doing a bit of research from a link in one of the other comments, this is lcos, levelized cost of storage. I understand that to be roughly equivalent to the marginal cost of using it, including the capex divided over the unit volume. That same article uses $125/kwh as the capex, which is in line with your (and my) expectations of the cost to install.
$65/mwh works out to $0.065/kwh, so that makes sense. Effectively you can read this as "it costs $65/mwh to store and then consume electricity using these batteries"
You’re right, upon further review you can get budget Lifepo4 batteries shipped to your door from Amazon for as low as $75/kwh, which includes cables, a BMS, and various Bluetooth connectivity. So $65/kwh seems fairly reasonable for raw battery capacity in very large quantities.
But now it’s time to better understand why a Powerwall or other wall-mounted units are so much more expensive. I understand UL-listing costs, marketing, warranty, and other things are thrown in, but it’s $75/kwh versus $1000/kwh, a 13x difference.
If even at a $100/kwh price point all homeowners need to get 10-20kwh in batteries just to help peak shave the grid and save tons of money since batteries will be a fraction of the cost of grid power.
jdyer9|2 months ago
$65/mwh works out to $0.065/kwh, so that makes sense. Effectively you can read this as "it costs $65/mwh to store and then consume electricity using these batteries"
CyanLite2|2 months ago
But now it’s time to better understand why a Powerwall or other wall-mounted units are so much more expensive. I understand UL-listing costs, marketing, warranty, and other things are thrown in, but it’s $75/kwh versus $1000/kwh, a 13x difference.
If even at a $100/kwh price point all homeowners need to get 10-20kwh in batteries just to help peak shave the grid and save tons of money since batteries will be a fraction of the cost of grid power.