tesla battery packs power the hawaiian island of kauai after dark - energy storage system price
Investors on Wall Street are debating Tesla (TSLA)
The ambitious transformation from electric vehicle manufacturers to sustainable energy companies will pay off, and its industrial power supply has already had an impact on at least one state.
Kauai utility cooperative in Hawaii (KIUC)
It is now drawing energy from 272 Tesla power packs to provide power after dark.
Although the island used to rely on solar and other renewable energy during the day, it had no way to store solar energy after the sun went down.
The energy stored with Tesla's power pack is expected to save KIUC 1.
There are 6 million gallons of diesel fuel per year, which has traditionally been the way utilities generate electricity after dark.
Tesla said the power devices would cut KIUC's cost per kilowatt hour from 15 degrees.
5 cents fell to 13 cents. 9 cents. The 13.
Nine cents is a fixed price for the next 20 years.
For Kauai, the opportunity to reduce diesel usage and fluctuating costs is why Tesla's energy storage system is so attractive.
However, for Wall Street analysts, it is not enough to convince them that Tesla's energy plan is enough to make them act.
Adam Jonas, an analyst at Morgan Stanley, told investors: "At this time, we think the value of Tesla shares is zero . ".
"We took this view because of the uncertain economic and regulatory forces facing the energy business, particularly the solar business.
Tesla chief technology officer JB Straubel said in an interview with CNBC on Wednesday that analysts expressed doubts about the formation of a new market for solar energy and energy storage.
"I think sometimes it's hard to see the future and how it will develop," Straubel told CNBC . ".
"They didn't have data in the past that could be directly compared to show how this growth happened.
But, he added, "the size of the utility grid and the power consumption of the world is huge . "
This is the market we are developing.
Straubel also expects that the economy of renewable energy will become more favorable compared with fossil fuels.
"The energy market is obviously unstable," he said . "
"They will continue to fluctuate, and the prices of these technologies are falling every year.
So we can't see this change and long term
The terminology trend will be the same.
"In November, shareholders approved the merger between Tesla and SolarCity, which bought Elon Musk's solar company for $2. 6 billion.
But while the company's revenue has grown rapidly over the years, the high cost has made it barely profitable except for two quarters.
SolarCity plays an important role in the company's Kauai project.
Nearly 55,000 solar panels are distributed on 50 acres of land, used to generate electricity, stored in battery packs, and placed in KIUC at the back of the sun.
"As a state, we know how to generate electricity," the government said . "
David Iger told CNBC.
"The challenge for us is to store the electricity used at night.
We can do this now. "—
Robert Ferris of CNBC contributed to the report.