Introducing the Tesla Powerwall 3
Spirit Energy installed the first Tesla Power 3 in the country back in June 2024. We also consulted on the design of Power 3 and won an award from Tesla for the quality of our installation work installing the battery system. In this video, I'm going to tell you everything you need to know about Power 3 in 6 minutes. If you'd like more detail, then you can watch our big half an hour long technical breakdown of the system.
Core Specifications and Capacity
To start with, Tesla Power 3 is a sleek, industry-leading all-in-one battery solution. The battery is 15 kW hours. However, Tesla only talks about the usable capacity of the system, which is 13.5 kW hours. The battery can charge at a rate of 5 kW, meaning that fully charging from 0 to 100% will take about 2 hours and 42 minutes.
Expanding Your Storage with DC Packs
Up to four power 3 units can be installed on a singlephase supply. However, if you want to increase the storage capacity, but don't want to buy a whole other Power 3, then you can add on what's called a Tesla DC expansion pack. The expansion pack is just 13.5 kW hours of raw storage. It doesn't have any of the electrical gouubbins built in, which means that it's quite a bit cheaper than a whole Power Wall 3. It's pretty much the same physical size as the main Power Wall as well, just a bit thinner. You can add up to three expansion packs per power wall. Meaning that if you have one power wall with three expansion packs, then that will give you 54 kwatt hours of storage. If you have four power walls each with three expansion packs, then that gives you 216 kW hours of storage with the power wall system. Watch our video where we installed 19 Tesla Power 3s at a house in Buckinghamshire to learn more about this.
If you do install an expansion pack, then your charge rate also increases and the entire system will charge at 8 kW instead of 5 kW. There are two ways to install the expansion pack. It can either be stacked behind the main Power 3 or mounted adjacent to it. If you're getting an expansion pack retrofitted to an existing Power 3, then I definitely recommend mounting the expansion adjacent to the main Power 3, if you can, as that will certainly be a cheaper and quicker install.
Advanced Hybrid Inverter Capabilities
Revolutionary Hybrid Inverter
One of the highlights of Power 3 is its hybrid inverter. Upon its release, this was really revolutionary for the UK battery storage market, and it really helped to drive the home battery storage industry forward in the UK. The Power 3 has an 11.04 4 kW hybrid inverter. That means that it can output 11.04 kW to the house continuously. It also has a peak power output of85 locked rotor amps to allow it to support load startups for appliances with a motor.
Flexible Solar Input and Output
The power 3 inverter has three solar string inputs or MPPPTs and can accept up to 20 kW of solar DC input power. One of the really great features of the inverter is its MPPPT input voltage range or simply the number of panels that you can have on a string. The MPPPT input voltage ranges from 60 volts to 550 volts. And with standard 470 to 480 W panels like the IO Neostar 2 and IO Neostar 3, this typically means that you can have anywhere from 3 to 12 panels on one MPPPT.
Another great feature about this inverter is that it can be downrated depending on your inverter limitation. If you get some sort of restriction from the DNO, if for whatever reason you're not permitted to install the inverter at its full 11.04 kW inverter rating, then it can be throttled down and set to any of 3.68, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, or 10 kW without any of the hardware needing to be changed. A big advantage to Power 3 is that because the inverter rating is set in the software instead of dictated by the built-in hardware, it can be remotely uprated down the line if your DNO offer increases. See our YouTube video talking about how to get higher DNO rating. To learn more about this,
Seamless Integration and Grid Resilience
Power Cut Protection with the Tesla Gateway
Power 3 is also capable of full 100 amp singlephase power cut protection through something called the Tesla Gateway. Now, until recently, PowerW actually couldn't be installed without the gateway. So you pretty much got power cut protection as standard when you installed a power wall 3. The gateway essentially enables the system to island the house from the grid in the event of a power cut.
The gateway is no longer mandatory and you can now get power 3 installed without the gateway. If you'd like to get power wall installed with power cut protection then that will cost in the region of £500 more than if you get it without power cut protection depending on complexity. Power Wall cannot currently do three-phase power cut protection. However, Tesla has said that this is in their development pipeline. All of the DC coupled solar can be kept running in a power cut and power can also keep up to 7 kW of AC coupled solar running in a power cut as well without any rewiring of the existing system required.
Smart App Control and Optimization
The Tesla Power 3 integrates seamlessly with the Tesla app, providing live visualizations of battery status, solar energy generation, and detailed performance metrics, including grid usage and grid independence. If you'd like to try this out, I'd recommend downloading the Tesla app and scrolling down to where it says demo power wall and playing around with it to see the various different features that you get. You don't need to create a login or anything. You can just click continue as guest. Tesla does also offer an API so you can build your own app to communicate with and monitor Power 3 if you wish.
The algorithm built into Power 3 is also one of the best available. It's designed to learn about your usage and optimize your savings by charging and discharging accordingly. It will look at weather patterns, your predicted solar generation, your house's recent electricity consumption data, and other factors to work out how much to off peak charge and when to charge or discharge to the house to ensure that you save the most over the course of the year.
There are a few other advanced features to Tesla Power 3, including active thermal management, storm watch, Tesla electric, and Tesla VPP. But if you want to learn more about these features, then you'll need to watch my full video on the topic.
Comprehensive Warranty and Next Steps
Exceptional Warranty Details
The Tesla Power 3 warranty is one of its biggest selling points. Pal 3 comes with one of the most robust warranties in the battery market, and it reflects Tesla's confidence in the longevity and durability of their latest battery system. The warranty is simply 80% retain capacity after 10 years with unlimited cycles. This means that you're guaranteed at least 10.8 8 kW hours of usable storage capacity after 10 years.
Get Started with Spirit Energy
If you'd like to get a power wall installed, please do get in touch with Spirit Energy. Do check out our other videos on all things solar and battery. And if you'd like to learn about the steps to getting a solar and battery system installed, do check out our case study video series, SAM Solar Journey, which shows the stages to getting a solar installation. Thanks for watching.
Technical Specifications
| Feature | Detail |
|---|---|
| Total Battery Capacity | 15 kWh |
| Usable Battery Capacity | 13.5 kWh |
| Standard Charge Rate | 5 kW |
| Charge Rate with Expansion Pack | 8 kW |
| Charging Time (0-100%) | ~2 hours 42 minutes |
| Max Powerwall 3 Units (Single-phase) | Up to 4 |
| DC Expansion Packs per Powerwall | Up to 3 |
| Max Storage (1 PW3 + 3 Exp. Packs) | 54 kWh |
| Max Storage (4 PW3s + 12 Exp. Packs) | 216 kWh |
| Hybrid Inverter Continuous Output | 11.04 kW |
| Peak Power Output | 85 locked rotor amps |
| Solar String Inputs (MPPPTs) | 3 |
| Max Solar DC Input Power | 20 kW |
| MPPPT Input Voltage Range | 60V - 550V |
| Typical Panels per MPPPT (470-480W) | 3 to 12 |
| Inverter Downrate Options | 3.68, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 kW (software-set) |
| Power Cut Protection | Full 100 Amp single-phase (via Tesla Gateway) |
| AC Coupled Solar Support (Power Cut) | Up to 7 kW |
| Warranty | 80% retained capacity after 10 years, unlimited cycles (Guaranteed 10.8 kWh usable after 10 years) |
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What is the usable capacity of the Tesla Powerwall 3?
A: The battery capacity is 15 kW hours. However, Tesla only talks about the usable capacity of the system, which is 13.5 kW hours.
Q: Is power cut protection standard with the Tesla Powerwall 3?
A: Power 3 is capable of full 100 amp singlephase power cut protection through something called the Tesla Gateway. Until recently, Powerwall actually couldn't be installed without the gateway, so you pretty much got power cut protection as standard when you installed a power wall 3. The gateway essentially enables the system to island the house from the grid in the event of a power cut. The gateway is no longer mandatory and you can now get power 3 installed without the gateway. If you'd like to get power wall installed with power cut protection then that will cost in the region of £500 more than if you get it without power cut protection depending on complexity.
Q: How does the Tesla Powerwall 3 pricing compare to the tesla powerwall price 2021?
A: The transcript from Spirit Energy discusses the Tesla Powerwall 3, which was first installed in June 2024. Therefore, direct pricing comparisons to the tesla powerwall price 2021 for the Powerwall 3 model are not applicable as the Powerwall 3 was released later. The cost of a Powerwall 3 system depends on various factors, including installation complexity and whether you opt for power cut protection via the Tesla Gateway, which can add around £500 to the cost. For specific pricing, it's best to consult with an installer like Spirit Energy.