Natural Solar, a PV and battery retailer based in Sydney, made history by selling the world's first Powerwall in January 2016. Chris Williams, the company's founder, noted that while the original Powerwall targeted early adopters, the Powerwall 2 appealed to a broader market, resulting in the sale of approximately 500,000 units worldwide. Williams described the latest iteration as an exciting advancement in the product's evolution.
According to Williams, the newest version serves as both a solar inverter and a battery, offering an all-in-one ecosystem with data integration through the Tesla app. The option to include an EV charger further enhances the customer experience, marking a significant step forward in the product's evolution.
Australia plays a crucial role for Tesla, particularly with its utility-scale and distributed batteries, EVs, and chargers. The country's increasing rooftop solar installations and frequent power outages due to extreme weather events have underscored the importance of backup power solutions through residential solar-plus-storage systems.
In a recent incident on February 13, approximately 600,000 households in Victoria experienced power outages following a storm that damaged a major transmission line, leaving some without power for days.
EUPD Research closely monitors EV charging and solar-plus-storage installers in Australia and Europe. Analyst Finn Bee highlighted that Tesla's residential EV charger consistently garners the highest installer satisfaction ratings among all brands. However, the landscape for batteries in Europe presents a more varied picture.
Bee stated that our installer monitor, which surveys over 1,600 installers in specific markets in Europe and Australia, indicates that Tesla has seen a decrease in market penetration. However, the brand remains highly recognized in various countries. Bee highlighted Tesla's strong performance in Australia and Italy, two key markets for storage solutions, while pointing out its weaker presence in Germany, for instance.