Energy
Tesla Energy is quietly setting its sights on peaker plants
Behind the spotlights trained on the Model 3 production ramp and Elon Musk’s online behavior, Tesla’s Energy business is quietly growing and spreading its reach. Tesla notes that its deployment of stationary batteries, which are designed to supply electricity to residential homes, businesses, and even the power grid, surged 450% in the first six months of 2018 alone. These figures are well in line with Elon Musk’s statement during the Q2 2018 earnings call, when he noted that Tesla Energy is growing at such a pace that it would likely catch up and exceed the company’s electric car business in the future.
During the 2018 Annual Shareholder Meeting, Elon Musk announced that Tesla managed to hit a milestone of installing 1 GWh of energy storage to projects worldwide. This is only the beginning, though, as the company is aiming to double its battery storage installations within the next 12 months. Just like its electric cars like the Model 3, Tesla’s energy products like the Powerwall 2 home battery system are seeing overwhelming demand from customers — so much so that installations for the products are quite delayed. In Tesla’s website alone, the company notes that new Powerwall 2 orders would likely not be filled until “late 2018” at the earliest.
Despite the company currently being unable to meet production, Tesla CTO JB Straubel noted in a recent statement to the San Francisco Chronicle that Tesla’s battery production would likely catch up early next year. Straubel stated that while Tesla is scaling production as fast as it could, there are still delays as the demand for the residential market continues to be larger than expected. Demand from utility providers has remained strong as well. Back in June, for example, the company landed a contract with Pacific Gas and Electric Co. to install its industrial-grade Powerpack batteries to store 730 MWh of electricity in Moss Landing; and that’s just one of several high-profile projects that the company is engaged in.
Tesla’s Powerpack farm in South Australia. 
Tesla’s energy storage solutions are starting become more and more accepted by utility companies, particularly since battery technology has reached a point where it now has the potential to replace inefficient and dirty “Peaker” power plants, which are powered on when the demand for electricity is at its highest. Straubel believes that battery solutions such as those offered by Tesla Energy are poised to outcompete conventional peaker plants.
“I think what we’ll see is we won’t build many new peaker plants, if any. Already what we’re seeing happening is the number of new ones being commissioned is drastically lower, and batteries are already outcompeting natural gas peaker plants,” Straubel said.
Tesla Energy’s initiative to eventually replace peaker power plants is very similar to the company’s efforts to render fossil fuel-powered automobiles obsolete. Elon Musk is known to have said that Tesla will not stop “until every car on the road is electric.” Considering the CTO’s recent statements, it appears that Tesla Energy would likely not stop until all backup power plants are powered by renewable energy as well.
Tesla will actually be doing the world a favor if its Energy business ends up helping in the transition of the power industry away from peaker plants. Peaker plants, after all, are responsible for a lot of pollution. A case study of the facilities in CA cited by the Clean Energy Group noted that peaker plants emit roughly 30% more carbon dioxide per megawatt-hour than natural gas combined-cycle plants, which are increasingly being used as base load plants. The case study also noted that 84% of peaker plants are located in areas that are vulnerable to environmental damage. On top of this, peaker plants are actually quite costly for consumers, considering that they are utilized when demand for electricity is at its highest.
Tesla Energy’s goal of eventually replacing peaker plants might be ambitious, but it is not impossible, especially since the United States’ energy storage business has been seeing growth over the past years. A study from GTM Research, for one, estimates that the sales of energy storage for both residential and utility markets in the US would likely hit $541 million this year, before passing $1 billion in 2019, and hitting $4.6 billion in 2023. If Tesla can ramp its energy business within the coming years, the company could position itself strategically in what could very well be an upcoming energy gold rush.
Tesla’s energy business usually takes a back seat to the company’s electric car division, but the updates that the company has teased regarding its battery technology are very encouraging. During the 2018 Annual Shareholder Meeting, for one, Elon Musk mentioned that Tesla is now aiming to hit a cost of $100 per kWh at the pack level.
“We think at the cell level probably we can do better than $100/kWh maybe later this year depending upon stable commodity prices. With further improvements to the cell chemistry, the production process, and more vertical integration on the cell side, for example, integrating the production of cathode and anode materials at the Gigafactory, and improved design of the module and pack, we think long-term we can get below $100/kWh at the pack level,” he said.
Tesla has started to perform earthworks engineering on the roughly 3,000-acre site in Fort Bend County, Texas, advancing the massive $10 billion Project Crystal Sun plan to build a vertically integrated solar manufacturing complex.
Flyover drone footage from S.E. Robinson, Jr. released this morning shows the location under development. Tesla has crews on site performing large clearings, but you can also see equipment staging areas, the use of an existing homestead, and active leveling across a substantial portion of the property.
Tesla has started construction on Project Crystal Sun, its $10B vertically integrated solar factory near Houston, Texas.
The plant will make everything from silicon ingots and wafers to finished cells and panels, with operations targeted for Q1 2029.
@SERobinsonJr with a great flyover of the facility:
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) November 9, 2026
Public filings first submitted in July under Texas’s Jobs, Energy, Technology and Innovation Act describe a plant that would manufacture the full solar chain: everything from silicon ingots, wafers, coated cells, and finished modules.
Tesla projects 9,712 permanent jobs by 2033, ramping from roughly 1,900 positions in the first year of operations, plus a peak of about 1,147 construction jobs. Construction is targeted for 2026–2028, with commercial production beginning in the first quarter of 2029. An accompanying economic analysis estimates the project could add roughly $107 billion to Texas GDP over several decades.
Local incentives have cleared major hurdles. Lamar Consolidated Independent School District unanimously approved school-tax limitations in September, and Fort Bend County commissioners approved a package of abatements and related agreements in late October that could extend equipment tax breaks for as long as 35 years.
Tesla had previously indicated it was evaluating a competing out-of-state location.
The effort fits broader statements by Musk that Tesla and SpaceX are each working toward 100 gigawatts of annual U.S. solar manufacturing capacity. If built as described, Project Crystal Sun would stand as one of the largest domestic attempts to create a fully integrated solar supply chain on American soil.
While Tesla has not issued a formal groundbreaking announcement, the visible site preparation and high-profile social media activity represent a concrete step forward for a project that has moved from confidential filings to active earthworks in a matter of months.
Energy
Taiwan power firm bets big on Tesla Megapacks as AI data center thirst grows
Taiwan’s Apollo Power orders 260 Tesla Megapacks, betting AI data centers will need more electricity.
A Taiwanese power company has ordered 260 Tesla Megapack 2XL units, roughly 1GWh of storage, betting that electricity rather than chips will decide how fast AI data centers come online. Apollo Power signed the contract with Tesla’s Taiwan energy arm on October 8, according to the company’s filing with the Taiwan stock exchange.
The filing says the units are meant for behind the meter storage and resilient grid projects, with delivery in batches from the end of 2027 and sites operating in 2028. Apollo and Tesla did not disclose a price, citing a confidentiality agreement. Apollo plans to pay for the equipment through a cash capital increase and bank financing, and it noted the purchase is not revenue and does not mean it holds firm orders from its partners.
Biggo reported that only about 33 units are under signed customer contracts, with roughly 150 more in negotiation. The same report put total project investment near NT$130 billion, but that figure includes installation work, with the equipment itself making up about 40 to 50 percent. In other words, a large share of this order is Apollo reserving supply ahead of demand. Apollo’s chairman told local media global large storage supply is tight, which is why the company locked in the units early, according to Yahoo Taiwan Finance.
Apollo also launched an AI data center and grid resilience alliance with Phison, Gigabyte and Shihlin Electric. The pitch rests on a pilot at Phison’s Zhunan plant, where Apollo and Tesla Energy Taiwan installed grid forming Megapack 2XLs in June. Tesla Energy Taiwan general manager Sun Hsiao-Han said the project went from demo to 1GWh in four months, and that Tesla Energy has deployed more than 50GWh worldwide.
Taiwan’s cabinet has approved amendments that would require large energy users to install their own generation and storage, which gives enterprise storage a regulatory tailwind.
The deal fits a pattern Teslarati has tracked. Tesla’s Megablock targets 1GWh commissioned in 20 business days, a pitch aimed squarely at fast moving data center builds. Megapacks already back xAI’s Colossus in Memphis and a 400MW AI campus in Brazil. Sun Media adds that Megapack 2XL was named among the first products in Nvidia’s DSX Ready qualification for battery storage in AI factories.
Deliveries are more than a year away, so the real test is how much of that 260 unit order turns into signed customer contracts.
Energy
Tesla Model 3 and Model Y can now do what only Cybertruck could
Tesla Model 3 and Model Y can power your home with Powerwall 3 during outages.
Tesla has turned its two top sellers into backup batteries for the house.
Tesla Energy announced on Tuesday that Powershare Home Backup is now available for new Model 3 and Model Y vehicles paired with a Powerwall 3, saying the car can “extend your home backup by over 2 days.” Minutes later, Tesla’s main account quoted the post with a broader pitch: “With Powerwall 3, every Tesla can now serve as your home’s backup battery.”
Until this week, the Cybertruck was the only Tesla that could send power back into a home, and that capability only began working alongside Powerwall 3 last month, after years of ambitious targets.
Tesla’s updated Powershare page says every Model 3 and Model Y ordered in the U.S. or Puerto Rico on or after October 1, 2026 can use the feature. Some, but not all, earlier cars also qualify. Owners can check on the touchscreen under Software, then Additional Vehicle Information, where a capable car shows “Powershare Support: Enabled.” As Electrek reported, bidirectional power on the two cars runs through an inverter Tesla calls PCS2 Lite, and the company has not said when that part entered production on each trim.
The home side is simpler. A house that already has a Powerwall 3 and either a Wall Connector 3 or Universal Wall Connector needs no additional equipment, and Tesla says compatibility is enabled through a software update. When the grid drops, the Powerwall and the car work together, with up to 11.52 kW of continuous power available. Tesla’s “over two days” estimate assumes a home using 30 kWh per day and a car starting at a 90 percent charge. Standard trims are rated for up to two days, while the Cybertruck adds more than three.
There are limits. Powerwall 2 and Powerwall+ support is listed as “coming soon.” Model S and Model X are not included, and Grid Support, the program that lets Cybertruck owners in Texas send power back to the grid during demand spikes for bill credits, is not available for Model 3 or Model Y.
The rollout also lines up with something Elon Musk said more than three years ago. At Tesla’s March 2023 Investor Day, Musk said, “I don’t think very many people are going to want to use bidirectional charging, unless you have a Powerwall.” Tesla has now shipped the feature for its volume cars with exactly that requirement attached.
The Powerwall pairing was the hard part on Cybertruck. Tesla told owners in December 2025 that Powershare with Powerwall had been pushed to mid 2026, and lead engineer Wes Morrill explained that two devices capable of forming a home’s grid have to negotiate which one leads during an outage, across multiple generations of hardware. With that work done for the truck, Tesla was able to extend it to the Model 3 and Model Y within a month.
Ford and GM have offered home backup from their EVs for several years, but both require a separate inverter and backup hardware. Tesla’s version leans on equipment many Powerwall 3 owners already have on the wall. Powershare for the two cars also ships as part of software update 2026.38.3, the same release that began delivering Halloween Mode on Tuesday.
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