Central Texas experienced its worst icing event in over 15 years during the late January and early February 2023 ice storm. Recordings from Camp Mabry, Austin’s official weather reporting site, revealed that the storm brought 0.69 inches of ice, causing widespread tree damage and leaving hundreds of thousands of homes without power.
Amidst the chaos brought by the ice storm, homes equipped with Tesla solar panels and Powerwall batteries continued to provide power. As highlighted by Tesla in its official Tesla Solar Twitter account, Powerwalls helped over 3,700 solar owners in Texas avoid power outages during last week’s winter storm.
Tesla Solar’s official Twitter account retweeted a post from a Powerwall owner, John Edward Garcia, whose home was affected by the recent freeze. Garcia shared several photos of his house, which had fully frozen solar panels and a completely iced up American flag. As per the Powerwall owner, however, his family remained warm the entire time.
“Despite being covered in ice, the overcast skies, and the constant drizzle, our @TeslaSolar panels, and #Powerwalls, are still keeping up with our energy needs while we keep warm at home. Be safe, #Texas,” the Tesla Powerwall owner wrote in a Twitter post.
Tesla’s electric vehicles are known for their durability, and the same seems to be true for the company’s energy products like the Powerwall battery. Last September, a certified Tesla Solar Roof installer from Florida posted photos of a home after Hurricane Ian hit. The home was equipped with Tesla Solar Roof tiles, which survived Hurricane Ian’s 155 mph winds and 10′ storm surge. It also had Powerwall batteries, which worked fine despite being submerged in water.
Tesla Energy’s ramp has been deliberate, but the business is growing quite well. As noted by Tesla in its Q4 and FY 2022 Update Letter, energy storage deployments increased by 152% YoY in the fourth quarter to 2.5 GWh, for a total deployment of 6.5 GWh in the year. This is by far the highest level of energy deployment the company has achieved so far.
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