{"id":335328,"date":"2017-03-09T04:46:12","date_gmt":"2017-03-08T20:46:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/techcrunch.com\/?p=1462377"},"modified":"2017-03-09T04:46:12","modified_gmt":"2017-03-08T20:46:12","slug":"teslas-kauai-solar-facility-will-offset-1-6m-gallons-of-fuel-use-per-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/teslas-kauai-solar-facility-will-offset-1-6m-gallons-of-fuel-use-per-year\/","title":{"rendered":"Tesla\u2019s Kauai solar facility will offset 1.6M gallons of fuel use per year"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"embed-youtube c5\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player c4\" type=\"text\/html\" width=\"680\" height=\"512\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/fkQBVoS9lAo?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;fs=1&#038;autohide=2&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\">[embedded content]<\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Tesla\u2019s Kauai solar power facility is officially open for business as of Friday, with a 13 MW SolarCity solar farm installation providing power to a Powerpack storage facility with 52 MWh of total capacity. The beauty of the new facility, in terms of the specific needs of the sun-soaked island in the Pacific, is that it can capture energy from the sun during peak daytime productiondf hours, and then keep that power ready for peak consumption hours at night.<\/p>\n<p>This is a relatively new reality for solar power generation, made possible by Tesla\u2019s Powerpack tech, which is essentially the commercial version of its Powerwall home storage batteries. Hawaii is already a big solar power consumer, which makes sense for the same reason it makes sense that the state is such a draw to ctourists, too. But Tesla\u2019s initiative is the first to answer the problem of peak production time overlapping almost exactly with times where need for power is at its lowest.<\/p>\n<p>Tesla\u2019s new solar facility in Kauai isn\u2019t going to completely reduce its dependence on fossil fuels \u2013\u00a0the island will still rely on diesel shipped in to provide someof its power requirements. But the new facility will offset some of that use of dirty burning fuel, reducing overall usage of fossil fuels for power needs by around 1.6 million gallons per year.<\/p>\n<p>The new energy project was developed by Tesla for the Kauai Island Utility Cooperative, and it\u2019s the biggest solar storage facility in the world, according to KIUC President and CEO David Bissell. The project is a key part of Hawaii\u2019s goal of using 100 percent renewable energy by 2045, and for Tesla, it\u2019s the perfect way to demonstrate how it can deploy these kinds of facilities to fit similar needs around the world.<\/p>\n<p>KIUC\u2019s Tesla solar plant uses Powerpack 2, Tesla\u2019s second-generation commercial storage which is made at Tesla\u2019s Gigafactory in Nevada. The project began with an RFP issued by KIUC in 2014, which led to a year of discussions between itself, Tesla and Grove Farms, which owns the land upon which it\u2019s built. In 2016, the companies struck a deal and Solar City brought Tesla in as its storage supplier \u2013\u00a0then later that same year, Tesla acquired the solar energy provider.<\/p>\n<p>Tesla\u2019s hoping that the example of what it\u2019s done in Kauai will act as a roadmap for what it can do for other commercial energy providers around the world. It\u2019s also a key proof point for why it made sense to tie up Tesla and SolarCity via their merger last year.<\/p>\n<p>Tesla CTO JB Straubel said that the unique aspect, and the most important, with this facility is that it\u2019s the first time that a solar facility can deliver really reliable power delivery 24 hours a day, and operate when it\u2019s needed most. It\u2019s also a necessary step towards achieving 100 percent renewable energy sourcing, he says, since without the ability to defer power delivery the most you can ever hope for is 20 to 30 percent. He added that it\u2019s a sign that they\u2019re ready to truly deliverable fully scalable facilities, to suit increasing size of demand across markets.<\/p>\n<p>It can easily scale the other way, too, according to Straubel. He said at the launch that they\u2019re seeing more customers who are looking to Powerpack for single-site energy backup, and also highlighted Powerwall, which offers the same to residential customers.<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com\/2017\/03\/147a0550.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com\/2017\/03\/147a0550.jpg?w=1024&#038;h=683\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1462416\" srcset=\"https:\/\/tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com\/2017\/03\/147a0550.jpg?w=1024&#038;h=683 1024w, https:\/\/tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com\/2017\/03\/147a0550.jpg?w=150&#038;h=100 150w, https:\/\/tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com\/2017\/03\/147a0550.jpg?w=300&#038;h=200 300w, https:\/\/tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com\/2017\/03\/147a0550.jpg?w=768&#038;h=512 768w, https:\/\/tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com\/2017\/03\/147a0550.jpg?w=680&#038;h=453 680w, https:\/\/tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com\/2017\/03\/147a0550.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Straubel also stressed that Tesla wants to provide an \u201cintegrated, collaborative approach\u201d to energy production and supply along with utilities, rather than espousing an \u201ceither\/or approach,\u201d which is a very sensible stance to take when you\u2019re presenting alongside a utility company partner and client.<\/p>\n<p>Hawaii Governor David Ige also spoke at the event, highlighting the Hawaiian people\u2019s commitment to renewable energy, which he says they see clearly \u201care the future.\u201d He added that \u201cstorage is the challenge\u201d for the state, despite abundance of renewable sources, including geothermal, solar and more. \u201cThe challenge is making energy available when the consumer needs it,\u201d Ige said, which is why the project is something that the state found so attractive.<\/p>\n<p>Ige said that he truly believes companies like Tesla who are willing to raise and invest funds in the task of making renewable energy affordable for everyday consumers are the way forward in achieving the state\u2019s 100 percent renewable power goals.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019ll have more from the launch of the facility, including interviews with key executives, in follow-up coverage, so stay tuned.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"680\" height=\"453\" src=\"https:\/\/tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com\/2017\/03\/dscf0136.jpg?w=680\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com\/2017\/03\/dscf0136.jpg?w=680 680w, https:\/\/tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com\/2017\/03\/dscf0136.jpg?w=1360 1360w, https:\/\/tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com\/2017\/03\/dscf0136.jpg?w=150 150w, https:\/\/tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com\/2017\/03\/dscf0136.jpg?w=300 300w, https:\/\/tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com\/2017\/03\/dscf0136.jpg?w=768 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 680px) 100vw, 680px\" \/>&nbsp;Tesla&#8217;s Kauai solar power facility is officially open for business as of Friday, with a 13 MW SolarCity solar farm installation providing power to a Powerpack storage facility with 52 MWh of total capacity. The beauty of the new facility, in terms of the specific needs of the sun-soaked island in the Pacific, is that it can capture energy from the sun during peak daytime productiondf&hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2017\/03\/08\/teslas-kauai-solar-facility-will-offset-1-6m-gallons-of-fuel-use-per-year\/?ncid=rss\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"feedflare\">\n<a href=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/Techcrunch?a=mAcluMLtwQw:A2h88NXtkMw:2mJPEYqXBVI\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/Techcrunch?d=2mJPEYqXBVI\" border=\"0\"><\/img><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/Techcrunch?a=mAcluMLtwQw:A2h88NXtkMw:7Q72WNTAKBA\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/Techcrunch?d=7Q72WNTAKBA\" border=\"0\"><\/img><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/Techcrunch?a=mAcluMLtwQw:A2h88NXtkMw:yIl2AUoC8zA\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/Techcrunch?d=yIl2AUoC8zA\" border=\"0\"><\/img><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/Techcrunch?a=mAcluMLtwQw:A2h88NXtkMw:-BTjWOF_DHI\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/Techcrunch?i=mAcluMLtwQw:A2h88NXtkMw:-BTjWOF_DHI\" border=\"0\"><\/img><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/Techcrunch?a=mAcluMLtwQw:A2h88NXtkMw:D7DqB2pKExk\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/Techcrunch?i=mAcluMLtwQw:A2h88NXtkMw:D7DqB2pKExk\" border=\"0\"><\/img><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/Techcrunch?a=mAcluMLtwQw:A2h88NXtkMw:qj6IDK7rITs\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/Techcrunch?d=qj6IDK7rITs\" border=\"0\"><\/img><\/a>\n<\/div>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~r\/Techcrunch\/~4\/mAcluMLtwQw\" height=\"1\" width=\"1\" alt=\"\"\/> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5817,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[59,66,26],"class_list":["post-335328","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-technology","tag-media","tag-techcrunch","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/335328","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5817"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=335328"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/335328\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=335328"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=335328"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=335328"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}