Tesla Powerwall and Freedom Won home battery comparison

[Jan]

Tesla Powerwall 2 vs Freedom Won Lite Home — Ultimate load-shedding battery battle

With no end in sight for load-shedding in South Africa, many people are looking for backup power to carry them through the outages.

Small backup systems like power trolleys and UPSes might be able to run a limited set of devices, such as a TV, laptop, some lights, and a router.

 

[mypetcow]

Freedom Won’s batteries are often paired with the German brand Victron.

*Dutch

 

[wingnut771]

 

[Hanno Labuschagne]

*Dutch

Thanks, mixed up my Dutch and Deutsch a bit there

 

[yogidabear]

The victron will allow you to use solar, and switch like a UPS, the tesla does neither.

 

[Phathizwe]

The victron will allow you to use solar, and switch like a UPS, the tesla does neither.

A very important point.... Scalability is important at these prices

 

[Neuk_]

The victron will allow you to use solar, and switch like a UPS, the tesla does neither.

The Tesla is not solar ready from what I understand? Or was it not communication ready? We looked at a house a few months back that had a Powerall 2 and I remember it needed extra kit but having said that unleess you go for a Victron EasySolar which has a built in MPPT and the Colour Control GX unit, you need more kit to get it working with solar.

 

[wingnut771]

The Tesla is not solar ready from what I understand? Or was it not communication ready? We looked at a house a few months back that had a Powerall 2 and I remember it needed extra kit but having said that unleess you go for a Victron EasySolar which has a built in MPPT and the Colour Control GX unit, you need more kit to get it working with solar.

afaik, the powerwall has no mppt.

 

[ADrunkTeddyBear]

The victron will allow you to use solar, and switch like a UPS, the tesla does neither.

Kind of a step backwards?

The Powerwall+ used to have that MPPT controller built into it IIRC

 

[Neuk_]

afaik, the powerwall has no mppt.

The Powerall Plus does, the 2 doesn't from what I have read, and they use NMC cells as opposed to LFP.

 

[F1 Fan]

One wouldn't you just bolt on panels on the power walls? Is it not simpler doing it that way?

 

[quovadis]

The victron will allow you to use solar, and switch like a UPS, the tesla does neither.

Sure and the journalist could've used a non-solar inverter too for the Freedom Won or used a Powerwall Plus which has an MPPT? I think it's an odd comparison also considering the battery chem is different. Feels a bit like comparing 2 products vs 1 product.

Edit: I do note that the Victron doesn't have a MPPT now.

 

[P924]

The Victron also does not have an MPPT, it is sold separately.

 

[quovadis]

One wouldn't you just bolt on panels on the power walls? Is it not simpler doing it that way?

There are tons of options in terms of power generation in the North American market which is why they sell both with a MPPT inverter and without otherwise you end up with an inverter and an unused MPPT.

 

[Neuk_]

One wouldn't you just bolt on panels on the power walls? Is it not simpler doing it that way?

You need an MPPT and the Powerall 2 doesn't have one although the Powerall Plus does.

 

[Solitude]

The victron will allow you to use solar, and switch like a UPS, the tesla does neither.

That's very interesting. Didn't know that at all.

 

[Neuk_]

There are tons of options in terms of power generation in the North American market which is why they sell both with a MPPT inverter and without otherwise you end up with an inverter and an unused MPPT.

Yep, one of the original use cases for the Powerwall was to maximise time of use charges, so charge it when electricity is cheap and then use it when electricity is expensive.

 

[quovadis]

Yep, one of the original use cases for the Powerwall was to maximise time of use charges, so charge it when electricity is cheap and then use it when electricity is expensive.

Agreed - theres also loads of residential installs with solar installs using micro-inverters & grid-tied without backup simply to save on energy costs.

 

[wingnut771]

Yep, one of the original use cases for the Powerwall was to maximise time of use charges, so charge it when electricity is cheap and then use it when electricity is expensive.

Eskom wouldn't need to use diesel peakers if Minerals and Energy would allow us to install powerwalls to feed in during peak and recharge later during off peak.

 

[G.A.S]

While the Powerwall 2 has protection for both indoor and outdoor use, the Freedom Won battery is only suited for indoor use.

Putting the Powerwall 2 outside ... yeah. Won't be there in the morning.