EV giant and solar power company Tesla, Inc. increased its annual solar PV deployments by 71% to 83 MW in Q3/2021, up from 57 MW it reported a year back. On sequential basis however, it was a drop of 2 MW.
Sharing its financial results for Q3/2021, the US company said almost all solar deployments during the period were against cash or loan. Management said the company is making further cost improvements, particularly on the installation side, as it aims to increase the profitability of its energy division.
As for energy storage deployments, these rose by 71% to 1,295 MWh in the reporting quarter thanks mainly to strong Megapack deployments. This is a jump over 759 MWh in Q3/2020. Notably, Tesla's Megapack is a rechargeable lithium-ion battery stationary energy storage product for large-scale projects. The company said it is 'very excited' about the broader potential of this product.
It added, "We recently announced our new Megapack factory with a capacity of 40 GWh, which compares to total Megapack deployments of 3 GWh in the last 12 months."
Tesla's energy generation and storage division earned 39% more revenues of $806 million in Q3/2021 when compared YoY, but contributing only in the single digit range to the total group revenues of $13.75 billion.
While solar energy may not be central to the car maker's business today, the Elon Musk headed company is gradually carving out a definite and bigger role for PV + storage technology. Recently, British renewable energy electricity service provider Octopus Energy said its German presence is now providing top-up power supply to rooftop solar+Tesla Powerwall households in Europe's largest solar market.
Octopus Energy explains, "The Tesla electricity tariff for Powerwall owners provides you with inexpensive green electricity if the electricity you generate yourself is not enough. A low basic price ensures that your expenses for electricity from the grid remain low." Details of the plan can be viewed on Octopus Energy's website.