As part of their mass conspiracy to take over the world  (something, something, something…), Tesla has begun shipping 7kWh stationary Powerwalls batteries so that their pilot customers in North America, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Australia can install them in their homes.  Since the batteries are designed for daily power cycling, they’ll likely need to be installed in homes equipped with solar panels. This would allow owners to power their homes at night with power collected by solar panels to the Powerwall during the daylight hours.

When Tesla introduced the Powerwall stationary battery back in April, it made headlines aside from the announcement, since it’s price at only $3,000, it’s considerably cheaper than other lithium-ion batteries its size. The Powerwall can discharge 5 kilowatts during continuous use, an improvement from the original announcement of 2.2 kilowatts. There’s also a 10kWh battery intended for backup storage priced at $3,500 and have a different internal chemistry than the 7kWh daily cycling version, that will likely be released in 2016.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk stated earlier this year that the company has accepted 100,000 Powerwall reservations and expects to produce many more Powerwalls (including batteries for its electric vehicles) after the launch of Tesla’s Gigafactory (which I wrote about here) in 2016. In the last two months, Tesla has signed two agreements with mining companies so they can develop lithium mines in Nevada domestically and in Mexico internationally.

[Thanks Ars Technica]