Kauai switches from dirty diesel to solar with Tesla battery storage

The Hawaiian island of Kauai plans to give us diesel generators and complete the switch to solar to power the islands electrical needs.
Tesla battery packs are uses in more than electric cars. On Kauai Tesla has installed 272 power packs that store energy from 55,000 solar panels
tesla-powerpack-2
This project will save Kauai 1.6 million gallons of diesel every year.
Solar panels blanket a large clearing on the Grove Farm land the Tesla facility occupies, lined in undulating waves on the softly rolling hills. It feels like you’re standing in the center of a crown of mountains, overlooking an oddly geometric and unnaturally blue man-made lake. Rows of Tesla Powerpack 2 commercial batteries stand as silent white monuments next to the angular artificial lake, rising up in stark contrast from the roan red clay earth.
The whole facility generates 13 megawatts of energy, which adds up to around 19,438 MWh of electricity per year, and can store up to 52 megawatt hours of power. It does this with a cost to Kauai of 13.9 cents per kilowatt-hour, locked at that price for the duration of a 20-year contract. That’s under half the price the island currently pays for power generated from burning diesel fuel, which is its prevailing source of energy. The new solar storage facility can build up enough energy  to power 4,500 Kauai homes through the night, which is a significant number of households given the population of the island was at 67,000 as of the last U.S. census.
The Kauai facility is meant to show what Tesla can offer for higher-demand commercial projects, and it’s a stake in the ground that’s designed to pique the interest of energy providers the world over – not just those perfectly situated to make the most of available sunlight, according to Straubel.
“It’s immediately a cost benefit,” JB Straubel, Tesla CTO said. “And that’s true in many places around the world, it’s not just true on islands like this in Hawaii. It’s not intuitive; most people, they think this is more expensive still today, but the cost of solar and the cost of storage has come down so quickly that these projects now are cost-effective in many locations.”
tesla-kauai power pack
Check out the video to get the big picture.

Share:

More Posts

april 2025

April Solar production

Over 500 kWh Produced in April 2025 – Sun most day. Shock. What = April 2025 was warm, sunny and ar times nearly hot. In huge contract to gloomy Feb and March, April stands out as spectualy sunny.  The graphs show 2024 gave 325 kWh and 2023 375 kWh. So 500 is a significant jump.

iphone 16

Latest iPhone Success Is A First For Apple

Apple takes #1 spot in Q1 2025 for Smart Phone Sales Research for Counterpoint shows that the global smartphone market grew by 3% in the first quarter of 2025, driven by growth in emerging markets and “a subsidy-led demand boost in China,” it said.  The research went on to mention the thing that has never

Macan EV Turbo front

Review: 2025 Porsche Macan EV Turbo – Electric PowerED SUV Meets Porsche DNA

Macan Turbo EV The wait is over. Porsche has finally pulled the wraps off the all-electric Macan EV Turbo, and after spending some time behind the wheel, it’s clear: this isn’t just a Macan with a battery. It’s the future of Porsche’s compact SUV — and it’s everything we hoped for. First Impressions Let’s get

tranmission lines

Gas-fired power generation hits four-year high

It was the dunkelflaute Low levels of renewable generation and high demand drove gas-fired power generation to its highest level since 2021 for the first quarter of the year. That was the standout highlight in a new report on the British power generation market by Montel Analytics. Montel’s study showed that electricity generated by combined

Send Us A Message