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Tesla Powerwall

Home battery in Networking & smart home

Recommended for backup power during outages and bill savings alongside solar. Common caveat: critics call it overpriced and cite high failure rates.

Recommended for backup power during outages and bill savings alongside solar. Common caveat: critics call it overpriced and cite high failure rates.

41 people gave an opinion

recommend it
17
criticize it
24
approval share
41%
Each figure is one person. RecommendsCriticizes

Recommended in 10 of 13 months

  1. November 2025: recommended
  2. December 2025: not recommended
  3. January 2026: recommended
  4. February 2026: recommended
  5. March 2026: recommended
  6. April 2026: not recommended
  7. May 2026: recommended
  8. June 2026: recommended
  9. July 2026: recommended
  10. August 2026: recommended
  11. September 2026: recommended
  12. October 2026: not recommended
  13. November 2026: recommended (month in progress)

Owned for 3 years

Median of the 6 owners who said how long they have had it.

Each square is one year.

Why it doesn’t carry the badge

  • 17 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
  • 0.7 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
  • Recommended in 10 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.

The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works

What people say about it

The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.

Why people recommend it

Each mark is one comment

  • Keeps home powered during outages

    “Since installing the batteries a couple years our home has stayed warm and lit through two multi-day outages”

    Comment from 14 Aug 2026 in “In Australia, a Home Battery Boom Has Helped Cut Wholesale Power Prices in Half”

    “I can run nearly any amount of GPUs for free, and never worry about power outages”

    Comment from 24 Jul 2026 in “UK households free to install plug-in balcony solar panels from end of August”

    “I have piece of mind for power in a rural area”

    Comment from 30 Sep 2026 in “Vermont replacing power plants with home batteries”
  • Cuts bills and adds independence

    “since 5 years they have 2x EVs and 2x Powerwalls and are self-sufficient for 80% of the year”

    Comment from 9 Jun 2026 in “Solar Energy Saves Europeans $135M a Day”

    “it's giving us a real degree of independence and instant and massive bill reductions”

    Comment from 20 Mar 2026 in “BYD's bet on EVs is paying off as drivers ditch gas amid rising oil prices”

    “a Powerwall would roughly pay for itself over the speced lifespan of the device”

    Comment from 1 Nov 2026 in “Bidirectional charging during grid outages”
  • Well built and compact

    “they provide the best value for money, and are impressive pieces of equipment”

    Comment from 13 Jan 2026 in “What a year of solar and batteries saved us in 2025”

    “I think they're fantastic and pretty compact for what they are”

    Comment from 17 Aug 2026 in “Buy Your Friends Batteries”

    “Tesla's home battery systems are pretty well built”

    Comment from 30 Sep 2026 in “Vermont replacing power plants with home batteries”
  • Powerwall 3 has fast transfer switching

    “I currently have enphase micro inverters and a power wall 2. It was the right mix at the time.”

    Comment from 25 Feb 2026 in “Following 35% growth, solar has passed hydro on US grid”

    “they released a home battery with a sub 10 ms ATS which is necessary for seamless in-house grid/off grid transition”

    Comment from 9 Jun 2026 in “We Think the SpaceX IPO Is Overvalued”

    “they have a very impressive inrush and solar capacity”

    Comment from 14 Jan 2026 in “What a year of solar and batteries saved us in 2025”

What people warn about

Each mark is one comment

  • Overpriced for what it offers

    “Now they are overpriced but up until 2022/3 they were the best value unit.”

    Comment from 13 Jan 2026 in “What a year of solar and batteries saved us in 2025”

    “They would just grab the same cells or cheaper and some other off the shelf components and sell them to you at massive markup.”

    Comment from 19 Feb 2026 in “Tesla announces Powerwall 3P with native three-phase inverter”

    “Paying a tesla tax to waste extra power AND not be sure they'll be charged in the event of an outage”

    Comment from 23 Feb 2026 in “Tesla announces Powerwall 3P with native three-phase inverter”
  • High failure rate reported

    “PW3 has very high failure rate ~10%+RMA, not good enough IMO to be in the path of power at my house.”

    Comment from 13 Jan 2026 in “What a year of solar and batteries saved us in 2025”

    “Those tesla wall packs will be a massive headache when they give up the ghost.”

    Comment from 30 Sep 2026 in “Vermont replacing power plants with home batteries”

What people said

40 of the 52 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.

“a Powerwall would roughly pay for itself over the speced lifespan of the device”

RecommendsComment from 1 Nov 2026 in “Bidirectional charging during grid outages”

“Tesla's home battery systems are pretty well built”

RecommendsComment from 30 Sep 2026 in “Vermont replacing power plants with home batteries”

“there's no option to buy-out the equipment at the end”

CriticizesComment from 30 Sep 2026 in “Vermont replacing power plants with home batteries”

“Those tesla wall packs will be a massive headache when they give up the ghost.”

CriticizesComment from 30 Sep 2026 in “Vermont replacing power plants with home batteries”

“Batteries are nice. And I'm glad it wasn't only used for my needs.”

RecommendsComment from 30 Sep 2026 in “Vermont replacing power plants with home batteries”

“I have piece of mind for power in a rural area”

RecommendsComment from 30 Sep 2026 in “Vermont replacing power plants with home batteries”

“I think they're fantastic and pretty compact for what they are”

RecommendsComment from 17 Aug 2026 in “Buy Your Friends Batteries”

“Since installing the batteries a couple years our home has stayed warm and lit through two multi-day outages”

RecommendsComment from 14 Aug 2026 in “In Australia, a Home Battery Boom Has Helped Cut Wholesale Power Prices in Half”

“Expensive electric cars, powerwalls, solar roofs when competetive products/better are cheaper.”

CriticizesComment from 12 Aug 2026 in “SpaceXAI's Grok 4.6 Scores 61 on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index”

“I can run nearly any amount of GPUs for free, and never worry about power outages”

RecommendsComment from 24 Jul 2026 in “UK households free to install plug-in balcony solar panels from end of August”

“since 5 years they have 2x EVs and 2x Powerwalls and are self-sufficient for 80% of the year”

RecommendsComment from 9 Jun 2026 in “Solar Energy Saves Europeans $135M a Day”

“they released a home battery with a sub 10 ms ATS which is necessary for seamless in-house grid/off grid transition”

RecommendsComment from 9 Jun 2026 in “We Think the SpaceX IPO Is Overvalued”

“the PowerWall still suffers from that worst of all tech bro sins of trying to limit YOUR access to YOUR data”

MixedComment from 17 May 2026 in “Tesla Solar Roof is on life support as it pivot to panels”

“After being ignored for months (someone was supposed to contact us regarding the installation)”

CriticizesComment from 8 Apr 2026 in “I've been waiting over a month for Anthropic support to respond”

“it's giving us a real degree of independence and instant and massive bill reductions”

RecommendsComment from 20 Mar 2026 in “BYD's bet on EVs is paying off as drivers ditch gas amid rising oil prices”

“tesla isn't great value any more. For a while powerwalls were the shit And the powerwall three is nice, with direct DC charging as well as islanding.”

MixedComment from 25 Feb 2026 in “Following 35% growth, solar has passed hydro on US grid”

“I currently have enphase micro inverters and a power wall 2. It was the right mix at the time.”

MixedComment from 25 Feb 2026 in “Following 35% growth, solar has passed hydro on US grid”

“you only really need one Powerwall 3, because the car when charged acts as ~7+ powerwalls worth of backup”

RecommendsComment from 25 Feb 2026 in “Following 35% growth, solar has passed hydro on US grid”

“Paying a tesla tax to waste extra power AND not be sure they'll be charged in the event of an outage”

CriticizesComment from 23 Feb 2026 in “Tesla announces Powerwall 3P with native three-phase inverter”

“They would just grab the same cells or cheaper and some other off the shelf components and sell them to you at massive markup.”

CriticizesComment from 19 Feb 2026 in “Tesla announces Powerwall 3P with native three-phase inverter”

“they are extremely buggy and the software has poor functionality”

CriticizesComment from 18 Feb 2026 in “Tesla announces Powerwall 3P with native three-phase inverter”

“IMO their software is worth $1k”

RecommendsComment from 18 Feb 2026 in “Tesla announces Powerwall 3P with native three-phase inverter”

“$15k for only 13 kWh is not a sustainable price point.”

CriticizesComment from 18 Feb 2026 in “Tesla announces Powerwall 3P with native three-phase inverter”

“Have you heard of anyone installing a Powerwall recently?”

MixedComment from 12 Feb 2026 in “Beginning autonomous operations with the 6th-generation Waymo Driver”

“Thats a 50% premium to get you 185 LRA but 8 kWh less capacity.”

CriticizesComment from 14 Jan 2026 in “What a year of solar and batteries saved us in 2025”

“they have a very impressive inrush and solar capacity”

RecommendsComment from 14 Jan 2026 in “What a year of solar and batteries saved us in 2025”

“This is why the powerwall setup doesnt make any sense.”

CriticizesComment from 13 Jan 2026 in “What a year of solar and batteries saved us in 2025”

“Now they are overpriced but up until 2022/3 they were the best value unit.”

MixedComment from 13 Jan 2026 in “What a year of solar and batteries saved us in 2025”

“PW3 has very high failure rate ~10%+RMA, not good enough IMO to be in the path of power at my house.”

CriticizesComment from 13 Jan 2026 in “What a year of solar and batteries saved us in 2025”

“Powerwalls don't uniquely solve any problems other brands can't do.”

CriticizesComment from 13 Jan 2026 in “What a year of solar and batteries saved us in 2025”

“they provide the best value for money, and are impressive pieces of equipment”

RecommendsComment from 13 Jan 2026 in “What a year of solar and batteries saved us in 2025”

“this is really dumb to have inverters tied directly to each powerwall battery”

CriticizesComment from 13 Jan 2026 in “What a year of solar and batteries saved us in 2025”

“Your point that they are overpriced still stands though.”

CriticizesComment from 13 Jan 2026 in “What a year of solar and batteries saved us in 2025”

“Why do people still go for tesla powerwalls when you can get BYD batteries”

CriticizesComment from 13 Jan 2026 in “What a year of solar and batteries saved us in 2025”

“According to Wikipedia, Tesla Powerwall 3 has 13.5 kWh of capacity”

MixedComment from 4 Jan 2026 in “Advanced Rail Energy Storage of North America”

“it's almost as if risk assessment doesn't matter to Tesla, at least not as much as aesthetics”

CriticizesComment from 25 Dec 2025 in “The Dangerous Feature in Tesla's Doors [video]”

“A Tesla Powerwall 3 installed is about €11,000, No way that is worth it.”

CriticizesComment from 27 Nov 2025 in “Pakistan says rooftop solar output to exceed grid demand in some hubs next year”

“tesla is weak on power electronics for the industrial scale sites, too”

CriticizesComment from 14 Nov 2025 in “Tesla Recalls Powerwall 2 AC Battery Power Systems Due to Fire and Burn Hazards”

“I bet all contracts are conveniently missing the word "guaranteed"”

CriticizesComment from 13 Nov 2025 in “Tesla Recalls Powerwall 2 AC Battery Power Systems Due to Fire and Burn Hazards”

“they're one of the worst current brands in the world market”

CriticizesComment from 7 Nov 2025 in “Tesla Shareholders Approve Elon Musk's $1T Pay Package”

Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.