Tesla’s recently launched home battery solutions generate enough power to light a home for up to five hours. Such batteries, which store renewable energy, could come in handy to transform Africa’s power supply, suggests a report from the Guardian by Christine Mungai.
Initiative from Tesla could do wonders for Africa
Tesla CEO Elon Musk revealed previously that his company had Africa in mind while developing the wall-mounted energy source. Similar to the mobile revolution, the new battery solutions for a home or business could help Africans to test the limits of the grid.
In order to help the technology achieve scale, Tesla promised to release it in the public domain, which will allow more manufacturers to utilize the framework and come up with even better solutions. For now, 10 and a 7-kilowatt hour versions cost $3,500 and $3,000 respectively, but as more players come in, the prices could drop significantly.
Africa has potential for battery revolution
As per the report, Africa has the resources to become a global center for green energy. Geographically, the region has the resources needed for going green including deserts, strong winds, an arid interior and geothermal reserves.
Of note, the region is witnessing a boom in the technology hubs, and presently, Africa has at least 90 such hubs across the continent. Moreover, large tech firms such as Facebook and Google have plans to make wireless Internet to large parts of the population by using drones or hot-air balloons. Together, a combination of Tesla solar panel batteries and drone/balloon internet could do wonders for the region.
According to the report, the local power and internet access could even make the idea of smart tech city obsolete. The new batteries could be used to create a mini-tech hub or replace workplaces. This could result in mobile, “guerrilla-style” workplaces “anywhere in urban or rural Africa, like a flash mob for geeks,” notes the report.
Also, taking parts of Africa off-grid with the help of Tesla batteries would lower the public pressure on the national governments to provide infrastructure and services to its people.
