DIY powerwall made from scrap batteries. Bill came down from $1,700 to around $400

A man who created his own home energy system using thousands of discarded batteries claims he reduced his power bill by three-quarters.

A Brisbane man spent 18 months collecting and wiring together thousands of discarded batteries to create his own “homebrew” version of a Tesla Powerwall, Elon Musk’s home energy storage system, because he “was bored”.

“[I needed something] to get my ideas out of my skull and onto the bench, so to speak,” Pete Matthews told The Link.

The self-taught computer repairman now uses his backyard invention to power his family’s off-grid household appliances, excluding his hot water, air conditioning and stove, which are still connected to the grid.

He says his invention can store 40kwh, or 2.8 times the capacity of Tesla’s newest 14kwh Powerwall 2.

“My power bill came down from about $1,700 to around $400, so this is significant savings,” he said.

Mr Mathews said his system cost him $10,000 and is made from 4,480 18650-type lithium-ion batteries, a generic battery, commonly found inside laptops and other rechargeable consumer devices.

Source: Australian man’s DIY powerwall made from scrap batteries – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)