Tesla Sends Hundreds of Powerwall Batteries to Puerto Rico

Tesla is sending over hundreds of Powerwall battery systems to storm-ravaged Puerto Rico. The modular power storage units can be used with solar panels and could supply the island territory with much-needed electric power.

The island's power grid has been knocked out for the most part since Hurricane Maria made landfall on Sep. 20, almost two weeks ago, as U.S. president Donald Trump described on Twitter on Thursday last week.

"The electric power grid in Puerto Rico is totally shot," Trump stated on social media three days ago. "Large numbers of generators are now on Island. Food and water on site," he added.

Elon Musk's electric company is doing its share, too, by flying over hundreds of its Powerwall units to store electric power. Each of these blocks contains a rechargeable lithium-ion battery pack weighing 276 pounds, and they could store up to 13.5 kWh of usable charge each, according to specs available online.

These Powerwall installations could provide backup power that can be sustained with solar panels. Each of these units costs $6,200 each, outside of shipping and installation costs. Puerto Rico does not need to be bothered by this detail, though, as Tesla sent over its own tech teams to help install these units.

The Tesla employees are reportedly working with local organizations in the island to select areas where the Powerwall units could help the most, according to Engadget, These units, plus the generators already shipped to the island territory, could be the main source of power for large areas of the island for some time to come.

There's no definite timeline for when the island's power grid could be propped back up, since the process of reviving a destroyed power grid, known as a "Black Start," involves having the system restarted and stabilized on a station-by-station basis before every area can be reconnected as interdependent power nodes of the grid.