Batteries can keep their cool

A Pilbara electrical company has installed Karratha’s first Tesla battery in a home to help power the residence in an innovative way. Karratha 6 Star Electrical operations manager James Corea installed the battery last month with his team, and said it was able to withstand the hot Pilbara climate. “The Tesla batteries have radiators that pump basically coolant around all the cells to keep the batteries at their optimum temperature,” he said. “It’s a massive technological advancement in batteries for regions like Karratha, because all other battery manufacturers only offer air cooling.” Mr Corea said the batteries provided an emergency back-up power supply which could be used during cyclones. “It allows residents in a circumstance we lose power in a cyclone or something like that, you can actually have back-up through the battery so you can run your house through the battery even if the grid is off,” he said. “In the event that we lose power, they can choose the back-up circuits and how much they want to back up. “It also gives people the possibility to be able to go potentially off-grid and reduce their bill down to just a supply charge.” Mr Corea hopes to install more batteries in Pilbara homes, as well as in the commercial space.