Nissan unveils a home battery to take on Tesla's Powerwall

LONDON — Nissan announced a new home energy-storage device Monday, made out of recycled batteries sourced from its Leaf electric cars.

The xStorage system, which Nissan unveiled at an event in East London and is produced in partnership with power =-management company Eaton, is essentially the company's  answer to Tesla's Powerwall.

The product, which will be powered by 12 Nissan Leaf battery modules, connects to a residential power supply.

It charges up when either renewable energy (from, say, solar panels) is available, or when energy from the grid is cheap (typically at night). Then it releases that energy, powering the house, when energy costs are higher. It will also allow consumers to sell energy back to the grid, Nissan say. Read more...