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Tesla's new rechargeable battery that can power your home is coming this summer

Tesla Powerwall
The Powerwall. AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu

Tesla will be introducing a new version of its rechargeable battery system, the Powerwall, this year — but what improvements we will see is still unclear.

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The Powerwall can store solar energy and provide backup power for your home.

The first version, unveiled in 2015, can fit either on the inside or outside of the wall of your house. It comes in a 10 kWh model that costs $3,500 and a 7 kWh model priced at $3,000.

The system can connect to the internet to create "smart microgrids" that could potentially power a home off the grid entirely.

Tesla received 38,000 pre-orders for the Powerwall, selling out through the first half of 2016. Now a new version is in store, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said in a talk to Tesla owners in Paris January 29, The Verge reported.

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"We've got the Tesla Powerwall and Powerpack, which we have a lot of trials underway right now around the world. We've seen very good results," Musk said during his talk. "We'll be coming out with version two of the Powerwall probably around July, August this year, which will see further step change in capabilities."

Tesla and its partners have invested about $5 billion to get its giant battery plant, the Gigafactory, up and running.

The Nevada-based factory is expected to reach full production by 2017, with the plan of building 500,000 batteries a year by the end of the decade once it is fully operational.

Tesla Elon Musk
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