Melon Tusk, (CEO, Tesla) :
Melon: Don't lie Dreampak, it is always a team effort. I'm Melon Tusk and I'm excited to be back for another discussion. I'm the CEO of Tesla, although today I'm not here in my capacity as the owner. I am here as a responsible citizen.

Lio-Na-Dio Caprio :
Lio: Hello, Lio-Na-Dio Caprio here. Although you all must have known me as an actor, there is another side of me. In 1998, I established a foundation with the mission of protecting the world and worked on some of the most pressing environmental issues of our day.

Grace Bottleneck (Secretary of Energy, USA) :
Minister: Hello, I'm Grace Bottleneck - the acting US Secretary of Energy. We look into the handling the policies of the US Nuclear Program, but also keep an eye on other energy sources.

Lio-Na-Dio Caprio :
Lio: Its great to have a good people to speak to about climate change and alternative energy. To get a context, do watch our film 'Before the Flood'.

Dreampak Ahuja (ex-CFO, Tesla) :
CFO: Yes, climate change is a pressing concern and while the entire world should come together to combat it, I think that the brightest minds should dedicate their professional expertise to this cause.

Grace Bottleneck (Secretary of Energy, USA) :
Minister: Absolutely. We are quite happy that Tesla is moving in that direction. Your contribution is quite significant, which started with electric cars, then the Tesla Wall and now is moving to mainstream energy projects.

Melon Tusk (CEO, Tesla) :
Melon: Thanks a lot, Grace. Things are moving faster than anticipated with alternative energy technology. Although Wind and Tidal power are being harnessed, solar energy is the key to the future - since it is available even in dry areas with little wind speed.

Grace Bottleneck (Secretary of Energy, USA) :
Minister: All being said and done - there's a major concern. The main issue of these type of power, even solar, is with storing energy for later use. But Tesla and you have been making headlines since they have countered that quite effectively.

Lio-Na-Dio Caprio :
Lio: That's great! But what is it exactly? What technology has been developed? And why doesn't the world know this?

Melon Tusk (CEO, Tesla) :
Melon: Be patient Lio, we'll tell you. It was on March '17 that we opened a huge solar farm in Hawaii which will change the economic and ecological future of the island forever.

Grace Bottleneck (Secretary of Energy, USA) :
Minister: Lio, they've been making energy battery packs to store the solar energy. Never has this been done before. Earlier, the island needed to get in fuel through ships to satiate their energy needs. The petrol/diesel was used in generators to produce electricity.

Lio-Na-Dio Caprio :
Lio: Oh, but this is neither sustainable nor cheap. Transporting oil in barrels over ships is both dangerous and expensive.

Melon Tusk (CEO, Tesla) :
Melon: Exactly, so we came up with a cheaper and cleaner solution. Now, we have the energy farm running. We've proved that we can directly absorb solar power throughout the day into these batteries and then discharge it back at night.
Even though we might have clouds coming over or even though it might not line up with when people want to use, it is a store for later.

Lio-Na-Dio Caprio :
Lio: That's great, Melon. I think with this, Tesla must have become the first solar plant in the US to provide electricity through the grid that can meet the demand even at night.

Grace Bottleneck (Secretary of Energy, USA) :
Minister: Yes, not only that, but it is one of the biggest battery systems on the planet. The project has 55,000 solar panels and 272 Tesla Power Packs.

Dreampak Ahuja (ex-CFO, Tesla) :
CFO: I'm impressed that the Secretary of Energy herself is taking this interest. Yes, this can provide 13 megawatts through the regular energy grid. Tesla sells this energy to the Hawaiian government agencies at just 13 cents per watt. This is much cheaper than fuel.

Melon Tusk (CEO, Tesla) :
Melon: And this is not even the full story. We have a project in Southern California, too. We have installed 396 batteries which are connected to the power lines. They suck up excess energy during the day and supply the energy at night.

Grace Bottleneck (Secretary of Energy, USA) :
Minister: I want to know if this is replicable and scalable. How much time did the entire project take to be set up?

Melon Tusk (CEO, Tesla) :
Melon: We had the project up and running in 96 days, that is just a little over 3 months.

Lio-Na-Dio Caprio :
Lio: And how were you able to do it in such a short span of time?

Dreampak Ahuja (ex-CFO, Tesla) :
CFO: It all comes from Tesla's giant gigafactory in Nevada. It is the largest building in the world (it can fit a hundred Boeing planes) and its length (not height) is even more than Burj Khalifa.

Grace Bottleneck (Secretary of Energy, USA) :
Minister: It's impressive. If I'm not mistaken, this facility would make Tesla Energy the biggest battery manufacturer on earth. They've leveraged their economies of scale for growth.

Lio-Na-Dio Caprio :
Lio: But I'm scared, too. A lot of harmful metals also go into the production of the batteries and solar cells. Wouldn't it end up doing more bad than good?

Melon Tusk (CEO, Tesla) :
Melon: I care about the environment and have designed the process in the least harmful manner. The factory has a rail entrance so raw materials come without any extra wastage. Additionally, the decommissioned batteries are recycled by the same plant.

Dreampak Ahuja (ex-CFO, Tesla) :
CFO: Don't worry, people. Tesla's got you covered.

Lio-Na-Dio Caprio :
Lio: Wow, who would have thought that solar power would so soon move on from charging batteries for phones and flashlights to a full-fledged power supply?

Dreampak Ahuja (ex-CFO, Tesla) :
CFO: Yes, they can charge up to 1500 times than 4 hours. And we are looking at many things for households, too.

Grace Bottleneck (Secretary of Energy, USA) :
Minister: You mean the roof tiles, right?

Melon Tusk (CEO, Tesla) :
Melon: Yes, we recently unveiled a range of solar roof tiles. These are really beautiful, and when combined with our domestic battery (Tesla Power wall), it makes every house self-sufficient.

Lio-Na-Dio Caprio :
Lio: That means we can all cut off ourselves from the grid and rely solely on alternative energy!

Dreampak Ahuja (ex-CFO, Tesla) :
CFO: Absolutely! A Tesla Power wall can run a 4 bedroom home for one day, but with the tiles - you can practically have free power indefinitely.

Grace Bottleneck (Secretary of Energy, USA) :
Minister: I've seen designs of those tiles. They are stronger than conventional ones, easier to assemble and also low maintainence. I was surprised to know that each tile also has a heating and defrosting system for the snow.

Dreampak Ahuja (ex-CFO, Tesla) :
CFO: Tesla and SolarCity want to give you the best, Madam Secretary. Every year, 800 million+ roofs are changed. We want to reach all of them. It's been designed keeping the users in mind. No complex wires, only simple clips between tiles.

Grace Bottleneck (Secretary of Energy, USA) :
Minister: That is a very impressive plan. But tell me something, where did the idea of storing solar energy come from?

Melon Tusk (CEO, Tesla) :
Melon: Well, This was all a part of emergency response. It was predicted that California shall have energy shortages. And there is already more pressure on non-nuclear non-reweable sources of energy.

Grace Bottleneck (Secretary of Energy, USA) :
Minister: Yes, the Department of Energy is phasing out and shutting down all nuclear plants. They aren't good from an ecological perspective.

Lio-Na-Dio Caprio :
Lio: True, true. There was also a leak at a natural gas storage facility in California. Not good for health, plus a possibility for an explosion.

Dreampak Ahuja (ex-CFO, Tesla) :
CFO: Moreover, we are also planning to fix South Australia's power shortages. They have abundant sunlight but still had major power shortage. With SolarCity and advanced battery systems, they can have unlimited electricity.

Grace Bottleneck (Secretary of Energy, USA) :
Minister: But let's not get too carried away. We still don't know the production cost of the batteries, or their life and also whether they are environmentally sustainable or not.

Melon Tusk (CEO, Tesla) :
Melon: With more Tesla Energy projects, we'll get to it very soon, thank you.