South Australia to install solar panels and Tesla batteries at 50,000 homes

South Australia will roll out solar panels and Tesla batteries to at least 50,000 homes to form what, according to the government, will be the world's largest virtual power plant.

Initially, the panels and batteries will undergo trial at 1,100 public housing properties. The 5 Kw solar panels and 13.5 Kwh Tesla Powerwall 2 batteries will then be installed free of charge and financed through electricity sales, according to the state government, ahead of a state election next month.

This will be extended to 24,000 public housing properties. At a later stage, the deal will be extended to all South Australian households, with a plan for at least 50,000 to participate in the next four years.

On completion, the virtual power facility could provide as much capacity as a large gas turbine or coal power plant, Tesla said in a statement.

''Tesla is gaining a reputation here for getting things done,'' Tony Wood, energy programme director at the Grattan Institute, a Melbourne-based think tank, said in a phone interview, Bloomberg reported. ''If South Australia can sort through the funding and technical side of this project, then it's worth doing because we'll learn a lot more about rolling out distributed solar and batteries at scale.''

Meanwhile, premier of South Australia, Jay Weatherill visited solar panel manufacturer Tindo in Adelaide today to promote his plan, which is expected to create 250 jobs from the installation of Elon Musk's Tesla Powerwall 2 products, and a further 260 in the supply chain.

"The contract with Tesla requires local content," he said, Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported.

"Tindo is the only manufacturer of solar panels in the southern hemisphere [and is] here in this country.

"It's extraordinary that we have this opportunity to grow jobs here in South Australia."

Opposition leader Steven Marshall promised a Liberal government would honour any contracts the signed by the government to roll out the Tesla plan. He added, however, that it would give no commitment to meeting the target of 50,000 homes.