1st Tesla Powerwall, which lets you store solar energy, installed in Sask. home

Chris Taschuk already had solar panels installed on his farm near PilotButte, Sask.all he was missing was a way to store the power.

"It's always been a problem," said Tuschak."What do you do at night with solar power?"

Generating power is not the issue when it comes to many renewable energy sources, but storing it is. That's why Taschukrecently had a Tesla Powerwall installed in his home.

The Powerwallis the first of its kind to be installed in the province and essentially acts as rechargeable battery that can power a home when the electricity goes out.

"You can charge your battery during the day with the sun and then at night you can actuallyuse the battery to actually have power during the night," said Taschuk.

During a power outage, the Powerwall works instantly as a generator for the house, which means you don't have reset your digital clocks, lose unsaved work or any number of other technology related headaches.

'Somebody at some point has to do their part'

Taschuksaid he follows Tesla and founder Elon Musk quite closely, and when the Powerwallwas announced and became available in Canada, he ordered it.

On the Tesla website, each Powerwall, with supportinghardware, is listed at $8,100.

Taschuksaid it was worth it.

"I do a lot of thinking about what the future of mankind is going to be like if we just stick our heads in the sand and pretend that fossil fuel isn't going to run out," he said.

"Also, there's the whole aspect of global warming, which isn't good for anybody and might cause our early demise."

Brooke Longpre, theco-founder and owner of Sound Solar Systems, said the installation of solar panels and technology is part of a common good.

"We're moving toward a more sustainable way to live here," said Longpre. "It's an important piece of a lifestyle where you're producing power, you're consuming power and then you're storing power."

Her company installs Powerwallsin Saskatchewan and Alberta. Longpre said there are several people who will have the Powerwallsinstalled in Saskatchewan in the near future.

"Somebody, at some point, has to do their part," saidLongpre.

By 2030, the SaskPower plans to have 50 per cent of all power inthe province generated by renewable means.