Dr. Currier shows off the Tesla Powerwall in front of a group of students

On a cloudless day, more than a dozen Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University students crowded around Tesla engineer Noah Maike, who demoed the Powerwall he had recently installed.

The Powerwall is a compact battery system for storing solar or even grid energy. For students in a Mechanical Engineering sustainable design course, the Powerwall serves as a real-world example of the modern energy storage methods that they are studying.

“The end goal is to teach our students about sustainable energy and to give them hands-on access to it,” said Dr. Marc Compere, professor of Mechanical Engineering and director of the Adaptable Clean Energy (ACE) Lab.

The lab, which is designed to provide students with a realistic space to explore clean energy, mimics a typical office, including an air conditioner, lights, two computers, a television and a coffee maker. All the components run entirely on solar power.

“It’s a microcosm of either an industrial, commercial or residential electrical load,” Compere said. “And Tesla is helping us go from old technology to new technology.”

The Powerwall replaces a battery bank of eight lead-based acid batteries. Those batteries are heavy, can be slow to charge and often have a shorter life than newer battery technology.

Batteries are critical to renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind, which are inherently intermittent. Systems like the Powerwall store energy until it is needed to better meet electricity demands.

“Batteries allow our supply to match the load. That is a pathway to 100% renewable energy for all of society,” Compere said.

Tesla’s Noah Maike delivered a guest lecture on sustainable design, explaining the importance of energy storage, and he showed students how the Powerwall operates.

The Powerwall donation was set in motion by Jeralyn Harrigan, a 2022 Embry-Riddle Mechanical Engineering graduate who is now a senior electronic design engineer at Tesla.

A Tesla Powerwall surrounded by a half-circle of people
Tesla’s Noah Maike sets up the Powerwall and shows students how it operates. (Photo: Embry-Riddle/David Massey)

Designing a More Sustainable Future

In the U.S., almost 40% of total energy consumption comes from the residential and commercial sectors. Education and research at universities could help to introduce new ways to employ renewable energy technologies in these sectors.

The university’s Solar District Cup team is one example. The U.S. Department of Energy competition challenges collegiate teams to design solar storage solutions for a mixed-use district that includes commercial and residential buildings, such as those found on a typical college campus.

“They get a university's electrical energy loads for a year and give you spreadsheets for each building at 15-minute intervals,” said Compere, who advises the team. The team then uses the loads to design a solar power system that is more environmentally friendly than traditional power sources.

In 2025, the Embry-Riddle squad captured first place in their district, a feat they have managed in three of the last five years. For future teams, the ACE Lab’s new Powerwall may serve as a real-world demonstration of new technologies.

“You have that picture in your head of what it looks like and how it works," Compere said of the value of such a demonstration.

The Powerwall will also positively impact student learning, as one recent graduate quickly learned. 

“I’m really passionate about helping the environment, so I signed up for Dr. Compere’s Sustainability Design class,” Kate Nealon, who earned a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, said. “It opened a whole new world of what sustainability meant.”

Compere challenged Nealon, who is a plant enthusiast, to build a green wall for the ACE Lab.

“Plants are really good for filtering out harmful particles that are in the air,” she said.

The green wall includes a smart water irrigation system she built during the spring 2026 term as part of a semester-long group project for a second course with Compere.

“It’ll run off of some of the power from the Tesla power unit,” she said. The ACE Lab will also use its air quality sensors to evaluate the green wall’s efficacy.

“The Mechanical Engineering program is even stronger now because of this Tesla donation and their support,” Compere said. “It’s a huge plus for our students.”