Tesla, Brookfield and Dacra to Build Energy-Neutral Housing Development in Austin

SunHouse at Easton Park aims to be model for sustainable large-scale housing projects around the world

Elon Musk, Bruce Flatt of Brookfield, and Craig Robins of Dacra with SunHouse at Easton Park in Austin, Texas (Getty, Brookfield, Easton Park)
Elon Musk, Bruce Flatt of Brookfield, and Craig Robins of Dacra with SunHouse at Easton Park in Austin, Texas (Getty, Brookfield, Easton Park)

Elon Musk is entering the Lone Star State’s hottest real estate market, promising to help cool the climate.

Musk’s Tesla Energy is partnering with Brookfield Asset Management and Dacra to create SunHouse at Easton Park in Austin, Texas, the first Tesla Solar neighborhood and the nation’s most sustainable residential community, according to a news release from Brookfield.

The goal of creating SunHouse is to establish an energy-neutral, sustainable community and a model for the design and construction of sustainable large-scale housing projects around the world, the company said.

The new community being developed by Brookfield and Dacra will feature solar power and battery installations placed in different housing types in SunHouse.

“Neighborhood solar installations across all housing types will reshape how people live,” Musk said, according to the release. “The feedback we get from the solar and battery products used in this community will impact how we develop and launch new products.”

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Tesla’s V3 solar roof tiles and Powerwall 2 battery storage units will be designed and marketed separately. The tiles and units will be installed in phases at homes, which will be developed in Brookfield’s Easton Park master-planned residential community. Electric vehicle charging stations will be included in each home and throughout the community.

Tesla Solar will oversee management of the homes’ energy systems. Brookfield’s renewable power business will integrate a community-wide solar program to serve broader public use needs and surrounding neighborhoods, the company said.

Brookfield anticipates the solar-powered homes in Easton Park will produce enough energy and reduce the daily demand on Texas’s electric grid

SunHouse residents will be provided with back-up storage in the event of a power outage, and potentially could be compensated for returning power to the energy grid, the developers said.