Builder uses Tesla system to help power area new home

BABCOCK RANCH — Pulte Homes, using energy partially from a Tesla battery system, recently completed a first-of-its-kind solar home in the Southwest Florida market.

The home, according to a statement, is in the Lake Babcock neighborhood of Babcock Ranch, billed as America’s first solar-powered town. The new home includes 21 Panasonic HIT 330-watt solar panels with embedded Enphase Microinverters, the statement adds. It also includes a Tesla Powerwall stored energy system that the homeowner can control and monitor with an app. The home is available for purchase; homes in that neighborhood start in the mid-$200s, according to Pulte Home's website.