The DIY community is figuring out a way to power your home using your recycled laptop batteries. "DIY Powerwalls" take Tesla's Powerwall electricity storage tech to more powerful and efficient levels using discarded batteries.

Motherboard's Louise Matsakis takes us inside this thriving community finding new and sustainable ways to take homes off the grid and put them on the wall. Giant connected systems of lithium batteries can keep homes connected and supercharged for a fraction of the cost of Elon Musk's Powerwalls.

While the Tesla gadget stores up to 14 kWh, these homemade alternatives can store as much as 40 kWh. A Tesla Powerwall starts at $5,500 building your own could be as cheap as $500.