Finn's Altius Batteries Review & Verdict
Finn Peacock has been a Chartered Electrical Engineer since 1998, and is ex-CSIRO
Altius home batteries are featuring in solar packages being offered by the "good different" discount supermarket chain Aldi. A supermarket offering solar is certainly different, but are these batteries any good?
My first take is the 4.6kWh of usable battery is too small, particularly if you leave some energy reserved for backup purposes. While you can add extra batteries, you may as well buy one that's larger from the get-go.
On the plus side I’ve been assured that the battery contains no horsemeat.
Altius Batteries: Pros & Cons
- Cheap (as part of an Aldi solar/battery system)
- Battery capacity too small
- Needs backup switch
- Warranty lacking detail
About Altius
Altius is a newish brand in Australia offering solar panels, inverters and home batteries - and it's had a major profile boost through its association with Aldi.
Contact Details
The distributor in Australia for Altius batteries is Tempo.
Address: Level 15, 177 Pacific Highway, North Sydney, NSW 2060
Telephone: 1800 886 649
Website
Company Info
Altius wastes no words on describing itself. In fact, there are very few words about the company on its website, other than to say it's a reputable company and to draw focus on its partnership with Aldi.
With regard to Tempo, it's a consumer goods sourcing distribution firm that also develops private brands.
Altius (Aldi) Home Batteries
The Altius home battery on offer in Aldi solar packages has 5.1kWh capacity, which isn't much. Furthermore, that's nominal capacity, not useable capacity - which is 4.608 kWh. As a comparison, a Tesla Powerwall offers 13.5 kWh useable capacity. But the Powerwall is also much more expensive.
Aldi says it has been sized so the majority of homes will use all of this stored energy every night. However, up three additional batteries can be added if necessary.
The battery has lithium-iron phosphate (LiFePo4) cells and a "state of the art" battery management system that provide up to a claimed 6000 charge and discharge cycles before a significant drop in performance. It has operating temperature ranges of 0°C to 55°C (charge) and -10°C to 55°C (discharge).
As for power, it has a 3.38kW continuous rating, but can sustain a peak power load of 6.27kW for 10 seconds. Paired with the Aldi hybrid inverter (also from Altius), there is backup capability - but you'll need a bypass switch as well in case the inverter fails in to continue mains supply to the circuits it's attached to.
The dimensions of this wall-mounted Altius battery are 542 x 197 x 468 mm, and it weighs 49 kilograms.
Other Altius components (inverter and solar panels) included in Aldi's packages are manufactured by Chinese companies - Afore and Horay Solar respectively. Their battery is also produced in China, but we haven't determined by who as yet.
Warranty Information
As mentioned, Aldi says the system can provide up to 6,000 charge/discharge cycles before performance really drops off. At one cycle a day, that's more than 16 years. But the Aldi datasheet mentions a 10 year warranty on the Altius battery. Further warranty details weren't available from the Aldi site at the time of publishing.
Thinking about residential energy storage? Check out the SolarQuotes guide to home batteries before you make a purchase decision. And if you've had one of these batteries installed at your place, please leave a review - many Australians would be interested in what you have to say!
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