Hive review

Hive - Battery Reviews

3.7

Based on 6 ratings

Finn's Hive Batteries Review & Verdict

Finn Peacock has been a Chartered Electrical Engineer since 1998, and is ex-CSIRO

Hive batteries are basically rebadged AlphaESS systems. They've often been offered via snail mail marketing promising really special deals that turn out to be not so special. I'm not a fan of this sort of marketing, nor AlphaESS batteries – so I don't recommend Hive.

Hive Batteries: Pros & Cons

  • Short product warranty, unclear performance warranty

About Hive

Hive is another brand tackling the Australian home energy storage market - but it's not a solar battery manufacturer.

Australian Office Contact Details

The distributor of Hive batteries is SolarBOS

Address: Factory 2/37-39 Lexton Road, Box Hill North VIC 3129
Telephone: 1300 444 546
Email: [email protected]
Website

Hive Battery Systems

The Hive is an Alpha-ESS Storion-Smile system - not that there's anything necessarily wrong with that, but it's just handy to know.

It should also be noted there are different Storion-Smile models - the one used for the Hive solar battery is the B3, not the Smile5 that is listed on our battery comparison table. While the Smile5 can be AC, DC, or hybrid coupled, the B3 is an AC coupled solution only - meaning a regular solar inverter is required.

The base "Hive" 2.9kWh battery (2.8kWh usable)  is a modular solution capable of being expanded to 17.4kWh by simply adding more battery modules below the base unit. Among its features is it can provide blackout protection.  

This battery has an output capacity of 3kW - which isn't much. While it has an operating temperature range of -10°C ~ 50°C, when the temperature is below 0°C or above 40°C, the performance will be further limited.

In addition to using the safest battery chemistry currently commercially available on the market – Lithium Iron Phosphate, the promotional material says it uses extra casing for the cells and special software to protect the battery from any potential damage. Just with regard to the cells, those are manufactured by Chinese company, EVE.

As for further details about the Hive battery, it's worth taking a look at our Alpha-ESS reviews page for more information on that company.

Warranty Information

The datasheet for Hive indicates a 5 year product warranty and 10 year performance warranty. But the Hive website states a "period of 24 months from the date of delivery". 5 years isn't long, but 2 years is pretty awful. We also couldn't locate details regarding the 10-year performance warranty.

If you've had a Hive system installed, let other Australians know how it's been going by leaving a review here.

Images from customers

Hive has no solar batteries in our database

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Hive Reviews (6)

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  • 5 star 2
  • 4 star 2
  • 3 star 1
  • 2 star 0
  • 1 star 1

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It’s performing very well indeed!

Installed By

Energy Buster
Very pleased with battery, charges well & quickly. Fully monitored via app or internet.

Installed By

Solar Service Group
Day to day problems are zero. Installation is easy and adaptable. Reliably charges and discharges. Have some problems with the app at times but minimal. I love the fact that it’s lithium iron phosphate, NOT lithium ion - so much safer. First time we had a blackout I naively didn’t realise we’d have no power. Don’t yet have backup, it’s an optional extra and I’m not sure how many circuits I can have it applied to. One technician told me ONLY 1. I’m still looking into that as I’d definitely like some backup as I extend the unit. All around, I’m happy with the purchase. I like the fact I can extend it when I save up for each extra unit.
This battery has worked flawlessly for nearly a year, but with no problems with supply from the grid.
The battery and backup were needed for wife's dialysis machine.
So then a few days ago there was a power cut, when the battery was fully charged, and the backup system worked to power the dialysis machine and water pump for over 6 hours.
Then I found a problem.....
The system sequence previously was that the battery was charged until full, and then moved on to feed-in to the grid.
After the grid power restoration, the sequence changed so that the grid feed-in started immediately, as well as charging the battery, at half the rate as before, so took twice as long....(not a big problem if the sun shines all day).
So where to get help....Everyone on holiday, no-one on call for problems.
I eventually found an Owner's Manual on the AlphaEss website that indicated that the system on installation had to be switched on in a particular sequence....(and switched off in sequence) which I followed and my system reverted to working correctly.
So it seems that if you lose grid power, be prepared for problems on restoration.
This system is not off grid compatible it has a maximum discharge rate of 3Kwh not enough to power a house in a black out do not buy if your intention is to be blackout protected.
Installed the panels couldn't get the battery to work waited 6 weeks for replacement battery to be installed.
2nd battery only worked for 8 months stopped working in September got a new battery and it will not work still waiting to have it fixed
so in short i would never put another hive battery in when this one packs it in thats it for hive.
This is the 3rd one and still not working
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