You can now buy an Aquion salt water battery to power your home. Nemo not included.
UPDATE MARCH 2017: As of March 8, 2017, Aquion has filed a voluntary petition under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code
UPDATE JULY 2017 : Aquion Energy is resuming operations
Keen on storing your excess solar in a big battery? Worried about having a big box of toxic and/or flammable chemicals in your home? Then you’ll want to know about the Aquion battery and its salt water technology. [Read more…]
The new Powerwall warranty quietly introduced into Australia last month says you are not covered for ‘normal degradation’. Whatever that means.
Can I interest you in buying a revolutionary new energy storage system? It is called the Brakulator 7000. It has a usable storage capacity of 6.4 kilowatt-hours with a continuous power output of 3.3 kilowatts. And the great thing is it comes with a 10 year warranty.
Are you interested? [Read more…]
The Sunny Boy Storage. A low(ish) cost way to add a Powerwall and other batteries to your existing solar system. Image: SMA
The SMA Sunny Boy Storage is a battery-inverter that you can use to add battery storage to your existing rooftop solar system.
It does not store energy itself, but integrates modern battery packs, such as the Tesla Powerwall, into your home’s electricity supply. It is exciting because it is the cheapest and simplest way to add a battery such as the Powerwall to your existing system. This is because it can re-use your existing inverter – no need to replace it. [Read more…]
How does the Aussie Redflow ZCell compare to lithium ion batteries?
Note: the Cell battery has been superseded as Redflow continuously improves its product. The latest version of Redflow’s battery is called the ZBM3.
The Australian company Redflow is accepting pre-orders for its new home energy storage system, the ZCell battery. It has a 10 kilowatt-hour usable storage capacity, can provide 3 kilowatts of continuous power, and is suitable for on-grid and off-grid use. Deliveries will begin in August 2016.
In this Z-Cell battery review I go deep into the zinc bromide technology’s pros and cons compared to its main challenger: lithium ion batteries.
While there are many lithium-ion storage systems on the market, the Redflow ZCell stands out as the only zinc bromide flow battery. Its unique chemistry gives it several advantages over lithium-ion systems. One is it can lie dormant for long periods at any level of charge without suffering from deterioration. And another is its storage capacity will never decline over its over its entire lifespan. [Read more…]
The Enphase AC battery. image: Enphase
Until now, if you have been one of the highly intelligent and undoubtedly good looking people with a grid connect solar system and you wanted to add batteries, you were looking at spending at least $10,000.
But that will no longer be the case in August when the teeny tiny $2,000 Enphase AC Battery becomes available in Australia. [Read more…]
The GCL E-Kwbe battery may be unpronounceable – but it may also save the world. Kind of.
GCL, a large Chinese company, has unveiled a new lithium-ion energy storage system at a price point that some consider to be shocking. Called the EKwBe, it has a seven year warranty, a ten year expected lifespan, and comes in two varieties. A 2.5 kilowatt-hour system that wholesales excluding GST for $1,499 and a larger 5.6 kilowatt-hour system that wholesales for $2,999. This is the lowest price that has been offered for any comparable energy storage system and I believe that it, or something similar, has the potential to change the world.
Update: 1st December 20016. The GCL EKWBE battery currently appears to be retailing for around $3,600 inc GST. This doesn’t give it a cost per warranted kilowatt-hour as low as the announced Tesla Powerwall 2, but it will be interesting to see if GCL will cut its price further in response once the Powerwall 2 is actually available for installation.
[wpdtable id=”5918″] [Read more…]
How does the LG Resu compare to the Tesla Powerwall?
If you are looking at a 6.4kWh Lithium-Ion battery for use with your solar power system in Australia right now, you are probably tossing up between a LG Chem Resu 6.4Ex and the Tesla Powerwall.
To help you decide which one is for you – here is a side by side comparison, and some commentary on their warranties below. [Read more…]
A Sonnen Battery Storage Unit. Photo: sonnen GmbH
The surge of popularity of solar and storage in Oz has triggered a battery storage invasion as companies are keen to test our country as an ideal market. The most recent of these announcements comes from German clean energy company Sonnen. [Read more…]
Duracell has just announced its first product in the home battery storage market – competing directly with Tesla.
Well, it finally happened. After sitting on the sidelines as the solar battery storage boom unfolded around it, the world’s biggest name in batteries has finally joined the party.
Today, April 1, at a glittering press event in Bethel, Connecticut, Duracell’s VP of Solar Storage, George Leclanche, unveiled the Duracell Ultra Lithium Home Battery – which will be available in priority markets including Australia by the end of the year. [Read more…]
The cost of a storing each kWh in a Tesla Powerwall is much more than you might think.
[Update: on Oct 28 2016 Tesla announced the Powerwall 2 ]
[Update: In June 2016 Tesla updated the Powerwall warranty – details here]
11 months ago Elon Musk jumped on stage and announced the Powerwall. The Tesla data sheets released after Musk’s presentation proclaimed we would soon be able to buy a 7kWh daily cycling Powerwall for US$3,000. It would be guaranteed for 10 years with an optional 10 year warranty extension available. Treehouse, one of the companies who Tesla announced would be first to sell it in the US declared that $3,000 was the retail price – not the wholesale price and we all went “Wow! Cheap batteries have finally arrived.”. [Read more…]
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