A new Q CELLS home battery system to be first sold in Australia is accompanied by a 15 year product and performance warranty as standard.
Q.HOME CORE is Q CELLS’ third generation energy storage system (ESS) and will be available in Australia from next month. The first systems sold here will be utilised as part of Solar Victoria’s VPP Pilot Program, which was recently expanded to include more VPP offers.
In an email I received last night, Q CELLS states:
“Q CELLS Australia has been selected as one of just a handful of approved partners for the program and will offering participants a fully-integrated energy solution including Q CELLS modules, 100% green VPP energy plan and Q.HOME CORE”.
You can learn more about Virtual Power Plants (VPPs) here and see a comparison of VPPs here (Q CELLS Arcstream 100% Green and a couple of other new VIC programs to be added soon).
The Q.HOME CORE system is comprised of two units, the modular Q.SAVE battery the Q.VOLT inverter.
Q.HOME CORE specifications:
- Q.SAVE battery: 6.86kWh, expandable to up to three units for maximum 20.5kWh capacity
- Battery cells: Samsung SDI Lithium Nickel-Cobalt-Aluminium Oxide (NCA) chemistry
- Q.VOLT inverter: 5kW
- Production and consumption monitoring with Q.OMMAND software and app
- Mounting: wall/floor
- Inverter dimensions/weight: 460 × 700 × 221 mm / 37.5 kg
- Battery dimensions/weight: 460 × 700 × 238 mm / 61.1 kg
- Operating Temperature Range: Q.VOLT: −20 to 60°C, Q.SAVE: −10 to 45°C
- PV Max. Input Usable Power: 8kWp ( 4 per MPPT)
- Backup power with PV: 5kW
- Switchover time to backup power: less than 0.1 seconds
- Solar System to Grid (Max. efficiency): 97%
- Solar System to Battery (Max. efficiency): 97.8%
- Battery to Grid (Max. efficiency): 96.3%
I don’t have any information on pricing yet.
The datasheet notes “competitive round-trip efficiency all-around system”, but doesn’t provide an overall round-trip efficiency figure. Round-trip efficiency is the combined loss of energy going into a battery and going out, expressed as the percentage of energy put in. If I’ve calculated correctly, the maximum round-trip efficiency based on the above would be around 94.2%.
15 Year Product/Performance Warranty
Q CELLS says it is the first manufacturer to provide a standard 15 year product warranty for an energy storage solution, which is backed by parent company Hanwha Solutions. Solar battery warranties currently usually range from 5 – 10 years.
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Update July 19, 2022: It should also be noted the warranty states (bolding mine):
“Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, defects relating to the Energy Management System (EMS), Battery Management System (BMS), and Light Emitting Diode (LED) will be warranted to the Customer for a period of 5 years from Warranty Start Date”.
Update: September 9, 2022: The latest warranty document provided by Qcells indicates the 15 year product warranty covers the entire Q.HOME CORE system.
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The warranty notes in terms of performance issues and in the event the battery system is no longer being produced, Q CELLS can choose to replace it with different product or refund the remaining annually depreciated value of the purchase price. The warranty shows the compensation rate of purchase price at year 9 -10 is just 5 – 6% and at year 14 – 15 year is 1 – 2%. However, the warranty document does acknowledge the Q CELLS’ warranty doesn’t trump the Australian Consumer Law.
Expected SOH (State Of Health) at year 15 is 60%.
Commenting on Q.HOME CORE, Managing Director of Q CELLS Australia Jin Han said:
“This addition to the Q CELLS total solar solution allows homeowners the peace of mind of an outstanding battery storage product backed by our Fortune 500 parent company Hanwha Solutions, and the aesthetics that Australians are looking for to showcase their commitment to renewable energy in their own home.”
You can find out more about Q.HOME CORE here.
Related: Q CELLS battery reviews | Q CELLS solar panel reviews.
About Michael Bloch
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I think we have the first of these in Aus – got it installed in Caulfield (Melb SE) earlier this month. Can’t wait for the Vic Solar inspection so we can use it!
PS the aesthetics of the system itself are indeed nice, but be aware you’ll have some big, bright warning stickers on the battery that detract from the sleek look somewhat (happy to provide photo if anyone’s interested).
I’m interested in a picture if you don’t mind me showing it on the internet. My email is:
[email protected]
Once it’s up and working I’d also be interested to hear what you think of it. And if it doesn’t work I’d be interested to hear that too.
Sure Ronald, email sent.
Thank you!
Hi, Interested to hear how your battery is preforming, have you joined a VPP?
Hi Elliot, the battery seems to be performing fine. It covers the shoulder period in the sunny months, but rarely lasts through the night. If it had been an extra couple of thousand I’d probably have gone for a bigger battery, but it was going to be an extra 50% of the cost of the entire system, so no go there. Happy to have even 6kWh though. We were invited to join a QCells-branded VPP, but not keen on relinquishing control.
Thanks for the response, yeah I am tossing up relinquishing control at the moment I am looking at 3 x QCells (21kWh) so the 5 year interest free payoff for joining a VPP is incentivising, rather that paying cash upfront.