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The SolarEdge Home Battery: 9.7 kWh, DC Coupled, Optional Backup
At 4 o’clock last Thursday, SolarEdge launched their home battery with an online event.
The next day, they held another launch for people who couldn’t make it to the first one. I attended both and paid 55% attention each time, so I want you to know I gave this article 110%.
Some important features of the SolarEdge Home Battery are:
The battery can be added to existing solar systems with compatible SolarEdge inverters. SolarEdge says they’ll have a special offer that will allow SolarEdge owners without an Energy Hub inverter to upgrade to one at a reduced price if they buy the battery. This will also apply if people have an existing Solar Hub inverter and want to get a larger capacity one when they have the battery installed.
Because it’s DC Coupled, there’s no internal battery inverter. This can be a big advantage in areas where battery inverter capacity counts towards the total solar inverter capacity permitted by the local DNSP (electricity network).
Here are some technical specs I pulled from its datasheet:
The SolarEdge Battery’s model number is BAT-10K1P, so presumably Bruce Wayne has a dozen of them.
It says its “Peak Roundtrip Efficiency” is greater than 94.5%. I put a red line under the word “Peak” because it’s not the same as the actual roundtrip efficiency, which is around 93.3%.
It’s a 10 kilowatt-hour battery with 9.7 kilowatt-hours of usable storage. Most households average well under 10 kilowatt-hours consumption at night so, provided the solar system is large enough to regularly fully charge the battery, for a typical household it can potentially eliminate most grid electricity consumption.
Like most home battery systems with around 10 or more kilowatt-hours of storage, the SolarEdge Home Battery can provide a continuous 5 kilowatts of power. While this is enough to meet usual household needs, it’s not difficult to draw more than 5 kilowatts depending on what appliances are used. If your goal is to minimize grid electricity consumption it’s best to use high power draw devices such as electric hot water systems, clothes dryers, and pool pumps during the day when the solar system can directly contribute power.
If 9.7 kilowatt-hours of energy storage isn’t enough, extra batteries can be installed. A Combiner Box will be required, which is an extra expense, and each one will allow up to three batteries to be connected to an inverter. If you’d rather use LG Chem batteries, the Combiner Box can be used with them.
I don’t have any information on the cost of the Combiner Box.
Round trip efficiency is how much energy gets lost between charging and discharging the battery. SolarEdge says for their battery it’s 93.3%. That’s high for a home battery system and is possible because it is DC coupled. The Tesla Powerwall 2 is AC coupled, which gives it the advantage of working with any solar inverter, but it’s only around 88% efficient.
High efficiency is definitely good, but the most important thing for maximizing energy produced is to install as large a solar system as possible. A home will be much better off with one extra solar panel than an extra 5 percentage points of battery roundtrip efficiency.
Backup power requires a SolarEdge Energy Hub single phase inverter and a Backup Box. The Backup Box is an additional expense.
The battery can be used without backup with the SolarEdge HD-Wave Genesis and HD-Wave EV single-phase inverters.
SolarEdge says it should also be possible to install their Home Battery with a SolarEdge 3φ (three-phase) Residential Inverter by the end of the year.
The battery’s operating temperature is from -10 to 50ºC. This is a good range for Australia because — at the moment — most towns and cities don’t go over 50ºC even in heatwaves.
But while this temperature range is good, there are there are places that are simply too hot for the SolarEdge battery. Its warranty will be void if installed where the ambient temperature1 exceeds 40 degrees for 5% or more of the warranty period. That’s around 18 days a year. This means you can’t install it Marble Bar in the shade or in a hot tin shed pretty much anywhere. At the moment, Alice Springs should be okay, but note the whole of Australia is getting hotter.
The warranty will also be void if the ambient temperature is under 0 degrees for 5% or more of the warranty period, but outside of the Snowy mountains, this isn’t likely to be a problem in Australia.
Unlike most battery systems, it can be stored for up to a year before use. Its temperature has to be below 30ºC for nine of those months, but being stored between 30 and 60 degrees for 3 months is okay. This makes stock management a lot easier for installers.
The battery has no active cooling system and relies on natural convection. This just means natural air movement keeps it cool. Because there’s no active cooling, there’s no fan to make noise. SolarEdge says at one metre its noise emission is under 25 decibels. That’s whisper quiet.
The battery weighs 121 kg and is 118cm high, 79cm across and 25cm deep. This picture gives an idea of its size:
These installers are just putting the plastic cover on. They aren’t casually lifting 121 kilograms. Image: SolarEdge
Note that cabling and the backup box will take up additional space. This is often left out of promotional material that frequently shows batteries installed without the stuff that actually lets it work or, worse, shows it floating in space with “god rays” coming off it:
No cabling or backup box is visible in this promotional still. While it’s not impossible to hide cabling, it can significantly add to the cost of installation.
The rays coming off this white monolith indicate it must be the god of all batteries.
The battery is IP55 rated. This means it is protected from dust and water, allowing it to be installed outside:
While it says it’s protected from jets of water, I really recommend against hosing down your home battery otherwise, you may end up meeting José 2 (Image: B&R Enclosures).
While it can be installed outside, SolarEdge makes it very clear it should be installed out of direct sunlight whenever possible. This is because heat is bad for batteries.
The battery is normally wall-mounted, but can be ground-mounted. It comes with a wall mount, but ground installation will require the purchase of a separate floor mount:
SolarEdge’s description of the floor mount is a bit confusing. One ground mount is required per battery. You can’t put four on one. Also, it’s not mandatory to mount it on the wall, that just means it comes with a wall-mount but you have to shell out for a floor mount. (I hope those batteries aren’t floor-mounted in direct sunlight.)
All communication links can be wireless, which can make installation easier. But because sending electricity through the air is both scary and dangerous, electrical cabling will still be required.
To allow for adequate cooling, the SolarEdge Home Battery requires a minimum of 20 cm clearance all around. This includes underneath when wall mounted. In addition to this, in Australia battery installations now require 60 cm clearance to the sides and 90 cm above3 and not be located inside “habitable” areas of a home.
When a blackout occurs the optional Blackout Box takes around three seconds to switch to battery power.
In backup mode, the SolarEdge Home Battery can provide up to 5 kilowatts of power, the same as on-grid operation. If you have two batteries and a 10 kilowatt Energy Hub inverter, they can provide up to 10 kilowatts of backup power.
The backup box can support up to three SolarEdge Energy Hub inverters, but each backup box can only supply backup power to a single phase.
By the end of the year, SolarEdge says Backup Box will be able to support a generator of up to 17 kilowatts.
In this graph, SolarEdge refers to it as a φ (single-phase) back-up interface, but at the launch SolarEdge just called it the Backup Box.
Like most home battery systems, it can be set to reserve some energy so you can make sure it won’t be completely flat if a blackout occurs.
The Backup Box will allow the battery to charge from solar panels during a blackout if the home has single-phase power. Even if the battery is completely drained at night during a blackout, it will still retain enough power to automatically switch on and start charging when the sun rises. This is called black start capability.
No information was given on the price of the backup box. I suspect it will add over $1,500 to the cost of installation.
The SolarEdge battery is not recommended for off-grid use. This is because it doesn’t have surge protection, which makes it difficult to cope with the inrush of current that often occurs when an electric motor starts. The sudden power draw can cause the battery system to trip and shut down. While the motors in modern fridges and freezers are generally not a problem, larger electric motors in air conditioners, washing machines, and clothes dryers may cause difficulties.
The SolarEdge Home Battery warranty4 is good compared to most home battery systems.[Update 30th May 2022: Like many home battery systems the SolarEdge warranty requires an internet connection. The warranty makes no mention of how it is affected by disruptions to internet connectivity that will inevitably occur over a 10 year period.] It’s 10 years with unlimited cycles and promises it will have at least 70% of its original capacity at the end of 10 years. Because there’s no limit to the number of cycles, the warranty will last a full decade. It also makes the battery a good choice if you know it’s likely to be used at high capacity.
The warranty says the battery cannot be removed from its original location, but the warranty can be transferred from the original purchaser to another person, provided the battery stays where it is.
I don’t have information on the warranty for the Backup Box or other components such as the connector box. While I hope their warranty length isn’t under 10 years, it would be worth checking if you’re considering buying one.
The battery has NMC lithium battery cells. The NMC stands for Nickel Manganese Cobalt oxide. All else equal, this battery chemistry isn’t as safe as more commonly used lithium iron phosphate batteries — also known as lithium ferro phosphate or LiFePO4 if you prefer letters and numbers — but battery systems aren’t built on the basis of all else being equal. No one just throws battery cells in a box and calls it a day. (If anyone does, you definitely shouldn’t buy that battery.) Battery safety depends on what kind of care and precautions have been taken with the entire system, and I strongly suspect SolarEdge has paid close attention to this.
The battery has temperature sensors and if it gets too hot it will send messages to SolarEdge and the homeowner saying there’s a problem. If the temperature rises too high the built-in fire extinguisher will activate and hopefully stop any combustion that may be occurring.
Don’t worry, the installer will slot the fire extinguisher into the hole. You don’t have to stand there holding it.
It’s a potassium nitrate extinguisher that doesn’t use electronic temperature sensors and has a simple heat activated mechanism. Potassium nitrate is sometimes used as a food additive and isn’t very dangerous. I also suspect it will mostly be contained within the battery case if activated.
If the battery is overheating because there is a fault in the Battery Management System (BMS), the extinguisher will take it out and stop whatever it’s doing wrong.
SolarEdge says households with SolarEdge Home Batteries can join Virtual Power Plants (VPPs) and they are currently in discussions with a variety of providers. Because the warranty has unlimited cycles, it will still last a full 10 years even if joining a VPP greatly increases battery use.
SolarEdge said the battery should be eligible for state battery subsidies in Victoria and South Australia. Once accepted in these states it’s likely to be accepted for any other state subsidies, such as in NSW.
SolarEdge is offering a special deal that will allow people with existing SolarEdge residential inverters to upgrade to an Energy Hub inverter at a reduced cost if they buy an the battery. This will also apply to people who currently have an Energy Hub but want to upgrade to a larger one. These will be new inverters with fresh warranties. Just how good the deals will be isn’t clear, but it will operate at the installer level and it’s up to them how they’ll pass it on to customers.
A DC-coupled battery, like the SolarEdge Home Battery, shares the solar inverter with the batteries. An AC coupled battery, such as the Tesla Powerwall 2, has its own built-in battery inverter.
Depending on where you are, the battery inverter in an AC coupled battery system can count towards the total amount of solar inverter capacity you are allowed to install, which can be a major drawback. A DC-coupled inverter avoids this problem but requires the battery to be compatible with the solar inverter. This is why the SolarEdge Home Battery only works with specific SolarEdge inverters.
Generally, on-grid solar systems without batteries can only have a panel capacity that is up to 133% of the inverter capacity. But with a suitable solar inverter and DC coupled battery it’s possible to exceed this solar panel capacity limit. Installing a solar system with a SolarEdge Home Battery, or adding one to a suitable existing system can allow up to an extra 5 kilowatts of panel capacity to be added. If two batteries are installed, up to 10 kilowatts of extra panel capacity can be installed. STCs, which lower the cost of rooftop solar, can be claimed for the additional panel capacity.
This additional panel capacity can provide much greater savings on electricity bills and provide a better return on money invested than the battery.
If the solar panels produce more energy than the inverter capacity then, instead of being wasted as would be the case with an AC coupled battery, the surplus energy can be used to charge batteries if they’re not already at full capacity.
SolarEdge did not reveal the price of their battery or Backup Box. They also didn’t say how much the floor mount or the combiner box for multiple batteries would cost. But a secret squirrel told me to expect to pay under $10,000 for one installed without backup. (If I’m wrong about this, let me know and secret squirrel will be in big trouble.)
Update 3:17pm 29th March 2020: A source even more reliable than Secret Squirrel has told me the SolarEdge Home Battery is likely to have an installed price much higher than $10,000. Without backup or an inverter upgrade its installed cost is likely to be over $12,000. If an inverter upgrade is necessary, that will further increase the price.5
Given its secret squirrel price, the SolarEdge Home Battery is unlikely to pay for itself through savings on electricity bills alone. But if your electricity use is high, you find a suitable VPP and get a state battery subsidy, it’s possible you be able to come out ahead — depending on electricity prices and how long the battery lasts beyond its warranty.
But there are plenty of reasons to get a battery other than raw financial returns. In which case, for Solar Edge system owners this looks like a well thought out, safe, quiet battery at about the same price as most of its competitors – about $1000 per kWh installed, or more with backup.
Added: If you end up installing one of these batteries, add your thoughts on its performance and features to our SolarEdge Home Battery reviews page.
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Ronald was born more years ago than he can remember. He first became interested in environmental matters when he was four years old after the environment tried to kill him by smashing fist sized hailstones through the roof of his parents’ Toowoomba home. Swearing revenge, he began his lifelong quest to reduce the harm the environment could cause. By the time he was eight, he was already focused on using the power of the sun to stop fossil fuel emissions destabilizing the climate. But it took him about another ten years to focus on it in a way that wasn’t really stupid
I can’t imagine an inbuilt fire extinguisher is going to do much about an NMC lithium battery experiencing excessive heat from thermal runaway. Pretty much nothing can as the cells supply their own oxygen.
Curious as to what it would be expected to achieve?
It’s not a Tesla. It has a different chemical makeup with a phosphate component, so exposure to oxygen won’t initiate a runaway fire I would think.
“The battery has NMC lithium battery cells. The NMC stands for Nickel Manganese Cobalt oxide. All else equal, this battery chemistry isn’t as safe as more commonly used lithium iron phosphate batteries — also known as lithium ferro phosphate or LiFePO4 …”
Thanks – will look at batteries soon, so appreciate all the findings etc.
Being a novice, it seems that the final price on this unit will not be at $10k, but higher once you add on the extra’s +
Be interested if you could do a comparison with the Telsa ?
Sizes, prices pro’s/Cons etc
Thanks Ronald, yet again an interesting article. Thanks for giving 110%.
“ But because sending electricity through the air is both scary and dangerous, electrical cabling will still be required. ” Nicola Tesla would disagree, surely? LOL 🙂
I would love to fit a battery and would do so in a heart beat, not for cost savings but for the environmental benefits of not pulling from the grid in the evening peak, and for peace of mind when the you-know-what hits the fan in a natural disaster, or when our grid fails on a hot summer evening etc.
However sadly – I say that in jest as far as my wallet is concerned of course – I’m on the old legacy FIT in Qld, so it would be economically stupid to do so, kind of like masochism. I would of course then lose my premium FIT immediately. In the meantime I’ll hope for no serious natural disasters leaving us without power, and continue to charge my Model 3 either on a very sunny day when solar is really pumping, or after midnight.
Excellent information, well structured, and easy to follow. But. Why are these batteries so damn expensive? Is it to cover the research and development? In these current costly times, it’s just another impossible amount to find in the household budget.
One reason this particular battery is expensive at the moment is there has been a big run-up in raw material and component prices over the past 5 months or so. The good news is I expect them to lower the price of the battery once commodity prices fall, but it may take a while for this to happen.
I paid $5.3K for my Alpha ESS battery about a year ago fully installed through Shinehub, has 9KW effective capacity but better chemistry than the Tesla from what I understand. I didn’t even have to pay upfront, interest free over five years.
It has remote monitoring software so I can program it to charge at a fixed time from my mobile phone.
I have had no problems whatsoever with it and its a good looking sleek unit.
I DONT UNDERSTAND WHY PEOPLE DONT TALK ABOUT THIS BATTERY AND HOW CHEAP IT IS. I FEEL AS THOUGH I MUST BE IN A PARALLEL UNIVERSE.
Shinehub have specials now and then, they were even offering a similar battery, same make but different module for $2K last year fully installed.
I got a quote in WA a couple of months back (indicative before release) from a SolarQuotes recommended installer of “$11990-12490 depending on install” that included “black out protection as well.” I already have an Energy Hub inverter.
Given that I have seen some other indicative quotes on the Backup Interface in the $1500-2000, this put the battery installed at about the $10,500 for my estimations. Given the “WA tax” this is inline with your secret squirrel.
I also put together a spreadsheet for the battery based on my usage, round trip efficiency, days of full use vs days of 75% use, battery degradation at 3%pa and a bunch of other variables. This put the payback period in WA at 11 years for full cycle usage on the battery at one cycle per day (not saving the 20% for backup use). Of course there’s a number of assumptions there.
“Not suitable for off grid” Isn’t this the status during backup in a grid failure? Do we need to be alert to the 3 second delay in switch over, so as to run around & shut down any larger induction motors?
Typically households will be fine as they normally don’t have large motors running, but if the backup power doesn’t come on, then yes, I would recommend switching off induction motors.
I looked at getting a battery when we installed a new solar system but if I can’t use it ‘off grid’ than what’s the use? Also, I am starting to have doubts about things like this being so good for the environment. Are we replacing coal mines with lithium and other rare minerals? Are we going to regret all the solar panels that need to be replaced at some time. What is the world going to do with all those – in landfill?
Had a quick look at this but keep wondering why I would spend that money but still have no power during an outrage? Better buy a solar generator instead for emergency use? Would love to get some info on those – like the Ecoflo one that is 3Kw. Anyone have input?
If your system includes the Solaredge backup interface, you will have backup (though perhaps with a few seconds interruption between when you lose power and the battery takes over).
No I don’t have Solaredge.
Yikes. I’m too chicken to use LiNiMC batteries for my household. They were in my car when the battery pack caught fire and burnt the whole thing to the ground, and there is no option to highest energy-density for mobile use.
LiFePO₄ is less likely to burn us all to death in our beds, but any Lithium-ion chemistry is destined to be buried in the ground at end of life, in the absence of any other options.
Zn-Br flow batteries are currently the only realistic, fire-retardant, refurbishable option.
Totally agree that LFP is better suited for stationary applications (Tesla is going that way, as well as for their shorter range cars).
Hopefully EOL batteries won’t end up in landfill if companies like Redwood prosper:
As a solaredge shareholder and installer I’m disappointed in this unit. It’s too big and cumbersome to install with one guy and it’s expensive. We won’t be installing these and will install lgchems new prime batteries which solve the above problems. Disappointed when I saw all the specs on these six months ago.
Installed cost well over 1000 per kWh. Other established companies such as BYD sell for about 750 per kWh if you shop around and server rack batteries from Australian suppliers for about $600 per kWh – which is is for safer Lithium Iron phosphate LiFePO, safer than Lithium Ion. Even cheaper still from overseas but less backup.
I was considering the Solaredge Solar Battery given the lower cost at $8900 vs $11500 for a Tesla Powerwall 2, but after seeing the comments re NMC battery safety and the rather concerning inclusion of a fire extinguisher, doesn’t give you a lot of confidence in the product.
Just a question on cost, it seems that the installation cost for a battery is around $3-4K. That seems like an awful lot for a half to one days work is it not. I have an electronics background and it seems to me that bolting a battery to the wall and a bit of local electrical wiring and switches is not a lot for 3K. Really what are you getting for that amount of money. I would be interested on others (polite) views on that.
With a big feed in tariff why would you charge your car through the day? Wouldn’t it make more sense to send every kWh you can back to your retailer and use as much power from the grid after solar has finished for the day?
This would only make sense if you had one of the few remaining high feed-in tariffs. For the large majority of solar homes, grid electricity costs considerably more than what they get in solar feed-in tariff.
Thanks Ronald, Great Article, Clear and Concise, But a quick clarification
I noticed in the backup section. “The backup box can support up to three SolarEdge Energy Hub inverters, but each backup box can only supply backup power to a single phase. ”
Currently running 3 x Home Hubs (SE6000H) with oversized to 7kw on each inverter.
So I’m just confirming your comments, that the 3 Home Hubs could charge the battery but only one hub could provide power in a blackout case. Also based off this design would the other 2 home hubs function in a blackout (eg: charge the battery, even while technically not receiving a backup circuit).
You’ll need to check with SolarEdge for a definitive answer, but my understanding is one to three SolarEdge batteries and one backup box can be connected to one of your Energy Hubs and it could supply backup power to the phase it’s on. The other two Energy Hubs would not function in a blackout. The SolarEdge Battery (or batteries) would, unfortunately, be unable to charge from solar during a blackout.
When there’s not a blackout all three of your Energy Hubs could effectively charge the battery as far as your electricity meter is concerned.
Hi Ronald, Thanks for the info. I have contacted the installer(EnergyAssist) who installed my solaredge system and it seems I only have two options for batteries: Tesla or Solaredge, in which the second option would require a change of my current solaredge inverter to be compatible with the batteries. This is what they quoted me:
$11,900 less Solar Vic rebate of $3,500 = $8,400. This includes 5kW SolarEdge Energy Hub 10kW SolarEdge battery And installation (subject to confirmation)
Personally it doesn’t seem expensive but I don’t know much about inverters and if they are swapping our existing inverter to be compatible with the batteries, will the new inverter be compatible if we decide to switch to tesla powerwall?
When I first bought the system, I was told by the installer that the system is futureproof with plenty of battery options. If changing to this new inverter + battery setup means I have no chance to shop around for batteries in future, isn’t it a bad idea?
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