Equana Battery: An Independent Review by Solar Choice

Background on Equana – Company History

Sustainable Energy Technologies was established by David and Michael Carten and renamed Eguana Technologies Inc. in September 2013. Eguana Technologies Inc. is based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. In Europe and North America, Eguana develops, produces, and distributes innovative power inverters for solar photovoltaic systems, small wind turbines, fuel cells, and energy storage. Under the Enduro, Evolve, and Elevate brands, it offers a variety of energy storage solutions for home and business applications.

Eguana, which sells energy storage devices under its own brand and as an OEM for other companies, reported CA$2.18 million (US$1.65 million) in revenues for the third quarter of 2019.

Moreover, Eguana reported CA$6.62 million year-to-date sales, increasing 154 percent over the previous year. It also increased quarterly gross margin from a loss of CA$60,134 to a profit of CA$271,667 from product sales and engineering services. Operating losses fell from CA$5.49 million to CA$3.39 million in the nine months from the start of the financial year.

Eguana Evolve has a long list of accomplishments:

• 2020: Eguana became the first provider to offer various battery chemistries with the introduction of the Evolve LFP.

• 2019: Hanwha Q Cells and Enduro signed an exclusive private label partnership in Germany.

• 2018: Eguana-branded Evolve, Elevate, and Enduro fully integrated were launched energy Storage Systems globally.

• 2016-2018: For Mercedes Benz Energy, they developed a completely integrated home battery system.

• 2015-2017: Established leadership in Hawaii and introduced LG Chem-based AC Batteries in Australia.

• 2014-2015: 4,000+ units have been shipped into the European energy storage industry, establishing a market leadership position.

• 2013-2014: Launched the Bi-Direx grid-connected energy storage inverter in North Germany.

• 2009-2012: Introduced the Paralex inverter for thin-film applications.

• 2006-2010: Sunergy inverter was launched in developing European countries.

• 2004-2009: They showed a Li-Ion battery storage technology for US military purposes.

• 2002-2006: A high-efficiency low-voltage inverter for grid-connected fuel cells was developed.

Furthermore, Alberta-based Eguana is a 20-year-old battery maker. Their battery solutions utilize LG Chem’s RESU cores, so you know that you’re receiving tested quality and performance dependability. Many solar panel systems now include one of their latest innovations—the Eguana Evolve.

Basics of  Eguana Lithium Batteries

There are three Eguana Technologies battery storage product lines: 

• Enduro
• Evolve
• Elevate

Each uses the company’s proprietary power electronics system and 6.5kWh LG Chem battery modules. NMC has a lower cycle life and degrades quicker than Lithium Iron Phosphate. Moreover, the Evolve solar battery system is offered in different capacities in Australia, which include 6kW (30 minutes), 8.5KW (13kWh) (3 seconds). Also, a 10-year guarantee or 19.2 MWh energy per 6.5 kWh module is offered by Eguana as per their datasheet.

AC Battery

With LG Chem Li-ion batteries, Eguana AC Battery is a certified grid-ready power control solution. Through open communication protocols, their technology may be easily linked with a local energy management system or a remote fleet control network. System aggregators may also use the AC Battery as a stand-alone product, as part of new solar storage systems, or retrofit existing solar PV installations.

Eguana Evolve Battery Key Features

There are a number of features of the Eguana battery worth mentioning

Guana’s Evolve battery is marketed as a “fully automated home energy storage solution that optimizes a homeowner’s solar system investment.” The battery system utilizes LG Chem’s battery module technology, so you know that it’s a tried-and-true hardware solution.

When assessing Evolve, bear in mind many key measurements and technical parameters. Let’s start with an Evolve battery’s unique feature: 

Chemistry

Eguana offers two Evolve batteries: the Evolve LFP and the Evolve ESS.  The LFP battery is iron phosphate, whereas the ESS battery is nickel manganese cobalt oxide. 

Size

The Eguana Evolve is available in one size per chemical and maybe layered. When comparing Evolve to other home storage solutions, bear in mind power and usable capacity. When fully charged, a battery’s functional capacity is the most significant amount of energy it can store. Furthermore, Evolve has a maximum power of 5 kW and 13 kWh with the ESS and 14 kWh with the LFP. In a stacked arrangement, the ESS can store up to 38 kWh and the LFP up to 28 kWh.

Basic Functionality

Eguana provides a bi-directional inverter. This inverter is both a battery and solar array inverter. This means that if your contractor installs the proper components and the Evolve inverter, your Eguana Evolve battery system will continue to work with your home solar panel system if you have one. Moreover, their Evolve inverter has built-in monitoring technology. Electric loads throughout your home may be intelligently managed by Eguana’s Evolve batteries and their related components using built-in monitoring technology.

Eguana Evolve Batteries Cost

We’ve reached out to Eguana to find out the wholesale cost of their batteries. We’ll update this section once we hear back from them.

Eguana Evolve Solar Battery: Warranty Terms

Most Evolve battery owners charge and discharge their batteries daily. Evolve is covered for ten years. During this time, Eguana assures the battery will retain at least 60% of its charge. The 60% maintained capacity after ten years is only applicable if the total energy throughput is less than 19.2 megawatt-hours during the ten years.

In summary, your Eguana Evolve battery is guaranteed to maintain 60% of its capacity after ten years or 19.2 MWh of energy throughput, whichever comes first.

Read more about Eguana’s warranty terms here

You can make a claim directly with Eguana here:

Eguana Technologies Inc. HQ
Address: 6143 4th Street SE, Unit 3
Calgary, Alberta AB T2H 2H9
CANADA
Tel. #: +1 (403) 508 71 77
Customer Service E-mail: cservice@eguanatech.com
Web site: www.eguanatech.com

Eguana Battery Specifications

Battery Government Rebate Schemes Across Australia

South Australia, New South Wales, Victoria, and Australian Capital Territory all currently have a home battery scheme in place.

The South Australian Home Battery Scheme enables eligible South Australian residents to receive up to $4,000 per installed battery.

The New South Wales Home Battery Scheme offers an interest-free loan up to $9000 for eligible households looking to install a solar battery.

The Victorian Government under the Solar Homes Program provides to those eligible, a maximum discount of $4,174 off the battery sale price. The next release of battery rebates is on the 2nd of September 2020.

The Australian Capital Territory Government under the Next Generation Energy Storage program provides a rebate of $825 per kilowatt (kW). An average household with a 5kW system would be eligible for approximately $

4,000.

Read more product reviews from Solar Choice