SolaX Battery: An Independent Review by Solar Choice

Background on SolaX – Company History

SolaX Power started out in 2007 by CEO Li Xinfu with their headquarters in Hangzhou, China. They quickly expanded globally thereafter with offices in the UK, Netherlands, Germany, Australia and the USA. They have 6 offices globally with over 500 employees and revenues of $142 million USD. They distribute to 66 countries throughout the world via their 200 distribution channels. They’ve sold over 600 thousand SolaX inverters installed worldwide.

The company has been awarded several awards: They received the Red Dot Award Product Design 2021 for their latest released X-ESS G4 Energy Storage System. TuV Rheinland’s  “All Quality Matters” Solar Congress and Award Ceremony were held in Hangzhou, China and awarded SolaX with the “All quality matters” award in the category of Energy Storage Converter for Home Use (10kW) with their three-phase X3-Hybrid G4 Inverter.

They’ve initiated research and development through an affiliation with Zhejiang University. This is one of China’s leading research facilities in the solar industry and the sole laboratory for silicon materials.

Basics of SolaX Lithium Batteries

Triple Power

The Triple Power is a lithium ion battery with several variations of nominal capacity: 6.3kWh, 5.8kWh and 4.5kWh respectively. As per their datasheet it can be connected in parallel with up to 4 batteries enabling 23kWh of total storage for the 5.8kWh model. This would make it suitable for both residential and commercial solar PV applications. We couldn’t find any specifics regarding compatibility with inverter brands that it can connect with.

At 72.2 kg for the 5.8kWh, it’s a fair bit heavier then some of the other battery modules we’ve reviewed. The battery is rated IP55 which means it’s designed for outdoor applications to a certain extent, as long as it’s covered with adequate protection against the weather.

They have a working temperature of 0 to 55 degrees Celsius which means that they’re suitable to withstand the harsh heat of the Australian environment. Although it can’t withstand colder temperatures like other solar batteries we’ve reviewed such as the Pylontech.

SolaX Battery – Key Features

There are a number of features of the SolaX battery worth mentioning:

Online Monitoring

You can monitor the performance of your battery either on a web app or on your phone. This enables you to see live data pertaining to current charge, historical charging data and even select if you want your batteries to be charged by the grid during off-peak tariff periods.

90% Depth of Discharge

The Depth of Discharge (DoD) of the USB2000 is 90%. This puts it on par with some of SolaX’s competitors, namely Sonnen (90% DoD and Alpha ESS (90% DoD).

DoD is an important factor to account for when making a buying decision for a solar battery. It’s the percentage of the battery that has been discharged compared with it’s stated capacity. The higher the DoD, the more available stored energy you can use, and hence greater potential you’re gaining from it.

In relation to this, it’s not recommended that people discharge their batteries fully as it shortens their lifespan as they have a limited number of charge/discharge cycles. This is why a manufacturer will state the DoD to give you an indication of how much you can discharge it. In saying that it’s important to remember that there’s a correlation between the cycle life and the DoD, i.e. the more often you discharge the battery to it’s maximum DoD, the shorter its lifespan

Scalable Capacity

As we’ve mentioned, you can connect these batteries with up to 4 in parallel in order to scale the nominal capacity of your storage system. The advantage with this, is that it gives you the flexibility to expand your solar energy storage in the future. This may be useful if you’re finding that you’re finding your battery stretched with your night time use of appliances.

How Much Do SolaX Triple PowerBatteries Cost?

We’ve reached out to SolaX to find out the wholesale prices of their Triple Power Batteries. We’ll update this information once they get back to us.

Australian warranty terms for SolaX Triple Power battery

As per SolaX’s warranty documentation, the length of warranty is 10 years

There’s a lack of warranty information on their website. However, it appears that you can make a claim directly on this form. It’s clear that SolaX prefers your installer makes the claim on your behalf due to the technical nature of a solar PV battery.

We did manage to find some information pertaining to warranty exceptions on their installation guide. One thing to note is that it states the warranty won’t be covered with an incompatible inverter. However, it’s not clear on SolaX’s website what brands are compatible or incompatible with the Triple Power.

Triple Power Specifications

Independent Battery Testing

ITP Renewables have established an independent battery testing centre at the Canberra Institute of Technology and perform accelerated life cycle testing on batteries in 3 year phases. The centre is supported by a  $1.29m grant from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) under its Advancing Renewables Program, and testing is conducted scientifically without interference from any manufacturers. ITP is currently testing 15 residential scale batteries available on the Australian market, and has had a total of 26 batteries installed at the centre.  

SolaX Triple Power commenced testing in 2020 as part of phase 3 of the program and the results are publicly available on the battery testing centre’s website.

ITP has not experienced any operational issues with the SolaX Triple Power battery.

Read About Home Battery Government 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 2^nd 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