Energy storage manufacturer Alpha ESS was established in 2012. A Chinese company, it has offices in Australia, the UK, Germany and Italy.
In Australia, the main Alpha-ESS product line is the Storion SMILE. This is an all-in-one unit, meaning the system includes batteries, a battery management system (BMS) and an inverter.
The battery modules used in the Storion SMILE are lithium iron phosphate chemistry; widely considered the safest type of lithium ion battery technology.
The Storion SMILE range is available in various capacities and AC/DC/Hybrid coupling options are available. This unit comes with blackout protection capabilities.
The new offering from Alpha ESS launched in Australia in the first week of November, promising 13.3kWh of storage capacity, a 10-year warranty, and a battery design life of around 15 years due to an 8,000 cycle rating. But it’s the price of the lithium-ion phosphate battery that catches the eye. Australian households can have a 6.66kW Solar system and an Alpha ESS Smile 5 13kWh battery installed for just under $10,000 ($9,990) – that is *with* installation. This is good news for those Australian households that have been holding off on investing in battery storage due to cost. Although it’s still a big splurge for most households, with certain state subsidies and VPP offerings, the payback can be brought to around the seven-year mark – which is where rooftop solar started to really take off.