Enphase Ac Battery Cost – We recently published an article on how much money a family can save with a Tesla Powerwall 2. Shortly thereafter, we received two separate requests for a similar analysis of Enphase’s AC batteries – also one of Australia’s most popular storage products, but without the large media hub associated with it. How much can I save with battery AC and is it worth it?
The Enphase AC battery is unique in the Australian market because it is very small and fully modular: a single unit (weighing 25kg) stores 1.2 kWh of usable energy and contains its own micro-inverter that manages the conversion of AC to DC and reverse compensation.
Enphase Ac Battery Cost
Their small size means it’s easy to choose the number that best suits your energy needs and budget – whether it’s a 1x unit, 5x unit or more. This also makes them a great entry-level battery system for those who desperately need a battery (or batteries) but don’t have the budget for a large device, or just have a small solar system (less than 3kW or so) and low daily power. consumption.
The Enphase Ac Battery
The AC battery is definitely the battery for a grid-tied solar system: it cannot provide backup power in the event of a power outage, nor is it suitable for an off-grid solar system.
Using the powerful Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePO) chemistry, the AC battery can last up to 7,300 cycles with a 10-year warranty (~2 cycles per day), during which time it will only drop to 80% of its original storage capacity %. (All batteries except flow batteries will degrade over time – it’s just a matter of degree.) With their long lifespan and low rate of degradation, there’s a good chance an AC battery installed in your home will outlast the 10-year warranty — especially considering you’re unlikely to use all 7,300 cycles within the first 10 years.
An example of lithium battery degradation (loss of energy storage capacity), such as the Enphase AC Battery. At 7,300 cycles, if charged/discharged (“cycled”) only once a day, the battery can actually last more than a 10-year warranty (marked by where the line changes from orange to blue).
Lithium battery degradation example for an AC battery example at 1.5 cycles per day. Here, the potential useful life beyond the 10-year warranty is shorter, but still important.
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Degraded example of a lithium battery with 70% end-of-life retention capacity and 3.6500 life, recycled once a day. Here, the production line stops at the end of the 10-year warranty – the “extra” cycles beyond the warranty are more questionable than using longer-life batteries like Enphase’s AC batteries.
One of the ways Enphase manages to squeeze this remarkable longevity out of its batteries is by making sure they are handled gently – with a power output capacity of just 0.275 kWh per unit (or 0.825 kWh for 3x units). All told, Tesla’s Powerwall 2 (13.2kWh of storage) has an output capacity of 5kW – enough to keep the average home running at night. Instead, you need AC 18-20 Enphase batteries (21.6 kWh-24 kWh) to get 5 kW of instantaneous power.
Low power output is often combined with slow charging speeds. You can think of charging speed (and power output) as a straw – the longer the straw, the faster the energy flows. Overall, if your battery charges/discharges too slowly, you won’t be able to capture and release power when you need it.
However, if you just want to reduce the total energy you get (and buy) from the grid, then this question probably doesn’t matter. While it’s helpful when you’re running multiple appliances at the same time (think: vacuum cleaners, washing machines, and toaster ovens), it’s helpful to have a battery pack that can quickly ramp up to meet your home’s power needs, but it’s not strictly necessary, especially Yes if you don’t go off the grid you get a flat rate tariff and you only have a small battery pack in the first place.
Solar Inverter From Enphase To Run When The Grid Crashes Or Doesn’t Exist
In fact, as long as the battery charges and discharges fast enough, the savings will likely be similar for most average households. Why; because once night falls and you have multiple devices consuming power for a few hours, you’re likely to run out of batteries before going to bed (or before “peak hour” is over), regardless of their output capacity. (Of course, this theory won’t hold if you have small, sharp spikes in the electricity usage of multiple appliances in your home at the same time.)
Example of battery charging and discharging of a 5 kWh battery with a discharge/charge rate of 0.825 kW. Note that the battery has not reached a “full” state of charge for at least two days (a randomly selected week from November).
Example of battery charging and discharging of a 5 kWh battery at a 3 kW discharge/charge rate. Note that the battery takes longer to reach and remain fully charged (white line in the image below) compared to just 0.825 kW.
The point is there is definitely an advantage to having a battery with a higher instantaneous power output, but in a household with only modest levels of energy consumption (like 15-25 kWh per day and at least 5 kW of solar) it might win not by much different. Preliminary estimates from Solar Choice suggest that in the above scenario, the energy transferred through the 0.825kW output battery could be reduced by 1-2% in the first year.
Enphase Iq Battery Australia And Nz
Check out our solar and battery size and performance estimator tools to see some numbers for yourself.
OK — so now I’ve laid the groundwork for understanding how an AC battery is, its value proposition, and how it can save you money. Let’s dig into some economics.
Typically, installing an AC battery unit costs about $2,000. If you don’t already have an Enphase system in your home, installing Enphase’s communications gateway costs an additional one-time cost of about $1,000 — which is required to make the different batteries work as a whole.
(Note that these are data we’ve observed across various sources – including pricing from our own facility network database. That said, make sure you shop around and consider other options.)
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That means about $3,000 for the first battery, and about $2,000 for each additional battery: $5,000 for 2 batteries, $7,000 for 3 batteries, and $9,000 for 4 batteries.
Let’s say you have 3 Enphase AC batteries installed at a cost of $7,000 and they are installed with a 5kW solar system.
Your actual savings will depend on your own circumstances, including how much you pay for your electricity, how you use your electricity throughout the day, and whether you have flat rate or time-of-use electricity (<– if you don't know what that means, or you Which charge type to use, be sure to read this article.)
We concluded that having 5kW solar panels and 3 Enphase batteries would save the average household around $1,600 to $1,700 per year in selected capital cities (according to the table below). Households using time-of-use tariffs have slightly higher savings (Adelaide and Perth are the top two cities in this regard). But keep in mind that the vast majority of savings come from the solar system. The savings attributable to the battery is about $400 per year (again, the TOU tariff is higher).
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(If you are curious about the assumptions here, we have installed a north-facing solar panel, the electricity prices listed here and the solar system prices listed in the October PV Price Index. We also make conservative assumptions that Batteries are solar-only charged – not “pre-charged” with off-peak electricity for TOU customers; this may save TOU customers a little.)
Estimated first-year energy bill savings, payback period (in years), and internal rate of return (IRR) for a 5 kW solar system using 3 Enphase AC batteries (3.6 kWh). Choose a city and unify the electricity price. (Click to enlarge.)
Estimated first-year energy bill savings, payback period (in years), and internal rate of return (IRR) for a 5 kW solar system using 3 Enphase AC batteries (3.6 kWh). Select the city and use the time electricity price. (Click to enlarge.)
As we pointed out in our Powerwall 2 analysis, the question of “savings” — especially in the first year — doesn’t necessarily tell you everything you need to know about batteries as an investment. Things like the payback period (even the “run-in period” – which should happen before the warranty expires) and the internal rate of return (IRR, similar to “return on investment”, but better) are much more important, Better understand how your battery performs as a work item
