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Shaun McGowanCapacity - How much energy the battery can store, usually measured in kilowatt-hours (kWh).
Depth of discharge (DoD) - The amount of energy that can be safely used without accelerating battery degradation.
Power - How much power (in kilowatts) the battery can deliver.
Efficiency - How much electricity the battery will actually store and put out again.
The total number of charge/discharge cycles - How many cycles of charge and discharge the battery can perform before it's considered to reach the end of its life.
Lifespan (years or cycles) - The expected life of the battery (and its warranty)
Ambient temperature range - Operational temperature of the battery.
The sonnenBatterie hybrid provides maximum cost efficiency as the system also includes the inverter for your photovoltaic system.
The SonnenBatterie Hybrid is an all-in-one hybrid system with a solar inverter, charger and battery in one simple unit. The hybrid option has a maximum solar PV capacity of 6.4kW and a nominal inverter rating of 5.5kW (3-phase).
However, the battery inverter is still limited to 3.3kW for battery charging and discharging.
Sonnen systems are made up of individual 2.5kWh (KiloWatt hour) lithium battery modules which are linked together in various capacities from 5 to 15 kWh.
Like many other Lithium battery systems, the usable capacity is rated at 90% of total capacity, so a 10kWh Sonnen battery will provide 9kWh of ‘usable’ energy.
The Sonnen battery system will not tolerate being exposed to the elements, or temperatures above 45 degrees Celcius, so should be installed inside a protected area such as a garage.
Like most other reputable battery supplies the SonnenBatterie warranty comes with a 10-year warranty but it beats most others in that it also covers 10,000 charge/discharge cycles to 80% retained capacity.
Even with 2 cycles per day, 10,000 discharges would take about 13.7 years - well beyond the 10-year warranty mark.
The Sonnen ECO and Hybrid systems cannot function as a backup power supply or UPS without additional components.
To enable backup power in the event of a blackout an external Backup box will need to be installed at additional cost.
The backup box, which looks like a tiny version of the battery system, isolates the house from the grid if it detects any issues with the electricity supply and can supply limited power for emergency backup.
Since the announcement of the South Australian Government home battery scheme and the opening of the Sonnen battery assembly plant in Adelaide, the Sonnen battery has become headline news in Australia.
Home battery systems installations in Australia are predicted to soar over the coming years due to a combination of Government incentives and high power prices.
The scheme will provide a subsidy of $600 per kWh of storage, up to a maximum of $6000 with 40,000 grants currently available
Founded in 2010, Sonnen GmBH was one of the first suppliers of lithium-ion solar batteries for home use in Germany.
Sonnen is now the leading German lithium battery system manufacturer and the largest residential battery company in Europe.
Until recently, Sonnen had deployed the largest amount of home battery systems globally, surpassing even Tesla and LG Chem - excelling with the success of their SonnenBatterie Hybrid model.
There are three core elements to a complete residential solar energy system:
You can learn more about each of these components in the guides to help you decide on what type of solar setup is most suitable for your home.
Before you go ahead with installing solar to reduce your energy bills, it’s worth taking a look at the available solar rebates in your state.
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Shaun
McGowan
Shaun McGowan
Shaun is the founder of Money.com.au and is determined to help people pay as little as possible for financial products. Through education and building world class technology. Previously Shaun co-founded CarLoans.com.au and Lend.