A home battery brand that made its debut in Australia less than two years ago has grabbed top spot for market share in March, pushing longtime customer and installer favourite, the Tesla Powerwall, out to fourth place.
The latest monthly data from SunWiz reveals the number one battery manufacturer for March is China-based Sigenergy, grabbing a 17.4 per cent market share of “blended capacity” – that is battery systems proposed, sold and installed – for the month.
The report puts Sungrow in a very close second with a 17.1 per cent market share, followed by Alpha ESS in third spot at 15.2 per cent. The Tesla Powerwall, meanwhile, has drifted back to fourth spot.
SunWiz CEO Warwick Johnston says Sigenergy has been rocketing up the market share recently, driven by uptake of its SigenStor: a “five-in-one” battery that integrates solar, storage, bi-directional electric vehicle charging and an AI-based energy management system.
But Johnston also stresses that any “celebratory claims” to Australia’s new #1 brand should take into account that this is based on the March data, alone.
By contrast, SunWiz’s latest comprehensive annual report ranks the top three brands for 2024 as Sungrow, Alpha ESS and GoodWe, with Sigenergy not making the top five.
That said, the March numbers – and he chart above – do suggest that Sigenergy is becoming a major new contender in the Australian home battery market in an impressively short amount of time.
Certainly, the company and its flagship offering is being rated highly by installers.
In SolarQuotes’ latest annual Best Home Batteries survey – which asks installers: If installing a system on your own house today, what brand’s batteries would you use? – Sigenergy won 17% of the vote, putting it in second place behind Tesla and Sungrow in equal first.
As Johnston puts it, “this isn’t just a me too, battery, grabbing market share … [by] just being cheaper than everyone else. This is a product which others say is very different.”
So let’s take a closer look.
The SigenStor
Sigenergy was launched in 2022 in China by founder and CEO and Tony Xu and launched its first small-scale battery energy storage offering – the SigenStor – internationally in March 2023 and in Australia at All Energy in October 2023.
By March 2024, Sigenergy had signed up around 40 pilot sites across Australia and four local solar and battery distributors had visited Shanghai to meet the team and visit the company’s headquarters and manufacturing facilities.
The new battery has also participated in industry-leading vehicle-to-grid trials with major Australian network company Essential Energy, CSIRO and Ford, as well as with consumer energy focused retailer Amber Electric.
The SigenStor integrates a battery pack, battery power conversion system, inverter, EV charger and energy management system into a unit that is said to take 15 minutes to install and 5 minutes to commission.
In Australia, the 3-phase SigenStor battery range was listed with the Clean Energy Council in June 2024, while the single phase range was listed this March.
With lithium iron phosphate chemistry, the SigenStore comes in 5kWh and 8kWh battery packs, stackable to six units high, and up to 48kWh (plus further parallel capacity).
System safety and ease of servicing are front of mind, with detailed monitoring of individual cell voltages via an app and an internal fire extinguisher built in.
The batteries are able to offer DC electric vehicle (EV) fast charging at 12.5kW or 25kW capacity, integrated with solar and energy storage. AC EV charging is available at 7kW, 11kW or 22kW with dynamic control.
The SigenStor is off-grid capable, and for on-grid systems offers various levels of back up power if there is a network outage. When installed as a battery hybrid, a gateway can be installed for full home backup.
As SolarChoice notes here, the Sigenstor offers a zero milisecond disruption during a power outage so the battery can technically operate as a true uninterruptible power supply (UPS), compared to most batteries that will experience a few seconds downtime before kicking in.
A DC solar bus allows for simultaneous charging of batteries and vehicles, while also running AC loads at full capacity.
In the smarts department, the batteries are virtual power plant ready, V2X ready and system information is polled every ten seconds.
Finally, as SolarQuotes founder Finn Peacock writes here, the SigenStor is said to be quick and easy to install.
“I’d heard the buzz about their Sigenstore all-in-one system—especially its optional 25kW bi-directional DC EV charger—so I had to see one being installed,” he writes.
“I saw firsthand how easy they were to install and commission – everything worked flawlessly on the first try.
“Sigenergy also appears increasingly often in quotes that my team reviews, proving it’s more than a niche player.
“With their momentum, I wouldn’t be surprised if they take first place next year,” Peacock says.
On cost, SolarChoice puts the SigenStor at the premium end of the market, its entry level 8kWh battery with a 5kW single-phase inverter coming in at around $11,000, before installation costs. This increases to $12,700 for the 3-phase 5kW inverter and $13,300 for the 10kW 3-phase inverter.
The SigenStor has a 10 year warranty and a performance warranty that guarantees that the Sigen Battery retains at least 70% of its usable energy capacity or achieve a specified ‘minimum throughput’, whichever occurs first.
Sophie is editor of One Step Off The Grid and deputy editor of its sister site, Renew Economy. Sophie has been writing about clean energy for more than a decade.
