E-KwBe: Another battery storage offering marks first install in Australia

Another residential battery storage offering has marked its debut in Australia this week, with the first official installation of GCL Poly’s lithium-ion product, E-KwBe, at the Brisbane HQ of solar installer, Instyle Solar.

As reported on RenewEconomy, GCL Poly – the world’s biggest provider of silicon and solar cells to the global solar industry – launched its new battery storage product onto the Australian market in May, taking on Tesla, LG, Enphase and a host of other international and local competitors.
Like its competitors, the company chose Australia for its global launch because of its high level of solar PV. CEO Shu Hua told RenewEconomy in May that GCL Poly expected Australia to be among the top five markets in the world for energy storage.
This week the company said it had been getting orders and enquires for its battery every day since its launch, with more than one thousand units already pre-sold before they had the stock.
GCL said it had been conducting battery training sessions throughout the week and was seeing an even larger increase in demand following this, particularly in the Victorian and NSW markets as the solar feed-in tariffs were being wound back as consumers “jump on the storage train.”
GCL’s battery storage units, based around technology from Panasonic, come in two sizes – 2.5kWh and 5.6kWh – and can be easily linked together to have up to 8 units working in unison, providing up to 45kWh of storage.
Retail prices range from around $1,500 for the smaller unit and $3,500 for the bigger unit, although that does not include installation costs and other equipment.
The E-Kwbe also claims to have a substantially larger instant delivery capability of up to 5kw, offeriing more usable power to the household. And, like the Tesla Powerwall, it features sleek casing with several colour options.
“We have been looking for affordable and reliable battery for the last few years and are confident that GCL will start a new revolution in battery storage and encourage more consumers to go the solar route,” the company said in a statement on Monday.
“If consumers already have solar panels they can now store surplus electricity and use this later during the night.
“The great thing about the GCL batteries is they are compatible with existing solar systems and are expandable for future requirements by adding more batteries on.”