Getting on the energy friendly train isn’t easy, but solar panels get you some of the way. To get the other half, you need a battery, and that’s an area Anker is keen to show strength in.
It’s been an interesting few years for Anker in Australia.
The company seemingly came out of nowhere and started delivering some really solid power bank options, expanding quickly into decent and inexpensive headphones with the occasional speaker, and jumped into comparatively capable and well-priced portable projectors.
The past few years has really seen Anker jump from strength to strength. So what’s next?
Your home. Specifically, a home battery, as Anker’s forte of energy in power banks is moved to a much larger battery meant for the side of the house.
Hinted at a few years ago when the “Solix” brand was first mentioned, Anker’s Solix is launching locally with the Solix X1 Hybrid, a relatively slim 15cm thick battery for the home made to be modular and provide a way to get houses with solar panels off the grid, or at least less dependent on the electrical grid.
The system ranges in power capability from 5kWh to 180kWh depending on how much you plan to spend and how much space you have, with the system including its own batteries and able to be expanded with extra batteries, recharging and storing power either using solar panels you may have, or together with electricity from the grid such as during a low-cost time overnight, possibly with a dedicated circuit for a controlled load.
The difference between the X1 Hybrid models appears to be how the technology stores the power for use, with the solar energy captured for use by panels before being transferred to the system where it will convert it to usable power for later use. The result is one Anker says can provide self-sufficiency, largely due to being able to use a battery output from the sun, rather than simply selling power back and hoping to make a credit from your power provider.
“To keep energy costs down, the best strategy is to charge your home battery with solar or during off-peak hours, then use that stored energy during peak times, like in the evening,” said Andrea Novoa Serrano, Marketing Manager for Anker Solix in Australia and New Zealand.
“With smart systems like the Anker Solix X1, you can schedule charge and discharge times through the app for maximum savings,” he said, noting that “sizing your battery to match your energy use is also key”.
The modularity of the X1 is partly what could make it compelling, among other reasons. While not necessarily unique to just Anker, the fact that you can expand the power by adding in more batteries over time means the energy stored from a few solar panels can improve with extra battery sizes, bolstering supply using the power of the sun, while keeping access to the grid for backup.
A singular unit isn’t likely to be able to handle a home with an air conditioner and oven and fridge all switched on at the same time solely from the battery itself, but with power outputs expanding between 3.68kW and 72kW — again, dependent on how much you spend and how many units you have on your property — running all your gear from a home battery appears possible.
One thing Anker won’t give is pricing, which we suspect veers into the typical $10K+ territory that most other solar batteries occupy. Given it’s a gadget designed to stick around on your home for some time, thanks in part to an IP66 weather resistant rating and a 10 year warranty, as well as an app to log in and see how it’s going, a price like other solar batteries probably won’t come as a surprise.
But it’s another option for folks who don’t like the prospect of handing over money to Tesla, and are looking for another option to shape their home’s energy dependence, and is arriving in Australia now.
