Brisbane-based battery storage company Redflow looks set to launch its “plug and play” home battery storage unit as next month, ahead of the first residential installations of the product in June.
The ASX-listed Redflow, whose unique zinc bromine flow battery technology has previously targeted the commercial market, as well as off-grid mining applications, said on Wednesday that it planned to launch its entry into the residential energy storage space at the end of March 2016.
Redflow said the company was already seeing “substantial interest” in the home battery units from its shareholders, who would be offered a discount during the initial phase of the launch process, to boost early sales.
The company said it was also working with various installer partners to set up some initial ‘exemplar’ residential installations in a number of different settings.
“Based on the expected timetable for resuming battery manufacture with Flex, we are expecting the first residential customer system installations featuring …to occur from June 2016,” the release said.
The company said it also intended to deliver technology to complement the home batteries, including the Redflow Battery Management System (BMS).
This would allow an installer with nothing more than a web browser to achieve commissioning, configuration, and interface of a Redflow battery with multiple readily available inverter/charger electronics systems on the market today, it said.
© 2016 Solar Choice Pty Ltd
!. What is the battery life in years?
2. What is the approx cost for a 6kwhr unit?
3. What is the disposal plan for dead batteries and how much does it cost for the 6kwhr unit?
Hi Jim,
Thanks for your comment. I’ve reached out to Redflow directly – they have come back to me with the following responses:
1. The battery currently has 2 warranties, it comes with a 12 months manufacturers defect warranty, and it additionally comes with a 20, 30 or 33 Mwh warranty per battery depending on the model i.e.:
ZBM 8kWh battery comes with a 20MWh warranty
ZBM2 10kWh battery comes with a 30MWh warranty
ZBM3 11kWh battery comes with a 33MWh warranty
This means that the battery is warranted to deliver 20, 30, or 33 Mwh during the warranty period – depending on the model. This usage is counted in the battery control unit, and is an aggregate of all the energy produced and delivered.
2. We only have 3 units currently 8, 10, and 11 kWh units
The current battery only costs are:
S11375 – 8kWh
$12925 – 10kWh
$13695 – 11kWh
Currently the pricing is inc GST – inc freight to a capital city
We are working on a final price including install and complete system. – this should be launched at the end of March.
3. The battery, apart from the 2 compression plates and the bolts on this, is entirely made of plastic.
This means that the battery can be recycled through the current recycling streams – additionally the electrolyte can be ‘washed’ by a chemical company and returned to us for reuse in a new battery.
Alternatively at the end of life of the battery, the electrode stack can be replaced for about 1/3 of the cost of a new battery, and you can have a new battery. Throughout the battery life, the pumps additionally may need replacing, these are also a small cost.