The first batch of residential battery storage systems from Australian company Redflow is due to be delivered to customers next month, after a shipment of the ZCell units arrived in Australia on Sunday.
The Brisbane-based company has experienced a series of delays, including an unexpected departure delay at the port of Los Angeles, but deliveries will commence in October after the batteries are installed into the Australian-made enclosures.
Redflow says it will announce names and details of the first group of Australian companies with approval to install ZCell energy systems on the ZCell.com website this week.
The companies have been trained by Redflow chairman and CEO Simon Hackett, who is also the company’s largest shareholder, and whose IT company wrote the software to integrate the battery into an energy management system. He is also the company’s first customer.
The ZCell is unlike most competing battery storage technologies because it is a “flow battery” using zinc bromine, rather than lithium-ion. Redflow says this allows for greater depth of discharge and more cycles, which means that while more expensive than most of its rivals, it’s “delivered” cost is comparable.
The company expects the fully installed cost of a 10kWh ZCell based energy storage system will start from $17,500 – $19,500, including GST.
Redflow says it has received more than 1,200 “serious” inquiries into its battery storage technologies.
“While initial ZCell systems installations are already in progress, Redflow expects product demand for ZCell in Australia will exceed available product supply for at least the remainder of this calendar year,” it said in a statement on Monday.
© 2016 Solar Choice Pty Ltd
