Redback Batteries: An Independent Review by Solar Choice

Company Overview

Redback Technologies was established in Australia in 2015 and their batteries were first available on the market in early 2016. Redback pride themselves as one of the only Australian companies building solar batteries that are purpose designed for the Australian market.

The companies head office is based in Indooroopilly, Brisbane and the manufacturing facilities are based in China.

Redback have launched single-phase and three-phase battery solutions which are primarily designed for residential or small business applications.

Over 20,000 of Redback’s solutions have been installed for Queensland’s electricity network providers Ergon and Energex and through a sister company Luceo they won Ergon’s tender to install 90,000 energy monitoring devices.

Redback Battery Options and Models

Battery Retrofit – SB Series

Redback Technologies introduces its SB series of batteries, known as the Redback Smart Battery System, offering customers three battery options: SB7200, SB9600, and SB14200, providing 7.2kWh, 9.6kWh, and 14.2kWh, respectively.

This series is AC-coupled to your electrical system and can be retrofitted to an existing solar system. As its AC coupled, it will be compatible with most existing solar inverters.

The SB7200 is configured with three battery units, each with a capacity of 2.4kWh, while the SB9600 and SB14200 consist of four units (2.4kWh and 3.55kWh capacities, respectively). As a result the SB7200 has smaller dimensions measuring 1247x518x370mm, compared to the other two batteries at 1655x518x370mm.

All three battery solutions have an IP54 rating, suitable for both indoor and outdoor installations. The batteries also feature built in back up technology meaning they can continue to supply power to a home during a power outage.

Inverter and Battery Bundle – Hybrid Series

Redback’s hybrid series is designed to suit customers looking to install an entire solar, inverter and battery solution. They have a single phase 5kW inverter option and a 3-phase 10kW inverter option for larger homes.

The single-phase hybrid solution can fit up to 14.2kWh in the included cabinet, or can be connected with an additional cabinet to reach a maximum of 28.4kWh. The hybrid solution can be paired with up to 10kW of solar panels to ensure utilisation of the larger battery capacities. The solar panels will be constrained by a maximum charge rate of 4.6kW.

For three-phase applications the ST10000 features a 10kW inverter and like the single phase option can fit 14.2kWh in the included cabinet or can be extended to 28.4kWh with additional cabinets. The solar and battery solution can be matched with a maximum of 16kW of solar panels which should be sufficient to take advantage of even the maximum battery capacity.

Importantly both systems have built in black out protection meaning they can provide power during a power outage. The ST10000 is one of the few residential battery solutions that can provide 3-phase power in back up mode.

The hybrid series is IP54 rated and can be installed indoors or outdoors

Redback Batteries – Key features and points of difference

Integrated App and Monitoring

Redback provide a free to use app which helps you stay connected to your battery system after it has been connected to the internet. The app enables you to monitor you solar panel and battery performance and status.

The app currently have a 2.7 star rating from 29 reviews on Google Play. Their rating is affected by low ratings from 4+ years ago.

Built In Blackout Protection

Redback’s retrofit and hybrid battery options all come with built in blackout protection. This is a key benefits that consumers are looking for to keep power going during a blackout. Some batteries like the Tesla Powerwall 2 require the purchase of additional hardware to enable blackout functionality.

Australian Company and Engineering

As an Australian company, the Redback battery solutions have been designed for the Australian climate. This can be seen with the batteries rated for outdoor or indoor use and their operating temperature broadly rated between -25 degrees C and 60 degrees C. This is a wider range than many other batteries on the market.

Australian Warranty Terms for Redback Batteries

Redback provides a 10-year warranty on all of their products. This is consistent with the length of warranty we expect to see for batteries on the market.

The warranty covers a lot of the typical exclusions like improper installation. One notable point is that if the customer fails to maintain a connection to the Redback cloud for greater than 3 months, so it would be important to ensure there is a stable internet connection and to periodically check the system operation.

There is no performance warranty for the Redback batteries mentioned in their warranty document. So it is unclear how quickly the battery capacity will degrade over time.

The good think about Redback’s warranty is that their team is based in Australia, so we expect the process of claiming warranty to be much easier than some of their foreign competitors.

Customers can contact 1300 240 182, warranty@redbacktech.com or head to their office in Brisbane if they need to claim warranty.

Pros and Cons of Redback Batteries

Pros:

• Australian company with local support teams
• 3-phase back up power

Cons:

• No performance warranty included, so unclear how quickly the batteries will degrade
• MYRedback app is rated 2.7 stars on Google Play

Read About Home Battery Government Schemes Across Australia

South Australia, New South Wales, Victoria, and Australian Capital Territory all currently have a home battery scheme in place.

The South Australian Home Battery Scheme enables eligible South Australian residents to receive up to $4,000 per installed battery.

The New South Wales Home Battery Scheme offers an interest-free loan up to $9000 for eligible households looking to install a solar battery.

The Victorian Government under the Solar Homes Program provides to those eligible, a maximum discount of $4,174 off the battery sale price. The next release of battery rebates is on the 2^nd of September 2020.

The Australian Capital Territory Government under the Next Generation Energy Storage program provides a rebate of $825 per kilowatt (kW). An average household with a 5kW system would be eligible for approximately $4,000.

Read more product reviews from Solar Choice