After the Smart Energy Conference and Exhibition in Sydney, held in May, ecogeneration sat down with the Anker SOLIX General Manager for the Asia-Pacific to learn more about their new XE home battery for Australian home users and installers.
Unveiled at Anker SOLIX’s evening launch event, the XE home battery arrives as the Cheaper Home Batteries Program transitions to a tiered rebate structure, changing how homeowners and installers approach battery sizing and system economics.
According to Symons Xie, General Manager (Asia-Pacific) at Anker SOLIX, the policy shift is already driving more considered purchasing decisions.
“I think this is a big change,” Xie said.
“Before the new rebates came into effect, there was a 50 kilowatt-hour (kWh) incentive for the subsidy, which led to a lot of 50 kWh systems being installed. From my point of view, that was way too big, and we saw some irrational system installations happening.”
“A lot of energy was wasted because they could not consume that much power, or they were not fully utilising that power.”
Xie stated his view that the revised framework will encourage households to size batteries according to actual consumption patterns, rather than maximising available subsidies.
“Starting from May, I think everything will go back to normal,” he said.
“People will be more rational and will consider their real daily energy needs. Based on their actual needs, they will select their systems. So I think it’s a good move for Australia and for the Australian government.”
Built around the new rebate structure
The XE has been developed to align closely with the new incentive settings. The battery uses a 7 kWh modular architecture that can scale up to 42 kWh, with 14 kWh and 28 kWh configurations matching the key rebate thresholds.
Xie shared that this design decision was made months before the policy changes were finalised.
“The XE is designed to match the new rebates perfectly,” Xie said.
“When Anker was making the decision to develop this product, it was at the last All Energy Australia in Melbourne. We found that the current rebate budget was being consumed too fast and that it wasn’t sustainable.”
“We expected it would be halved to around 25 kWh. Based on that assumption, we made some changes to our portfolio about half a year ago. We made that decision in advance, and that’s why we have the XE right now.”
At the centre of the product proposition is dual-cycle capability. A single 7 kWh module can charge and discharge twice daily, delivering up to 14 kWh of usable energy each day. Anker SOLIX believes this approach is increasingly relevant as new electricity pricing structures emerge across Australia.
“Most people are working during the day and cannot consume much in daytime,” Xie said.
“Ideally, they should have a battery that can charge in the middle of the day and then they can consume that energy when they go back home.”
“Then at midnight, when the utility rate is ultra-low, they can charge again, so they can consume that energy the next morning if they need it. That’s the scenario that we want to build with this technology.”
Backing installers with local support
As competition intensifies across the Australian battery market, Anker SOLIX is focusing on service and installer support as a key differentiator.
“We definitely want to support our retail partners and installers, because from our point of view, our strategy is not to grow without quality, we want to grow with quality,” Xie said.
“We have local Field Service Engineers to support installers. We don’t have any offshore or overseas hotline systems, everything is built within Australia.”
The company is also investing in training, commissioning support and service infrastructure to support future growth.
While pricing pressure remains a feature of the Australian storage market, Xie said Anker SOLIX would continue focusing on a premium-but-accessible market position.
“Although we aim for high-end quality, we still want to offer affordable products, while keeping a healthy margin so that we can fund all of our support and make this a sustainable business.”
