Mr Hackett said that unlike lithium-ion batteries, the ZCell flow battery lets users discharge 100 per cent of its stored energy every day and is designed to be fully charged and discharged daily, with minimal degrading. A home with a solar panel system that added a 10-kilowatt-hour ZCell system could cut its power bill by 95 per cent, he said. Even so, at an estimated installed price, including an inverter, of $17,500 to $19,500 including GST, the return on investment for ZCell, as for other batteries, was "pretty marginal", said Mr Hackett, who is also a director of NBN Co. Redflow shareholders get a $1000 discount. "This is exactly the same as for the start of the solar industry," he said. "If you put one in today, you are putting it in at least somewhat because you believe in something. You're an early adopter who wants to be part of the future." He is forecasting a surge of demand that will bring down costs, and Redflow, which concentrated previously on industrial markets, wants to be part of it. "The sense I've got is that this is the year when home storage goes serious and gets to be globally taken up," he said. The launch of Redflow's home battery coincided with the announcement from Germany's market leader Sonnen that it would also launch in Australia, intensifying competition in what is a promising market because of the popularity of rooftop solar. Households with PV panels can use batteries to "time-shift" their electricity use, storing surplus solar power for use in expensive peak periods. Tesla, Panasonic, LG, California's Sunverge, Australian company Redback and others have also launched storage products in this country. Sonnen will sell lithium-ion systems based on two-kilowatt-hour units that can be sized flexibly to suit the capacity of a solar system. "The beauty of it is it's modular," Sonnen Australia country director Chris Parratt said. "The customer will get a battery system that suits them." Mr Parratt forecasts a rapid expansion in the Australian market, with unit sales expected to more than double in 2017, from 2500 to 3000 in 2016. A two-kilowatt-hour Sonnen system, including inverter, will cost about $5000. The prices make the Redflow and Sonnen products equivalent or slightly more expensive than Tesla's Powerwall, which has a capacity of about 6.2kWh. Angela Macdonald-Smith writes on the resources industry with a focus on energy, including gas, oil, electricity and renewables.
Australian energy company Redflow believes its ZCell home battery system will outperform Tesla ’s similar product , the Powerwall , which has recently also launched in Australia . The difference between the two products is that the ZCell uses zinc - bromide “ flow ” technology , versus Australia ’s more traditional lithium - ion system ; apparently this allows ZCell users to discharge 100 % of the battery energy every day with minimal degrading ( unlike the battery which has a total capacity of approximately 5k discharge cycles ) . Competition in the Australian home energy market is certainly heating up , with Redflow , Tesla , and now Germany ’s Sonnen all competing for dominance in a market , which is seen as hugely promising due to the popularity of rooftop solar panels in the country .