PV Magazine Australia - First of a battery of launches...

First of a battery of launches...

The All Energy Australia conference could run on the new batteries being launched here today. That said, Jaron Shächter, Managing Director of Senec GmbH, emphasised “This is not a battery!” at the launch of the new Senec.Home V3 Hybrid, which promises homeowners that they may only need to draw 10% of their current energy usage from the grid.

pv magazine: How is it hybrid?

Jaron Shächter: The Senec.Home V3 Hybrid is a combined PV inverter and battery inverter, so an additional PV inverter is not required. The hybrid inverter converts both the current flowing from the PV panels into the storage system and the current discharged from it. This gives the battery 97.4% efficiency, and saves the customer having to buy a PV inverter.

pv magazine: What sets this new entrant apart in the Australian market?

JS: One of the key reasons home owners haven’t been installing batteries is that the warranty on batteries has been half that of the solar panels, so our product comes with a 20-year warranty.

An essential part of the intelligent energy management system integrated with this product is that it not only takes into account the individual consumption patterns, but can also charge the storage system based on accurate weather forecast data and plant-specific properties.

pv magazine: You launched at Intersolar, but you’ve modified the product for the Australian market?

JS: We have a different battery module that’s sturdier to allow us to offer the 20-year warranty, and also the back-up power is obviously a much more important feature in Australia than it is in Italy or Germany. And third is it’s not as deep as the product for the German market. We heard from our installers that Australians like to install their battery in the space next to the garage door, so …

pv magazine: Where does Senec sit in the hotter than hot battery market?

JS: We are not a battery, we’re an intelligent, fully integrated storage system. We aim to be the most price competitive in the premium range. Our VPP readiness is part of why we are example to do groundbreaking things with Horizon Power in Onslow.

pv magazine: Tell us about that project

JS: The Onslow community in WA will be fully based on renewables, with a centralised solar plant, centralised storage, but also decentralised solar plants — and Senec is the system of choice for the decentralised part. We are going to power up to 25% of the homes in Onslow, and then Horizon has the ability to centrally communicate and give commands to all the different components in the set up. It should really lead the way of how you can do renewables without getting into trouble with your grid.