Aldi extends its size and reporting with larger batteries that will be available in other areas of Australia. Here is our judgment about whether it is a good idea to get a supermarket to run your home.
Does Aldi solar and battery offer good business?
From 6999 US dollars, Aldi’s offer is attractive, but the most important details are short, with the supermarket giant in the actual brand of solar, inverter and battery that contains it. With just two size options, there is little range to adapt the system size to the actual needs of the homeowner, and the promised blackout protection will be extremely limited in practice. The offer is also available in Limited – from November it will be open to selected METRO postcode in NSW, Victoria, Queensland and the Act.
Larger battery, under -sized inverter
Aldi Solar started a test offer in February, which contained a 5.1 kWh battery, which we saw for most Australian households as too small. In the recent development in the “Aldification” of Solar, the company has an updated place for Australian homeowners, which offers a larger storage capacity.
There are two options for the battery sizes on various price points:
- A 6999 dollar package This includes 10 kWh of battery capacity (2x5kWH modules) – although this actually corresponds to a usable capacity of 9.2 kWh;
- An $ 8499 package This includes 20 kWh battery capacity (4x5kWH modules) – although this is actually 19.4 kWh of usable capacity;
However, both offers remain with the predominantly small 6.6 kW solar (15 x 440 W panels) and 5.5 kW hybrid inverter.
The fact that the larger 20 kW battery is not equipped with a larger inverter means that the inverter is under sized in our view and the battery sometimes has difficulty loading the capacity.
Since the introduction of the Battery Battery Rabatt, Big Battery has been a flood, which are coupled with under -sized inverters. With a battery subsidy, but without subsidy for inverters, every dirty offer for a large battery is very likely under this problem.
“A general rule of thumb that is subject to your special needs is a 2- or 3-to-1 ratio for battery and inverter size: A 5 kW inverter is therefore suitable for a 10 kWh or 15 kWh battery,” said our internal installer Anthony Bennett about this type of shops.
The Aldi deal also promises power protection protection, but the size of the inverter means that this is limited to a handful of devices.
Only selected U -Bahn areas
The trial version was only started in Melbourne, but now leads to “selected postcodes about the most important U -Bahn areas” in:
• NSW: Sydney, Newcastle and Wollongong
• Victoria: Melbourne
• Queensland: Brisbane, Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast
• ACT: Canberra
A problem that we marked with the first start in February was that it only contained a deal from Melbourne, but the use of estimated savings on the basis of case studies in Sydney promoted, in which the repayment periods for solar and batteries are better due to different electricity prices and more sunshine.
On the positive side, the deal is now actually available in Sunny Sydney, but unfortunately Aldi has not updated its numbers to reflect the new battery sizes offered, whereby the announced amortization times are still based on the old 5.1kWh battery.
The savings funded on the Aldi Solar website are based on the company’s old offer with a smaller battery.
What equipment does Aldi actually sell?
The official announcement by Aldi does not mention the Solar, Battery and inverter brand.
The company has teamed up with the Tempo Group for the deal. When the first offer was started in February, we dug around and found that the pace of solar modules, inverters and batteries in Altius used on the roof. Altius, on the other hand, is a little -known brand in Australia that uses Rebaded Chinese products.
Craig Handley, General Manager of Energy at Tempo, said about the latest offer: “With our climate, it is difficult to argue about the advantages of a well-designed sun and battery system for Australian homeowners.”
Finn Peacock, founder of Solarquotes, agrees with the feeling, but is not convinced that Aldi and tempos offer make it.
“How can it be designed well if there are only two options? Good solar and battery design means to design the system for the roof, use and tariffs of the house that it happens,” says Finn.
What is the guarantee?
The contract is not offered directly with Aldi, but with a separate company that is traded as Aldi solar, whereby all products and services are offered at speed. The small -printed postponed the conditions and conditions that determine the provision of services between customers and speed as well as their approved installers.
Australian consumer protection standards such as the new energy consumer code for Energy Tech means that customers should not be obliged to pursue subcontractors if something goes wrong.
Solar quotes in -house factchecker Ronald Brakels has numerous reservations about the guarantee conditions.
According to Ronald, the Altius solar modules seem to have a product guarantee of ten years and a 25 -year “performance guarantee” that is no more than the standard.
“Decent installers who use panels with a product guarantee of less than 25 years on home roofs is almost unknown these days.
The batteries seem to have a guarantee of ten years, but there are no details about how much loss of capacity the battery suffers and can remain in the guarantee.
Ronald notes that the battery’s installation manual provides that it should be in the shade, even though he believes that Aldi is still responsible for honoring the guarantee conditions when you mess up the installation.
Aldi promises that “with up to 6000 cargo and discharge cycles before a serious drop in performance, the battery is built in the long run. That is over 16 years of high-quality electricity!”
Ronald warns that he is not a lawyer, but his reading of the readers mentioned above is that according to the Australian Consumer Act, this could be viewed a so -called express guarantee in which Aldi is responsible for providing repair, replacement or refund if the battery is over 16 years ago.
“Because you don’t have to fight Aldi, if the battery is between the 10 and 16 -year -old brand, you can ask Aldi in writing. If you do not give you this – what you will certainly not do – you will know how much Aldi word is worth,” he says.
Ready to check Aldi’s offer?
If you give Aldi Solar a crack or were part of your first Melbourne test version, you can let other Australians know how everything went on our reviews page for Aldi Solar installations, Altius Solarmodels, Altius inverter and Altius batteries.
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