It seems like everyone on the planet is investing in some sort of battery backup technology. Anker’s Solix solution is the latest to take the leap into powering an entire home using solar power and a very large battery. This particular option is designed to be rather more modular than most.
The lineup of home power products was revealed at the company’s ReCharge event held in New York earlier this week. The international reveal reckons that the products are in line for a global launch in 2024. We can wait. Load shedding certainly won’t have ended by then – but we’re still holding our thumbs for a 2025 end date.
Solix, but so far
If you’re wondering what the Anker Solix is, you’d probably be more familiar with the concept of Tesla’s Powerwall. It’s a compact battery, or series of them, that fits on a wall and powers things when the electricity goes out. Which, in SA, happens with distressing frequency.
Anker’s product offers options from 5kWh, which is what most South African homes would start with, all the way up to 180kWh worth of lithium iron phosphate batteries. Why would you need that much? Perhaps you run a small resort or you’re really planning to be prepared in the event of a total grid collapse. If you have the money, why the hell not? The company has yet to mention pricing but don’t expect it to be cheap.
If you can lay hands on one — which is unlikely because it’s only announced for Europe at the moment — then there’s also a modular balcony-based product called the Solix RS40 coming. It’s intended to be used with solar panels in apartment buildings. Since that seems to be the construction trend at new housing developments at the moment, a local launch might not be a bad idea. Are you paying attention, Anker?
This isn’t the first South Africa-compatible move we’ve seen from Anker in recent months, either. Stuff got a chance, not long ago, to fiddle with some of its power stations. Hopefully, this larger solution becomes an option in South Africa soon as well.