Updated October 2025

CEC Approved batteries
If you want the battery subsidy then your chosen battery must be Clean Energy Council (CEC) approved.
There are 56 pages, at time of writing, of CEC approved batteries.
I've listed most of the brands below...

Energizer, Solplanet, Alpha ESS, Anker, Neovolt, CALB, CEEG, Dyness, Hinen, Enphase, ESY, Evantra, FOXESS,
Franklin, Fronius, GCL, Midea, Goodwe, Felicity ESS, SAJ, Hiconics, Hoymiles, Huawei, Roypow, iPotisEdge,
iStore, RCT Power, Ecactus, JinKo, LG Energy, Deye, Pylontech, Haier, Nahui, Redback, Red Earth, Redx, Renon,
Chelion, Chint Power, Bytes, Swatten. Sigenergy, BYD, GivEnergy, Growatt, GSL Energy, OLiPower, Smart Lifestyle,
SMA, Eveready, Ambrion, Solaredge, SolaX, Soltaro, Sonnen, SRNE, Sungrow, Sunsynk, Stealth Energy, Akai Energy,
Tesla, Altius, Star Charge, Weco, Xess, Kehua, TNK, HYXi Power, ZRGP, ZYC Energy

Now you look like a pretty sensible person to me, so let me ask you this...
How many do you think will survive the typical 10 year warranty obligation?
Our population is a mere 27 million. Not large enough to support all those brands.

I agree with you. Very few of them will still be here in 10 years time.
Once battery subsidies are gone and demand has returned to normal, many/most will leave.
We saw it 10 years ago with solar inverter manufacturers.

This presents a HUGE problem for Australian retailers/installers like us.
We have this pesky thing called Australian Consumer Law (ACL).
If we sell you something then we are legally required to honour the manufacturer warranty.
Even if the manufacturer has gone bust, or just fled the country.

So how do we pick winners from that list?
If we pick a loser and their batteries start failing, we would be out of business very quickly.

Bad for us. Bad for you too.

There is no guaranteed solution.
We have to do a lot of research and err on the side of caution.
A cheap battery may be easy to sell today, but a disaster waiting to happen.

Safer bets.
The brands I have highlighted in bold above are what I think are the least likely to go.

Price
With all those brands fighting for your business, battery prices have tumbled.
The Federal battery rebate has made them even more attractive.

Top quality brands are $370-$400 per kWh after the Federal rebate.
The cheapest are selling for $175-$225 per kWh.

What's a kWh?
Your oven might draw 2kW of power.
If you roasted something for an hour it will use 2kW for one hour = 2kWh.
If you had a 20kWh battery then the oven would have taken 2kWh from the battery.

Not all things are equal in a battery.
The cells inside are always (currently) Lithium Iron Phosphate.
The cells are probably all manufactured by one of three giants in China; CATL, EVE and BYD.

It's entirely possible that the entire battery is made by a 3rd party.
Brands may have different outer-casings, but inside, all the same.
That means a defective component can affect dozens of brands.
We saw that in the early days of solar inverters.
The same cheap relay inside caused multiple brands to fail.

Nobody knows which batteries will fail.
Huge brands like LG and Tesla have had plenty of problems and recalls.
It's more likely, of course, that a cheaply constructed battery will fail.
As with solar inverters years ago, it will take a few years before we know.

Some batteries have fire extinguishing aerosols, or smothering bags.
Lithium Iron Phosphate is considered a safe chemistry, but extra safety in our homes cannot hurt.

Most batteries are a simple series-connected stack with a BMS (battery management system) on top.
The entire stack is charged and discharged as one unit.

A better setup is to have each battery acting as a law unto itself, charged and discharged independently.
This treats the battery better, undoubtedly prolonging it's life expectancy.
It also allows new batteries to be added later to an existing stack without being 'dragged down' to the old battery level.

Best battery brand recommendation.
Sigenergy and iStore.

Cheap battery brand suggestion.
FOXESS - their new EQ4800, not the earlier stuff.

Decision time.
I am currently in the final stages of deciding whether we sell FOXESS or not.
Their new EQ4800 is a simple series-connected, zero frills battery.
I like it much more than their earlier offerings.
FOXESS is a subsidiary of a UK-Chinese large lithium mining company.
I'm not a huge fan of subsidiary's. They can easily be closed.
However, FOXESS have done well in Europe and that gives me confidence.
They have been here a few years, and have a real office in Melbourne. That's good.

What attracts me most to the Fox EQ4800 battery over other budget brands, is its compactness.
Up to 9 x 4.66kWh modules and the stack is only 1.35m high.
The batteries weigh 39kg meaning they can be installed by one electrician.
By contrast the 8kWh Sigenergy battery weighs 78kg and others are over 100kg.




This review was written by Andrew MacKeith, Solar4Ever service manager since 2011.