We recently upgraded & expanded this system in Port Kennedy for our customer, Michelle, who wanted to add a Battery with blackout protection. 

A standard 6.6kW system was already installed, but unfortunately the existing inverter was not a battery-ready Hybrid model. An easy option would have been to retrofit an ‘AC-Coupled’ battery such as the Tesla Powerwall. However, an ‘AC-Coupled’ battery cannot keep a 3-phase inverter operational during a grid-outage. The result would have been limited backup power from the battery only, with no solar power available to recharge the battery during a grid-outage. Not good enough.

So instead, we replaced the existing inverter with a new 8kW Fronius Symo GEN24+ hybrid inverter paired with a ‘DC-Coupled’ 11kWh BYD battery. In a blackout, backup power will be available from both the battery and solar panels to power essential circuits such as lights, fridge, TV and internet. 

With this new larger inverter, we were also able to install an extra 4.5kW of solar panels to the West-facing roof to maximise afternoon solar production. In total, Michelle now has an 11.1 kW system which can produce an average of 45 units per day.