Alpha-ESS review

Alpha-ESS - Battery Reviews

4.4

Based on 288 ratings

Finn's Alpha-ESS Batteries Review & Verdict

Finn Peacock has been a Chartered Electrical Engineer since 1998, and is ex-CSIRO

Alpha ESS makes some of the cheapest battery systems approved for grid connection in Australia. They were an early entrant to the home battery scene, and their early efforts were not good, IMO. But, to give them credit, they have greatly improved over the years.

If you are looking for a budget home battery, only consider Alpha ESS if you are confident it is being installed by a good installer with experience installing Alpha ESS, and a contact at Alpha for support.

Because Alpha is so price-competitive, it attracts some of the cheapest installers. So if you have a cheap quote for Alpha, you should spend more time researching the solar retailer than the battery brand. Look at their reviews across multiple platforms and read any 1* reviews.

An Alpha ESS installed by a good company, well designed, configured and supported should be fine. An Alpha ESS installed by a rushed subby, badly configured and with no support is likely gonna make you very unhappy. 

Alpha-ESS Batteries: Pros & Cons

  • The low price point.
  • A nice looking battery. Everything is behind a unified façade which comes away easily to make for neat installation and easier servicing.
  • The cover arrangement lets you remove a whole brick from the wall and so feasibly run cables in a wall cavity.
  • Models available for DC coupled solar, with blackout protection and "black start" if you run the battery flat overnight.
  • Popularity means they're likely supported by (Virtual Power Plants) VPPs or power-sharing software.
  • Warranty support is proven and acknowledged to be embarrassingly lacklustre.
  • Some AlphaESS models have dismal surge capacity during a blackout.
  • Some models don't offer blackout protection.
  • "Some models" means there's a lot of different options to be confused with.
  • Technical support is poor in our experience.
  • Proper monitoring requires two consumption meters in many cases.
  • Review ratings are in the low four-stars (but trending better).
  • At the bottom end of the market in terms of price, they are more likely to be sold by shonks who don't offer decent after-sales support. Choose your installer wisely!

About Alpha-ESS

Energy storage manufacturer Alpha ESS was established in 2012. A Chinese company, it has offices in Australia, the UK, Germany and Italy.

In Australia, the main Alpha-ESS product line is the Storion SMILE5. This is an all-in-one unit, meaning the system includes batteries, a battery management system (BMS) and an inverter.

The battery modules used in the Storion SMILE5 are lithium iron phosphate chemistry; widely considered the safest type of lithium ion battery technology.  As far as we're aware, Alpha-ESS still sources battery modules from another Chinese company, EVE, which has been in the battery business since 2001. 

The Storion SMILE5 range is available in various capacities and AC/DC/Hybrid coupling options are available. As for power output, the SMILE5 series offers 5kW. This unit does have blackout protection capabilities.

Alpha ESS Warranty

In the past, Alpha ESS SMILE battery systems had a 10 year warranty on their batteries, but the rest of the system -- including all the electronics required to operate the batteries -- only had a 5 year warranty.

The good news news is, Alpha ESS has improved their warranty. Their SMILE battery systems installed from the 1st of November 2024 now have a warranty that covers the entire unit for 10 years or until 3,120kWh of stored energy is discharged for each kWh of battery storage the unit has. If the battery system is fully cycled once per day then the warranty will last 8.5 years. 

The warranty promises the batteries will retain a minimum of 70% of their original capacity while under warranty.

As for how strong the warranty backing is, we're aware of a situation where an Australian customer battled for months with Alpha ESS over a Storion OF5 warranty claim; which resulted in the owner sending a letter of complaint to the ACCC and Office of Fair Trading. 

If you're an Alpha-ESS battery owner, we'd really appreciate you adding your review by clicking the button towards the top of this page.

Alpha-ESS has 5 solar batteries in our database

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Battery Type 
Usable Storage 
Power 
All-In-One unit 
Off-grid capable 
Product Name
Approx Price
Battery Type
Usable Storage Capacity
Power
All-In-One unit
Off-grid capable
Alpha-ESS SMILE-B3-PLUS
$2,400
Lithium-ion (Lithium Iron Phosphate)
4.79 kWh
3 kW
Yes
No
+ More details
Alpha-ESS SMILE5 10.1 kWh
$4,465
Lithium-ion (Lithium Iron Phosphate)
9.07 kWh
5 kW
Yes
Yes (back-up built in)
+ More details
Alpha-ESS SMILE5 13.3 kWh
$4,983
Lithium-ion (Lithium Iron Phosphate)
13.3 kWh
5 kW
Yes
Yes (back-up built in)
+ More details
Alpha-ESS G3 10.1 kWh
$5,300
Lithium-ion (Lithium Iron Phosphate)
9.6 kWh
5 kW
Yes
Yes (back-up built in), Can communicate with Generator
+ More details
Alpha-ESS T10
$8,200
Lithium-ion (Lithium Iron Phosphate)
7.8 kWh
10 kW
Yes
Yes (back-up built in)
+ More details

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Alpha-ESS Reviews (288)

Show Most Relevant reviews from All time

  • 5 star 208
  • 4 star 39
  • 3 star 13
  • 2 star 7
  • 1 star 21

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The 5.04kWh Alpha ESS B3-Smile battery has performed well so far and has resulted in 89% self-sufficiency. The Alpha monitoring app is basic but functional. The monitoring dropped out but after re-configuring the WiFi settings is was re-instated and is now stable.

Installed By

Smart Energy Answers Melbourne Metro West

Installed By

Green.com.au Residential NSW

An incentive was offered by Regen Power for this review. Learn more here.

Alpha ESS's graphs are great.

Installed By

Regen Power
Since my battery was installed over a month ago, I have not yet drawn power from the grid. My Solar Panels and Battery has suppiled my home continously 24/7.

Installed By

Regen Power
I have added a second battery to bring my battery total to 20.16. The previous system has been running very well.

Installed By

AR Energy Consulting Adelaide
I chose this battery as I wanted it to be positioned outside of the house instead of the garage. I researched about the brand and read the reviews. I welcomed the good safety data. It has been few days since installation and the unit is quiet. I like the app that provides me real time info. I have a black out protection so when i loose power the inverter switches straight away to battery which provides the power for the essentials in my house. Overall very satisified.

Installed By

RACQ Solar SEQ

Installed By

Sungold Solar

Installed By

Amazon Energy

An incentive was offered by Green for this review. Learn more here.

Installed By

Green.com.au Residential NSW

Installed By

Green.com.au Residential VIC

Installed By

Target Solar Perth Batteries

Installed By

Green.com.au Residential NSW

Installed By

RAA Solar and Battery

Installed By

Western Elec

Installed By

All Green Environmental Solutions

Installed By

Green.com.au Residential NSW
The 2 batteries are very neat and unobtrusive

Installed By

Green.com.au Residential NSW

Installed By

Sky Power Energy C

Installed By

Best Solar and Batteries

Installed By

Brightworks Solar
With this system from SolaRun we have LiFo batteries that are unlikely to ever burn, vs Tesla's LiOn and this gives me peace of mind. And the battery backup kicks in so smoothly that a blackout goes unnoticed. I have enough solar panels on the roof and three phase which makes the SolaRun system the ideal matchup. No electric bills.

Installed By

Solar Run

Installed By

Invincible Energy

Installed By

Brightworks Solar
We should have added the battery when we did the solar panel installation last year.

Installed By

Green.com.au Residential NSW

Installed By

Green.com.au Residential VIC

This 5 star review was removed at the request of the reviewer

Learn More
Before the battery we were using $3:50 to $4.00 of electricity from the grid each day. Since installation we use any where from 0.55 cents to $1.10 a day depending on the weather I haven’t received my first electricity bill yet but know it’s going to be a lot less that last year

Installed By

Green.com.au Residential NSW

Installed By

Green.com.au Residential NSW
Early days yet but so far I am now 98% self sufficient and have accumulated more than $20 in credit with my electricity provider. It is also changing my power us habits - I am now mindfully thinking of what I switchon and when, I am now staggering my use of large power items such as A/C, wash machine/dryer, dishwasher etc in order to minimise going over my solar capacity and drawing from the grid.

Installed By

Smart Energy Answers Sydney Eastern Suburbs

Installed By

Adelaide SolarSafe

Installed By

Green.com.au Residential NSW

Installed By

Green.com.au Residential NSW

Installed By

Apollo Energy Solutions Pty Ltd

Installed By

Harris Electrical and Solar Pty Ltd

Installed By

Brightworks Solar
Set up as a VPP rather than dealing through an electricity retailer

Installed By

Captain Green Solar NSW
Slim fit around the side of the house
No noise and no bills

Installed By

Green.com.au Residential NSW
Stopped needing to feed in from the grid.

Installed By

Green.com.au Residential NSW

Installed By

Green.com.au Residential NSW
Go the biggest battery you can up to 30kw for a 3 bedroom house

Installed By

Green.com.au Residential NSW

Installed By

Green.com.au Residential NSW

Installed By

Best Solar and Batteries

An incentive was offered by Green for this review. Learn more here.

Installed By

Green.com.au Residential NSW

Installed By

1KOMMA5 AU Adelaide
Just love seeing the impact it has on our energy bills.

Installed By

Green.com.au Residential NSW
Very efficient and quiet system! Easy to monitor?

Installed By

Green Solar

Installed By

All Green Environmental Solutions

Installed By

Green.com.au Residential VIC

Installed By

Green.com.au Residential VIC

An incentive was offered by Smart Energy Group for this review. Learn more here.

Even though initially it’s expensive

The value of this wonderful product will enhance my life & also for maybe future residents of this house

But right now I’m not going anywhere

Installed By

Smart Energy Group
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