Alpha-ESS review

Alpha-ESS - Battery Reviews

4.8

Based on 53 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 (53)

Show Most Relevant reviews from All time

  • 5 star 43
  • 4 star 8
  • 3 star 2
  • 2 star 0
  • 1 star 0

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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 Pty Ltd
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 Pty Ltd
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

Installed By

Green.com.au Residential NSW

Installed By

AR Energy Consulting SA

Installed By

Plico Energy
Glued to the app!

Only using from grid for a couple of hours in the morning and this is in winter. Approx 3-4kWh since install.

Installed By

Think Renewable

Installed By

AR Energy Consulting SA
The battery is performing better than expected.
The Alpha App is so easy to use & keeps me informed in real time of the state of charge & performance stats.

Installed By

Green.com.au Residential VIC

Installed By

Plico Energy

Installed By

RESINC Solar

Installed By

MSA Electrical Services Pty Ltd

Installed By

Green.com.au Residential NSW

Installed By

Green.com.au Residential VIC

Installed By

Brightworks Solar Pty Ltd

Installed By

All Green Environmental Solutions

Installed By

Best Solar and Batteries
Sleek design. Clear status. Connection to internet js great. The customer service staff are very helpful.

Installed By

Solar Run

Installed By

AR Energy Consulting SA
Excellent battery supply for the entire evening and night

Installed By

Solar Run
Awesome having a battery to power of a night time or earn money through feed in tariff

Installed By

Think Renewable

Installed By

Brightworks Solar Pty Ltd

Installed By

Brightworks Solar Pty Ltd
App is great, giving good control of charge and discharge times - and is compatible with home assistant, allowing full automation based on forecast solar etc

Unit looks nice. Very happy with it
My installers were from Green in Sydney and they were very professional and knew their job. The work was completed in one afternoon and I am very happy with the amount of energy saved even when we have grey days in winter. I use this energy at night to keep the house warm. I have two batteries so 26kwh of stored electricity when they are both full. With the government rebate in NSW this was quite affordable for me and the Green company in Sydney were very approachable and helpful whenever I had any questions. I can also keep my EV charge all the time. I couldn't be happier.
The price quoted below that I paid was for the batteries and full installation by Green.
I have a AlphaESS SMILE5-INV inverter, SMILE-BAT-10.3P battery and 6.66kW solar panels installed in Australia though a SolarQuotes in July 2021.

The battery has been good so far (5 stars) but two inverters failed (1 star) and AlphaESS service has been slow, communication poor and compensation refused.

This system ran well until January 2025 when it stopped charging the battery or feeding into the grid due to an inverter ‘Relay Fault’.

AlphaESS replaced the faulty inverter with another inverter which also failed when installed and was replaced by another inverter which is running well.

However, AlphaESS took 33 days to replace the faulty inverters during which:
• the AlphaESS hotline did not answer on weekends and, during working hours, twice told me I was next customer for 30 and 40 minutes without ever connecting,
• the AlphaESS App initially said it was sending my complaint to Europe, did not respond usefully for several days, then closed my complaint.
• I contacted the installer who arranged the first inverter replacement with AlphaESS and kept me informed by passing on their correspondence from AlphaESS until 31 January,
• AlphaESS then contacted me through ServiceM8 which required me to follow links which could have been a scammer,
• The AlphaESS App, when matched with their ServiceM8 job, reopened my complaint but sent me four notifications for each response posted,
• AlphaESS refused compensation for my lost solar generation for the 33 days despite Australian Consumer Law (see note below) requiring compensation for losses.

This has been a good system except for the inverter faults. It is feeding enough electricity into the grid to pay for my daily electricity charge and small amount of grid use.

AlphaESS did eventually replace the faulty inverters so I would recommend them if they had been quick to fix the faults and compensated me for loss of solar generation as required by Australian Consumer Law.

Note:
The first paragraph in my AlphaESS warranty says: "Important Note: Australian Consumer Law If you have purchased your product in Australia, you should be aware that: This warranty is provided in addition to other rights and remedies held by a consumer at law. Our goods come with guarantees that cannot be excluded under the Australian Consumer Law. You are entitled to a replacement or refund for a major failure and compensation for any other reasonably foreseeable loss or damage."
Apart from a faulty installation, a CT reversed (which saw the battery being charged from the grid in peak times and sold to the grid during the night). Once this was eventually rectified the battery has preformed admirably. The blackout out protection has meant no worries about melting ice cream during power outages, and no conscience problems when I turn on the air con.
The 10kwh battery in the SMILE5 is working well. One thing that wasn't mentioned is the fact that it only drains to 10% then stops. Presumably to protect the battery. But it means that you are getting 9kwh out of the 10kwh battery. I should have put a 15kwh battery in to start with.
The battery seems to be doing what it is meant to do. More importantly, the process from quoting to installation to follow up from Green has been a very positive customer experience. The installation team turned up at 7:00 am as agreed then went to work. The install took about 4 hrs, looks great and they cleaned up. They then helped with getting the app set up so I can monitor what's going on. Very early days, but based on my experience I would have no hesitation in recommending Green.com.au and Alpha if you want a battery.
Early days but the 13.3kWh Smile5 battery has performed with no problems for the first 5mths. There was a glitch last month in the app reporting incorrect data, but Alpha notified me of the problem and it was corrected within 24hrs.
I find the app very easy to use, and responds to setting changes very quickly (< 10secs). On rainy days I have set the app to charge the battery at off peak rates and it works very well.
I have had an Alpha.ESS _EN_SMILE-BAT-10.3P_V00.19042019 (002) functioning since March 2020. My only complaint is I found the system with a GOODWE inverter will not charge the battery when the grid is down.
Later models with the Smile inverter 5 will do this. The Alpha ESS monitoring system is excellent and any issues I have had like understanding the blackout system have been readily provided.
I have a 2 solar panel and inverter systems a Bosch 5k Inverter and a Solax 2.2k inverter configured to the Alpha ESS system with a blackout circuit to the house. It has all functioned well to date although sadly the Bosch inverter is now dead, and it looks like it will be costly to upgrade to a Smile 5 to get the ability to use my existing 5k panel system to charges the battery and be able to maintain charging when the grid is down. I may have to just replace the Bosch inverter for a lot smaller price.

Considering I only paid $3,969 for the system with all the rebates at the time I suppose I was fortunate.

Response from Alpha ESS re charging when grid is s down follows.

Unfortunately, as your solar-only systems will stop working during power outages, they can't be modified to charge your battery or power your house during blackouts.
However, there is an option to make your solar system still work during blackouts. We can replace one of your solar-only inverters by using a Hybrid inverter and connecting your battery to the Hybrid inverter, that way the solar panels connected to the Hybrid system will still work to charge up the battery during blackouts and stop generating when the battery is 100%.
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