Aldi Solar Chucks Big Batteries Into Its Bargain Bin

Aldi is expanding its solar offer both in size and coverage, featuring bigger batteries that will be available in more areas of Australia. Here’s our verdict on whether its a good idea to get a supermarket to power your home.

Is Aldi’s Solar And Battery Offer A Good Deal?

Starting at $6999, Aldi’s offer is attractively priced but short on key details, with the supermarket giant hazy on the actual brand of solar, inverter and battery it includes. With only two size options, there is little scope to customise the system size to the actual needs of the homeowner, and promised blackout protection will in practice be extremely limited. Also limited is where the offer is available – from November it will be open to select metro postcodes in NSW, Victoria, Queensland and the ACT.

Bigger Battery, Undersized Inverter

Aldi Solar launched a trial offer in February that included a 5.1kWh battery, which we saw as too small for most Australian households. In the latest development in the “Aldification” of solar, the company has an updated pitch for Australian homeowners that offers larger storage capacity.

There are two options for battery size at different price points:

• A $6999 package that includes 10kWh of battery capacity (2x5kWh modules) – although in reality this is 9.2kWh of usable capacity;
• A $8499 package that includes with 20kWh of battery capacity (4x5kWh modules) – although in reality this is 19.4kWh of usable capacity;

Both deals however stick with the original offer’s underwhelmingly small 6.6kW of solar (15 x 440w panels) and 5.5kW hybrid inverter.

The fact that the larger “20kWh” battery offer does not come with a larger inverter means that the inverter is undersized in our view, and the battery will at times struggle to charge up to capacity.

Since the launch of the federal battery rebate there have been a spate of big battery offers coupled with undersized inverters. With a battery subsidy but no subsidy on inverters, any dirt-cheap offer for a large battery is highly likely to suffer from this issue.

“A general rule of thumb, subject to your particular needs, is a 2 or 3-to-1 ratio for battery and inverter size: so a 5kW inverter being appropriate for a 10kWh or 15kWh battery,” our in-house installer Anthony Bennett said of these sorts of deals.

The Aldi deal additionally promises blackout protection, but the size of the inverter means this will be limited to a handful of appliances.

Selected Metro Areas Only

The trial launched in Melbourne only, but is now rolling out to “selected postcodes across key metro areas” in:

• NSW: Sydney, Newcastle and Wollongong
• Victoria: Melbourne
• Queensland: Brisbane, Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast
• ACT: Canberra

One problem we flagged with the initial February launch was that it featured a Melbourne-only deal, but promoted using estimated savings based on case studies in Sydney, where solar and battery payback periods are better due to different electricity prices and more sunshine.

On the plus side, the deal is now actually available in sunny Sydney, but unfortunately Aldi hasn’t actually updated its figures to reflect the new battery sizes on offer, with advertised payback periods still based on the old 5.1kWh battery.

The savings promoted on Aldi Solar’s website are based on the company’s old offer with a smaller battery.

What Gear Is Aldi Actually Selling?

Aldi’s official announcement makes no mention of the brand of solar, battery and inverter.

The company has partnered with Tempo Group on the deal. When the initial offer launched in February we dug around and found Tempo uses Altius rooftop solar panels, inverters and batteries. Altius in turn is a little-known brand in Australia that uses rebadged Chinese products.

Craig Handley, general manager of energy at Tempo, said of the latest offer: “With our climate it’s hard to argue about the benefits of a well-designed solar and battery system for Australian homeowners.”

SolarQuotes founder Finn Peacock agrees with the sentiment, but isn’t convinced Aldi and Tempo’s offer delivers on it.

“How can it be well-designed if there are only two options? Good solar and battery design means designing the system to suit the roof, the usage and the tariffs of the house it’s going on,” Finn says.

What’s The Warranty Like?

The contract is not offered with Aldi directly, but with a seperate company trading as Aldi Solar, with all products and services supplied by Tempo. The fine print stipulates terms and conditions that govern the provision of services are between the customer and Tempo, as well as its approved installers.

Australian consumer protection standards like the New Energy Tech Consumer Code however means that customers shouldn’t be obliged to chase down subcontractors if something goes wrong.

SolarQuotes in-house factchecker Ronald Brakels has plenty of reservations about the warranty conditions.

Ronald says the Altius solar panels appear to have a ten year product warranty, and a 25 year “performance guarantee”, falling short of an actual 25 year product warranty that is more the norm these days.

“Decent installers putting panels with less than a 25 year product warranty on home roofs is almost unheard of these days … this cost cutting is unlikely to be confined to just one area and so is likely to apply to the installation as well,” Ronald says.

The batteries appear to bear a ten year warranty, but there is no detail on how much capacity loss the battery can suffer and remain in warranty.

Ronald notes that the battery’s installation manual stipulates that it should be located in the shade, although he believes Aldi will still be responsible for honouring the warranty terms if they botch the installation.

Aldi promises that “with up to 6000 charge and discharge cycles before serious drop in performance, the battery is also built for the long haul. That’s over 16 years of high quality power!”

Ronald cautions that although he is not a lawyer, his reading of the above is that under Australian consumer law this could be considered what is known as an express warranty, under which Aldi is responsible for providing a repair, replacement, or refund if the battery fails before over 16 years have passed.

“Because you don’t want to have to fight Aldi if the battery fails between the 10 and 16 year mark, you can ask Aldi for this in writing. If they won’t give you this — which I’m sure they won’t — then you’ll know how much Aldi’s word is worth,” he says.

Prepared To Check Out Aldi’s Offer?

If you’re game to give Aldi Solar a crack, or were part of their initial Melbourne trial, you can let other Australians know how it all went via our reviews page for Aldi Solar installs, Altius solar panels, Altius inverters and Altius batteries.