I met him at Everything Electric. Retired electrical engineer. Plenty of time on his hands, and one clear mission.
“I want the cheapest battery I can get,” he said. “I’ve done my homework.”
He had. He’d settled on Fox ESS. He’d rung their Australian tech support more than once and grilled them. He knew his way around AS/NZS 3000. And he had a quote from a national installer I’d rank among the worst in the country that was thousands cheaper than the next quote. A company that has phoenixed at least once, has a trail of appalling reviews, and is very, very cheap.
His question was simple: should I go ahead?
I think he expected me to tell him to run. My answer surprised him.
The Hardware Is Fine
The easy bit first. Fox ESS lives at the really cheap end of the market. I’m talking about buyers who aren’t even prepared to pay GoodWe prices.
In that bargain bin, Fox is probably the best of the bunch. Their Australian support is good. And their local office takes its reputation seriously, which you can’t say about every brand that turned up with a container full of batteries when the Cheaper Home Batteries rebate landed.
So on hardware, I told him he’d chosen well for his budget.
The Installer Is Not
The installer was a different story. I wouldn’t recommend them to my worst enemy. I won’t name them here, but if you’ve read The Art of the Phoenix you’ll recognise the type: rock-bottom prices, a fresh ABN when the complaints pile up, and a warranty that’s worth jack shit.
So Why Did I Say Yes?
Because I’ve met this bloke before. Not him exactly, but his type. Fifteen-odd years running SolarQuotes puts you in front of a lot of engineers who are fixated on getting solar dirt cheap.
I could tell within a few minutes that he’d be happy to QA the install himself. In fact, he’d probably enjoy it. He’d relish the back-and-forth with Fox’s tech support to get the configuration exactly right. He has the technical chops, the time, and he understands the risks.
So I told him straight. I don’t like the idea of anyone handing money to that bunch of grubs. But he is the only type of person I could ever say this to: yes, you should be OK. If you take the following precautions.
The Six Rules For Going Super Cheap
1. Get the design before you sign
A cheap quote usually comes with a vague text description. Ask for the system’s technical design, plus the name and phone number of the designer, before you accept the quote. Then you can check it’s the right design for your home instead of hoping. Once you agree on a design, don’t pay more than a 5% deposit.
2. Forget about backup
Don’t even think about it. Backup adds a layer of complication that the really cheap installers are likely to stuff up, and it massively increases the chance of problems down the track. You’re buying this battery to shift solar into the evening. Keep it that simple.
3. Watch the crew like a hawk
When the subcontracted install crew rocks up, you are going to have to watch everything they do. They will hate it. You’ll feel very uncomfortable. Do it anyway, and use every bit of your engineering nous to check their work as they go.
4. Bring your own commissioning checklist
When they get to commissioning, go through it with them. They probably don’t have a checklist, so write your own beforehand and tick off every item. Start with these five tests. The first two apply to you. The other three are about backup, which you’ve skipped.
5. Read the crew, and get their card
You might get a good crew. There are decent subbies who take these jobs because they want a steady stream of work and will wear the lower rates. If that’s who turns up, most of the above becomes unnecessary. Use your engineering judgement.
Either way, get the subcontracting company’s card. If there’s a workmanship problem later, you can go straight to them. The retailer should take responsibility, but they won’t. Besides, they may have a new ABN by then.
6. Pay for a proper inspection
You’re an engineer, but you don’t hold an electrical licence. So pay $500 to $1,000 for a qualified, independent inspector to go over the job properly. You can’t rely on the company’s internal QC, because I’m not convinced it exists.
You’ve Paid With Time And Knowledge
That’s about it. Do all six and you cut your odds of ending up with a lemon a long way.
But be clear about what you’re paying with. You pay in time and hassle, and in feeling like a right wally as you hover over the shoulder of a crew trying to do their job. I normally tell homeowners never to do that. It’s rude, it slows everyone down, and good installers hate it with a passion.
This is the one case where I make an exception.
Everyone Else: Walk Away
If you’re a regular homeowner, none of this applies to you. Avoid these super cheap installers at all costs.
My engineer friend can get away with it because he brings everything the installer leaves out. He can read a design, spot a dodgy termination, write a commissioning checklist, and deal with a manufacturer’s tech support in their own language. He’s also got the time and the stubbornness to deal directly and confidently with the crew and the manufacturer when something goes wrong.
Take those away, and you’re left with the cheapest installer in the country, a warranty you’ll never collect, and nobody on your side.
That’s a recipe for misery.
About Finn Peacock
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Great article.
I’m an engineer. A Systems Engineer which means I design systems then get the specialists in like your friend. I stay in my lane!
A really good electrical engineer is a rare beast, in my experience. I went to tech college in Sale decades ago with such a bloke.
Gerard
It appears that those who consider themselves to be “good reliable installers” will not touch the Fox or other cheaper brands, and want to upsell the more expensive brands.
This ultimately means their markup and high labour profits are easily hidden amongst the high brand prices,… good for them.
At the end of the day consumers need to make a sound financial decision on the basis of electricity price savings,…so able to get a decent payback if you are cash rich, or ROI if you have to borrow to install.
If we, as you suggest, only go for basic battery to supplement/ replace draw at peak times (without backup) we still have the high cost of supply, which often confuse those who look at the total bill and think the battery will have a shorter payback period than just the correct “usage only” figure gives.
The ROI works only with high usage during peak, or the system is at the low end of pricing, and its a pity that more “good” installers are not “willing” to use such hardware.
I used Solar Quotes to get three quotes with Tesla approved Installers. Paid premium and bought at the upper end of the market with Tesla PW3+1bat. Extremely dissappointed with Tesla and their approved installers. First Installer gave up after a week. Tesla nominated an Installer to carry out a survey to establish a fault. They boasted changing over 1000 PW2 for warranty. They said they would complete all the checks that Tesla requested. In the end they did their own thing and ended up creating an earth resistance reading from a drum of wire in the UTE. The third installer put the new PW3 in and was very professional and had it installed and running in no time and wired to Tesla specification. The PW3 now has another fault and Tesla are pointing to the installer and the installer is saying they are not doing Teslas fault finding for nothing. I am now stuck with a PW3 installed by an approved installer who has walked away and an approved installer engaged by Tesla whos walking away.
Hi Neil,
Have you raised this with [email protected] ?
This is the kind of feedback that helps us help everyone.
Yes, solar quotes are aware.
My point is you do your best to get approved installer and premium equipment and there are no guarantees.
Had I done deeper research in to Tesla i would have never specified them. It may be a technically good package but the company does not support installers and customers.
“The PW3 now has another fault and Tesla are pointing to the installer and the installer is saying they are not doing Tesla’s fault finding for nothing.”
If as Tesla states the problem is related to the installation then the installer should fix the issue. If they don’t then Tesla should threaten to pull their Tesla accreditation.
My experience with Tesla is every fault is either the solar array or the installer. According to Tesla an arc fault can only be confirmed by photographing each cell when the panel is under the right conditions, but if no arc fault can be detected this does not mean that there are none. My app says that an arc fault has been detected (DC breaker, which is not monitored in the software did not trip). It did not go on my roof to take photographs. I have disconnected the solar array and the fault will not go away although it did go away twice on the same day. I can only assume they were trying to reset it using the software.
The installer installed the Tesla equipment and there was no fault at the time. Two companies have inspected the installation and could find nothing wrong. I think it would be an insult to most electricians that they could not connect the system as directed by Tesla. Its not complicated. Its should be plug and pay so any faults have to be within the Powerwall system.
I’m not sure how many of the off-the-rack systems are expandable, but if an affordable starter system can over time be extended for BEV charging, added house backup, more battery capacity, and more PV panels for all that, then growth to match the changing energy world can be more economical, with less equipment thrown out. Some offerings can, and taking the longer view can pay off in the end.
Here, an ample battery allowed charging a PHEV into the night, the house battery dropping to 63%, and ample PV has returned it to 100% in murky overcast and rain – exceedingly poor PV conditions.
I reckon it was you I was with at Sale Tech!!
Gerard
Gerard,
They should bring back Tech schools – the solid hands-on education meant we’re not just theorists, wondering why the difference between theory and practice is much greater in practice than in theory. And Sale was a good one.
Hi Erik,
Yes, STS was a good place of learning. I do recall yourself and me doing a Physics Prac of our own design (Mr Wyatt allowed that sort of thing). Our prac was measuring the conductance of a triode. A great learning experience for me.
But the Year 12 subjects were numerous: English Expression, English Lit, Physics, Chem, Pure & Applied Maths, Calculus, Intro to Engineering, Machine Shop Practice, Electrical Wiring, Eng Drawing.
Could that be done these days? Possibly.
Apologies for going off topic!
Gerard
As mentioned, I had been in touch with the FoxESS Melbourne based tech support (but I had been in touch with them since the first T5 three phase inverter landed in Australia) it had been a solid performer for a few years but the add on module for the T5 to allow DC battery connection had not been approved for Australia.
Fast forward to May 2026, we had our design approved and we were going to AC connect the FoxESS batteries, but luckily we had a really good installer who changed everything, mounted a 10kW FoxESS inverter, added 3 backup power circuits, extended our switchboard and left us in awe of their speed and skill.
We are very happy. Our 6.6kW solar panels (5 years old) are pulling in 6.6kW during the middle of any clear skies day. We start charging our FoxESS battery before 8am and our 42kWh battery is at 100% before midday.
Electrical engineers must be different from civil engineers… 40 years of construction and i never met a civil engineer who I would trust to actually have a clue as to whether the work they designed had actually been constructed correctly…
Did you ask him if he considered designing his own setup with a battery emulator and repurpose an EV battery. Kinda sounds like that would be a good passion project for a person of his skills, time and energy.
Hi Finn! Great advice as usual. I always enjoy reading your posts and the great advice that you give. However you did make one comment that raised my eyebrows! You said don’t hover over the installers as it “slows them down and they hate it with a passion”. Not sure that I really agree with that. If an installer is good and confident in what they do, why should they mind if the homeowner is watching them do their job, as long as they’re not interfering of course. There should be nothing wrong with the homeowner asking some questions and even making some suggestions. I have certainly been known to do this on all sorts of jobs around the house and I believe I get a better outcome for it. Being rude-no way! Keep up the good job Finn.
I too was an Electrical and electronics Engineer professionally. I always avoided cheaper equipment if I could in our business projects: It often did not meet its own published specifications and I really did not have time to keep revisiting unreliable systems once they were in production. I carried that approach into my choice of equipment for my home solar and battery system. I want to complete a project and be sure it will perform as I need for a long time and meet the financial targets I calculated. I don’t want to mess around.
A lower price allows a bigger battery, or more panels. Both are good.
Managed to set a new record here today, 70.9 kWh of off-grid generation for the day, into a BEV, a PHEV, and some welding and plasma cutting. (It’s harder to run up a respectable total without a family of teenagers to help out.)
The photons keep coming. Might as well use them. (We can save $1B per week in fuel imports, when we save up enough to replace the fossil burners.)
Dunno if the El Niño will eventually fulfill the dire prognostications, but the 122 mm rain we had in three days last week were very very nice – a good buffer if things go pear shaped. (Water tanks full, dams overflowing, grass green as. Now, if the kangaroos didn’t eat all the grass, I could run a few cows. 😉