Fox ESS - Inverter Reviews

About Fox ESS

Fox ESS is a Chinese manufacturer of solar inverters, batteries, and EV chargers.  It was created as a subsidiary of a large metallurgical company in 2019 and has made significant inroads into the Australian inverter and home battery markets since then. This review page is on their solar inverters.

Australian Contact Details

Fox ESS has Australian offices in Melbourne and Sydney:

Melbourne: 53 Willow Avenue, Springvale VIC 3171
Sydney: Unit 3/39 Herbert St, St Leonards NSW 2065
Telephone: 1300 377 369
Email: [email protected] 
Australian website

Company Info

Fox ESS hasn't been around that long, only being founded in 2019, but its parent company -- Tsingshan Holding Company -- was founded in 1988 and is a giant stainless steel producer with annual revenue in the tens of billions. This gives Fox ESS solid financial backing, but it's not a guarantee of financial stability, as Tsingshan Holdings itself was on the ropes for a while after losing around US$1 billion when the price of nickel went nuts for a few days in March 2022 after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

After being founded in 2019, Fox ESS began producing solar inverters in Wenzhou City, Zhejiang Province. In 2021 they opened a factory with the ability to produce 12GW of solar inverters per year. They claim it produces one every 25 seconds. The company has 5 R&D centres in total: Wuhan, Wuxi, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Dongguan. 

Fox ESS Inverters In Australia

Fox ESS offers a solar energy ecosystem that includes a range of AC and hybrid single- and three-phase inverters with capacities of 0.7 to 125 kilowatts; suitable for residential, commercial and industrial plants. Here's a brief look at some of the units available in Australia, approved by the Clean Energy Council for installation here.

Hybrid H1-G2, KH, H3 Smart, H3 Pro And H3 Plus

The single-phase H1-G2 is available in 3kW, 3.7kW, 4.6kW, 5kW and 6kW capacities, all with 2 MPPTs. These units measure 434 x 418 x 185mm and weigh 22 kilograms. They have an operating temperature range of -25 ~ 60C. 

Offering a switching time of <20 milliseconds, the H1-G2 series can handle battery voltages of 80 ~ 480V. But the only batteries these hybrid inverters can work with appear to be FoxESS batteries.

The single-phase KH is available in 7kW, 8kW, 9kW, 9.9kW, 10kW and 10.5kW capacities. These units measure 450 x 527 x 208mm and weigh 29 kilograms. They have an operating temperature range of -25 ~ 60C and can handle battery voltages of 85 ~ 480V.

In three-phase hybrid inverters is the H3 Smart in 5kW, 6kW, 8kW, 9.9kW, 10kW, 12kW and 15kW capacities. These are compatible with the Fox ESS range of high-voltage batteries.

Fox ESS also offers the three-phase H3 Pro in 15 - 30kW capacities. The H3 Pro has two independent battery inputs and is aimed at larger residential and light commercial installations.

For larger commercial and industrial applications, the three-phase H3 Plus is available in 50kW, 60kW, 75kW, 80kW, 100kW and 125kW capacities. It has three independent battery inputs. Up to 25 H3 Plus inverters can be connected in parallel on-grid and up to 10 off-grid.

Fox ESS says its current hybrid inverter range supports up to 200% PV oversizing.

F, G And T Series

The dual-MPPT F Series range in single-phase offers 3.0 - 6.0kW models. The F Series is IP65 rated and "battery ready" when paired with a Fox ESS charge controller. These inverters, with an operating temperature range of -25 °C to 60 °C, measure 402 x 476.5 x 148 mm and weigh 15.5 kilograms. Their maximum efficiency is 97.4%.

The single-phase G series is available in 7,8,9,10, and 10.5kW capacities. Also IP65 rated and the same operating temperature range as the F, these units have a maximum efficiency of 97.8%. All G-Series inverters measure 440 x 380 x 167mm and weigh in at 19 kilograms

FoxESS also offers a three-phase range, the T-Series (G3), with capacities ranging from 3kW to 25kW. The T-Series boasts a low start-up voltage, wide voltage range and up to 98.6% maximum efficiency.

Monitoring of Fox ESS inverters can be carried out in real-time via a smartphone app or web portal using the company's cloud platform.

Warranties

The warranty period for F, G, T series and the H1-G2 and H3 Smart hybrid inverters is 10 years. However, the warranty for Fox ESS's older inverters requires an annual inspection from year six. You have to pay for it and keep records of it, and if not carried out, Fox ESS can say the warranty doesn't apply. As I don't consider annual inspections to be reasonable, I regard these inverters as only having a 6 year warranty in practice.

Fox ESS's warranties can be downloaded from their site here.

Note that regardless of what a warranty says, you are always protected by Australian Consumer Guarantees.

For inverters without the inspection condition, the standard product warranty is 10 years from the date of installation, but no more than one hundred and thirty-two months from the date of manufacture - whichever comes first.

But if an F series inverter is registered via the Fox ESS website within 36 months from the date of manufacture of the Product, an additional 2 years of warranty will be provided. This "FoxPlus" warranty covers the cost of repairing the inverter only.

Full warranty coverage beyond ten years is available for an added fee. It can extend the warranty to up to 20 years - which is a very long time for an inverter; even very good quality ones. But like any company, whether Fox ESS will be around to honour it remains to be seen.