Briggs & Stratton, which acquired California battery maker SimpliPHI Power late in 2021, announced the launch of the SimpliPHI Energy Storage System (ESS), with the product available to order beginning June 14. The integrated, scalable solution starts with three core components, a 6 kW inverter, 4.9 kWh battery, and a proprietary monitoring system. The system will be on display at the RE+ conference in Anaheim this September.
The battery uses lithium-ferro-phosphate (LFP) chemistry, which is known for its advantage of having a minimized fire risk when compared to traditional lithium-ion batteries. It negates the use of cobalt, a metal associated with health hazards, and a key culprit in battery fires.
“Our energy storage solutions are held to industry-leading standards. From the chemistry, form factor and manufacturing processes of the batteries to the testing and validation requirements on behalf of our customers, we seek to provide a safer and more reliable solution,” said Catherine Von Burg, president and CEO, SimpliPHI Power.
The 6 kW inverter has integrated multiple power point tracking for solar or utility charging in either DC coupled or retrofit AC coupled systems. The inverter’s eight-millisecond switchover time prevents flickering lights and equipment damage associated with power outages. It is optimized for the LFP battery, and scalable in 6 kW increments.
Image: Briggs & Stratton
The battery contains a closed-loop communications system in its battery management system, which logically integrates with the inverter and proprietary EnergyTrak management software. It is scalable from one module to 72, for a total energy storage capacity of up to 358.5 kWh. The battery and inverter are both IP65 rated for both indoor and outdoor use.
The monitoring system allows users to manage energy usage through a mobile app that provides real-time status and updates. The system enables performance optimization, boosts utility bill savings, and creates energy security for customers.
“With aging power grids, more frequent outages and unpredictable weather patterns, the addition of the SimpliPHI ESS to our product lineup is another solution for people looking for an innovative, scalable energy system for their home or business,” said Tom Rugg, president, Energy Solutions at Briggs & Stratton.
SimpliPHI batteries are backed with over 110 years of power experience, with batteries deployed in over 40 countries. The equipment comes with six to ten year limited warranties. The batteries are capable of integration with solar arrays, the power grid, and backup generators.
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Because this can be used without solar panels, it is like a big Uninterruptable Power Supply (UPS) for your home or business. If one already owns solar panels but does not have batteries yet, this system is safer and could take the place of a separately mounted transfer switch, batteries and distribution center. it could also take your home that already has solar panels, completely off the grid when grid connection fees and tariffs are sky high.
The system is very pricy and the only thing they can offer that other cannot is the non-flammable batteries. If they could just give us a whole house system for under $12,000.00 in transfer switch, inverter and batteries with a 10,000-watt 120/240 output and 20 Kilo watt hours of storage they could change the world. The $24,000.00 base price is higher than Tesla’s dual power wall system.
Not so sure you can install a dual Powerwall system cheaper than $24k – the one I am currently installing is not cheaper than that. The quoted website estimates generally leave out some installation costs.
Where do you find prices for this product?
Any information on pricing?
Look up SimpliPHI Power on your search engine and look for products. They have a lot of generators and Electrical back up power supply battery systems. You can sign up for their newsletter and getting on their mailing list can also get you into web training sessions on how to hook up their products. They sell all the equipment and parts, but you would either need to get a contractor to install it or do it yourself with the additional wiring, conduit and connectors plus hook up. Their battery packs are smaller than a Tesla power wall and you would have to wire up two or three of them together to have as much storage as one power wall. The battery uses lithium-ferro-phosphate (LFP) chemistry that Tesla is required to use in its EVs in China so you may see Tesla upgrading to (LFP) chemistry from lithium ion in the future. Since the inverters can be gang able for more output, you could build a big enough system to power a whole home and not just specific circuits during a power blackout from the utility plus add more batteries later without changing the inverter portion of the system to have longer duration runs. Battery replacement at the end of life could be the item to look into since the system is modular rather than a fully integrated box.
LFP conveys some safety advantage consideration I suppose – but comparing the system pictured to the Tesla Powerwall system I am currently installing, 2/3 of the storage capacity requires 2 X the space. My 2 Powerwalls require roughly half the wall space, and can be increased by 9ne additional Powerwall without any additional wall space requirement.
Need to know pricing tho to make any definitive comparison for a smaller installation like this.
This size installation, either as pictured, or the larger capacity Tesla system I am installing falls significantly short of what would constitute off-grid capable storage. And that is before getting into the solar side of it…..
But without some ideas of both pricing and availability it’s hard to get a feel for the feasibility of this set up.
Your power wall system is the state of the art for now. When it comes time to replace it in 10-to-14-years, Tesla may have already converted to the lithium-ferro-phosphate (LFP) chemistry on your replacement, or you could choose another system that is more modular and may even have slide in battery racks so only a single rack would have to be replaced rather than the whole unit.
Send me the literature to go through in details
What’s the cost for your batteries