IS DCS PV SERIES THE BEST VALUE BATTERY ON THE MARKET?
Recently we read an interesting article by Finn Peacock from One Step Off The Grid (You can read the article here), claiming that the Tesla Powerwall 2 was 30% cheaper than the next closest competitor on the market.
This got our attention as we know that here at DCS we will always strive to deliver the best value product to Australian consumers. It became evident from reading the article that the article is not taking some critical factors under consideration and as such not comparing apples with apples. It would be like saying that the cheapest car in the lot is the best value for money. Whilst this may be true if you are talking purely about an off the shelf price, does it represent the best value in terms of life span, warranty, reliability and performance? Probably not. And that is also the case here, so we wanted to take a more in depth look and give you our own analysis on the article.
Firstly, the most important factors that consumers should be looking at before they decide on which battery to purchase is the lifespan of the battery cells. Whilst the warranty period is also essential, the lifespan of the battery, cells and other components is vital as warranty clauses can be vague at best and misleading at worst, meaning that so many conditions may be placed upon the warranty conditions that your chances of ever getting a replacement battery are about as good as winning the lottery. This is why at DCS we have simplified our warranty conditions to ensure that our customers don’t require a genius IQ to figure it out.
Lifespan
So what is the lifespan of a DCS battery? While there is of course no blanket answer to this (factors such as the cycling frequency, the depth of discharge, the capacity installed and the ambient temperature conditions at the site will all affect the lifespan), however you can expect your DCS battery to still be performing after 20 years under normal use.
Secondly, the cell chemistry – or what the battery is made of. DCS batteries are made using the latest and most advanced Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePO4) or simply LFP cell technology. This cell chemistry is best suited for solar energy storage, not only is it safer but also has at least double the service life than other cell chemistries that some of our competitors have chosen.
Warranty
All DCS PV series batteries are supported by a true 10 year warranty. At the 10 year mark DCS batteries are warrantied to be at least 80% nominal capacity. The DCS Battery Management System (BMS) that is installed inside each battery pack has the capability to efficiently manage the battery all the way down to 50% of it’s original capacity. DCS batteries have a slow predictable fade with no sudden drop in capacity. DCS batteries are also serviceable and rebuildable locally here in Australia.
Performance and reliability
All DCS PV series batteries even our little DCS PV 5.0 (5kWh) batteries are able to discharge and super charge at a continuous 5.12kW or 100Amps. DCS PV series batteries also have the highest round trip efficiency of any other battery on the market. The DCS PV series batteries have been designed using the popular 48V nominal voltage standard, this voltage standard means that the batteries internal design is well over 7 times more reliable in comparison to the unproven high voltage (HV) battery storage standard. The DCS PV series batteries are also expandable at up to 40kWh per inverter/charger.
So a quick recap of DCS PV Series batteries:
- A superior life span of 20 years
- At least double the service life
- A warranty that supports our product without all the hidden clauses you may find in our competitors
- The most advanced LFP cell chemistry for solar storage
- Super reliable 48V nominal voltage standard
- The highest round trip efficiency
- Easy future expandability
This brings us to our final point. Is DCS the best value battery on the market?
Yes.
Source: onestepoffthegrid.com.au
