SolaX Battery Deep Dive: Backup, Safety, Support and Real-World Performance - EP 62

If I have the choice between all these different batteries that are coming through, how do I make the right decision which one to pick? You look at people who really drive their cars. What are they driving? What do they trust?

They trust their presented by your energy answers. Right now, there is this huge battery boom thanks to the federal rebate. We're going to see a little bit of a reduction by April, but overall it's going gangbusters. And who better to talk all things battery than somebody who's representing a brand that has been in Australia for over a decade?

Gone the solar coaster and the battery coaster up and down. Welcome to the Why Yeah podcast, Josh Hargrave. Thank you very much for having us, Marcus. We appreciate being here.

So you've been with Solax not the whole 10, 12 years that you've been in Australia, have you? No, not at all. Actually, I'm quite new to Solax. Um about six months at this stage.

Oh, so I'm gonna make you look really silly because I'm gonna ask you really a lot of technical questions about the product. So what's your background before that? So before that, I actually used to work for another uh manufacturer from China, um Astrology, who used to do a lot of solar panels into Australia. Right.

And then before that used to work for multiple APCs. Right, right. But I I believe your whole work started initially by selling uh electrification and home upgrades in the ACT, is that right? Yeah, so I actually started out representing AGL through Greenham Green Planet doing door-to-door sales, offering free home energy products.

You're a door-to-door sales guy, I think. I I am. Do you trust me? But you gave away free product, is it?

That's correct. Under the ACT scheme, we were giving away free free products to help people reduce their energy bills. It was something very like the light the CFL light bulbs and all that kind of stuff. That's correct.

So uh we actually ended up installing, I believe, over 80,000 homesworth products in the ACT during that project. So yeah, it was a great thing to be a part of. So you basically go knock on the door, I got some free light bulbs for you. And because you've got an honest face, they weren't slamming the door in your face, is it?

Exactly. I think I got to the point where I could almost do my job on a hundred percent knock rate and get straight in and offer the product and off I went by the end of the five years. They're possibly you if when you entered the neighborhood, the the neighborhood watch people were kind of phoning each other, oh they're the three light bulbs guys here again. They already awaited you kind of thing.

Absolutely, absolutely. Um it gets to the point where if you do it well, you can just work off referrals, I think though. Good. So basically, very popular in that kind of energy space.

And now with the battery rebate, I mean, you guys must be busy. We are very busy. Um, it's unprecedented times. Um, the federal government's been very generous with their current offer to the market.

Um, and it's it's seen battery sales boom in Australia, which is fantastic to be a part of. A big question for all the installers who are running around looking for batteries right now to get them in before April. You guys still got stock? We have plenty of stock.

We are ready to go. Anyone who is forward finding shortfalls in their capability to get stock, please contact us. Right, right. Okay.

Now let's start right at the beginning with Solax at as a whole, because in Australia, right at the beginning, when batteries started, there was LG Chem, there was Tesla, but there was also Solax. That's true. And what I picked up is that LG Chem had a bit of a recall, I think a major one with $50 million spent. And then there was Tesla, and the Tesla Power Wall won, nobody even talks about it anymore.

I keep on saying it's like the Pharaoh name that got chiseled out of the temple, never to be mentioned. And Tesla 2 also had a bit of a recall recently. So you guys are the other one in the stable of the very early ones in Australia, but your product actually stood the test of time. That's that's correct.

We've actually been in the market since 2014. Um, other than um slightly being involved with LG Chem um in the early days. We can talk about that warranty call a little bit in a minute, yes. Yeah, absolutely.

Um, but yeah, no, we've been here for a long time. We were the first uh supplier to bring an hybrid inverted to the Asian market as well. Um so yeah, we're really proud of our presence and long-standing presence in the Australian market. So if somebody actually now is a solar retailer, there's a lot of new shiny batteries coming out, but they haven't proven themselves in the market.

And so therefore, the question is really if I have the choice between all these different batteries that are coming through, how do I make the right decision which one to pick? It's a good point. Um, so I as you mentioned, I've been in the industry for a little while, and you see a lot of brands come and go over time. Um, they offer sometimes offer amazing warranties and promises that go far beyond anything else.

Um what I'd say is we've been here for over a decade, 13 years now. Um we actually here we back our warranties, we fulfill things that we say we're gonna do. We don't we're actually a partner that you can pick that is reliable and will back your energy solution into the future and give you the support you need. So, why did SolX actually decide to get to the Australian market over a decade ago?

Do you know that kind of reasons behind? Of course. It's um the Australian market is one of the most innovative in the fact that we've had the STC scheme that's created a large amount of rooftop solar across the country. Um and because we but we also have really challenging grid connection um conditions in the Australian market as well.

And it's a good place for us to come and develop and become a better brand because we have to adapt and diversify to the conditions of Australia. Um so with our up and down grids and the long distances and all of those challenges, you're saying you came here because it was a good market from solar penetration, but a tough market from the technical capability. So if you can do the Australian market, you can do any market. Yeah, right.

Correct, yeah. Ah, okay. So we were kind of like the experiment. But a lot of the new brands will find it a hard way now that maybe their product isn't up to scratch.

Years ago, I had a little I had an inverter, transformless of a European brand. And after about three or four years it died. And when we took it apart, we found that the salt ear, because I lived at that time close to the coast, had deposited small crystals somewhere on a connection point that then meant it was shorting out because there was a crystallisation of salt formed that had the that for whatever reason the electricity was able to jump through. So there are certain the little geckos in Queensland that uh get into inverters and all those Australian challenges.

So you guys have been riding that uh that train, have you? We we're very used to responding to things like that. Australia is a challenging environment to to have any sort of electrical equipment out in the um open. Right.

Um so yeah, no, look, we've we're now very comfortable having resilient products that are built and adapted to the Australian market. We listen to our installers, we take feedback, you know, when things go wrong, we replace them and we take that units, we'll look at them and build our RD off it and build units into the future that I guess are designed to manage our harsh conditions. Now, initially it was all inverters, wasn't it? You kind of transitioned from the inverter to the inverter battery type thing.

Is that what's the journey like that like? I mean, uh again, you possibly weren't there with the company at the beginning, but how did you decide to go from inverter to inverter battery? Of course. So um we started with small grid tight inverters, then into being the first.

Very small. Very small. Um these are still available and they have a use in certain places in Australia and around the world. That's a three kilowatt, is it?

That's correct. That's correct. So it's very popular for um new builds, etc., where they're trying to get that energy star rating.

Got it. So it's just a small solar system, but it uh still does uh does something for the bill. Correct. So but it how long have you been then moving from inverter to inverter and battery?

Yeah, of course. So it's been um so since we started in 2009, uh it's now 2026, we now have everything in our product line from inverters this small, right up to megawatt scale systems um for utility purpose. So we have a very diverse product. Had a look from CNI, residential, um, utility scale, and then also balcony systems like this as well.

So you you've been to the factory? I have just recently, actually. It's um it's an impressive tour. Right.

So so it's not like a little shed on the back of something. I mean, is it? These places are big, they have a lot of staff, they really have big facilities and they sell all around the world, is it? Put it this way.

Oh, I was there with a customer and we spent almost 16 hours there that day, um, going for every nook and cranny. I was and I've been to other factories in China. I was genuinely impressed with what I seen in the Solax factory. Aaron Powell What's that?

It's just the size or the quality control, the RD? The common sense systems that are in place, um the quality, um, the cleanliness of the facility, um the processes that are in place are really impressive. Um when you start to look at factories and you start to dig through, sometimes factories might have a nice shiny walkway where they take you through and you can see, you know, the beautiful things that the company wants you to see. But then when you go through the back lot, yeah, there's a bit of a different story sometimes happening.

With Solax and spending 16 hours going through the factory, I actually went through all the places that you wouldn't normally want to see of a factory. But I can be up front and say that I'm very impressed. It is the same the whole way through. Everything from little light bulb systems for picking stock, you know, to make sure the right components are picked.

It's just phenomenal. Right, right. You gotta invite me one day. But um, so you guys not buying, let's say, the batteries ready-made and the whole inverter ready-made, and just put the Solex stick out.

You actually got a genuine RD, have you? Yeah, we actually have a genuine RD. In fact, we actually almost 40% of our staff work in RD. So over 1,100 people in the Solex Corporation have focused day to day on RD.

Um, it's about a third of our company spend as well. So very much we focus on 100% um company our own innovation um and producing products that we stand by. Right, right. Look, there's one particular moment in Australia where I do say I have to have been impressed by Solex, which was it's possibly before your time, which was an issue with the LG Chem batteries.

Because as we all know, LG Chem was a leader in Australia, and then suddenly the batteries started to swell up, and I don't there were gases generated inside of it, had a massive recall. Uh, to their credit, they stayed in Australia and paid for it. But I have to say, uh, dripping taps are faster than in terms of how quick this warranty was going through. It took a long time because a lot of them didn't know where the units went, etc.

The problem that I believe was happening is that you had an inverter unit, a big box, which had a Solex inverter but had an LG Chem battery attached to it. That's correct. And it took them literally forever to come to you because they looked after their own product first. Of course.

And you guys just got, I think it was two or three hundred units at about 10 grand pop each. So we're talking two, three million bucks. Correct. And you guys just went, This is it, we have to protect our brand, and you put your hand in your pocket and actually fixed all and replaced those out of Solex's cost, even so it was really an LGCAM problem.

Well, that's correct. And it's not just about protecting our brand, it's customers have invested their trust with us to provide them with a quality product that's going to last a test of time. They've invested their hard-earned money. So for us, that trust being invested in us, and something like this going wrong and it not being rectified quickly isn't acceptable.

So that's why we made the decision to get in front of this, spend our own money. It's a relatively small amount of money to do the right thing by the right by people that have invested trust in us. And I guess it it shows to the market that we care. We do care.

We don't we don't want to have these outcomes. I was in the panel market and I was working for a very prestigious brand at the time, which was the LG brand, in the panels. What happened when the batteries are separate stories? Actually, an Audi VW situation where LG Came is a different company to LG Electronics, most people don't know that.

But we also had the high brand and we had the lower cost, the seraphins and astronomy at the lower cost point. The same happened there in the battery space. How are you being perceived when you walk in now with Solx? A, you've got your history, but also some people would have also seen, oh, well, that's the cheaper battery kind of thing.

So how is the perception of the market? Well, what I'd say, Marcus, is um you look at people who really drive their cars, right? So Uber drivers, taxi drivers, what do they drive? And what do they trust?

They trust their Toyota. Um, why? Because it's a dependable, reliable unit and product. Um we've been here for a long time, and the way that I feel that we're now perceived in the market by trusted and reliable operators that really depend on their products, people like Reposit, who have over 6,000 systems that they push to the limit.

We we are their Toyota now. Um we're the we we fit into that trusted brand that's reliable through and through. But I mean, the story is really, and we know it all from our own lives. Um the philosopher within the house as the husband, let's say, is never given the same credit as the girlfriend philosopher from across the road type of thing.

Do you know what I mean? So what I'm kind of trying to say is you possibly are those kind of really comfortable shoes that you've had for a long time, but there's this shiny little new one in the shop windows. It might actually break very quickly, but God, it's new. So how do you kind of compare on all uh reality checks?

You should be beating a lot of the Chinese competitors because you've been here, you tested the market, you've got 10 years, your tech department speaks English. They're not just arrived from overseas and and and have the phrase book next to them. So all these things should work in your favor. But but you're not the shiny new thing.

Um now you are the shiny new thing for Solacs. But do you find that sometimes there is that resistance and people actually trust an untrained and untried product more than something that's been in the market for a long time? Unfortunately, sometimes, yes, that is true in the market. Um and I wish it wasn't that way.

But but it is. Um but what I would say is, you know, you if you're going on a long walk and you referred to shoes, you know, you'd want to wear your comfy shoes. And solar is a long-term investment. You know, you want to make sure you have support.

So for us, we have a call center that's 24-7. That, you know, let's say you change a modem at home and all of a sudden you've lost your Wi-Fi. You can ring that call center. You can actually get that back up and running yourself.

You don't need to wait. Did you say 24-7? 24-7, 365 days a year. And that doesn't, but is that physically in Australia or is it overseas?

So that call center is overseas, but to back that, we also have in each state two techs in every state um ready to go out in the field and fix any problems that may occur. Right. So your solar retailers, therefore, that you do work with, and the ones that use Solacs. But the funny thing, I've actually spoken to some of them and I said to them, look, I'm gonna I think actually Solox offers a good value because you've got the good, better, best model, and I would say, okay, if you want to do the best, you do your Tesla, your seek, and all that, but they're coming at a price point, and I sit you sit very nicely in that uh better category, but actually you got the good price point.

That's correct. So I think from a value proposition, I actually see Solex's future in Australia very bright. And the reason is because as the rebate keeps on going down, and as the customers change, at the moment you got these people, they're happy to pay for a Freonius because they had a phronius and they're gonna been waiting for five years, and this thing walks in and they start to hug it. No problem.

But those customers will run out, those kind of early adopters who've been waiting for that battery and got the big bucks, baby boomers, like me. And the next category is actually gonna be the people that have the cost of living pressure. So cost and price point, what you get and value is gonna be a big issue. Yeah, absolutely.

And that's where I think you're fitting very nicely. I'm doing all the promotion here for you, by the way. Uh that's where you fit very nicely because you got the runs on the board, you're price point-wise, very affordable from what I can pick up. Uh I'll leave that one for you to discuss with solar retailers who make inquiries.

Uh but you're actually offering a lot of it, like the really cheap stuff normally in the backup situation, but you know, you're lucky if you can get your fridge connected. So I have an interesting story to tell you because I had I know some people, and I'm gonna shout out the company like Solar Bright in Sydney, who use the Solex and have used it for 10 years, and it's their key go-to uh battery and inverter. And they wouldn't use that product for that long if it wouldn't back them up.

All right. But he said to me, hey, don't make that product so popular because I want stock all the time. I want to be able to look like I'm a special guy and I want to really kind of be able to get that best price and all that. If there's lots of guys who suddenly want it and I've got competition and lots of it, that makes my position harder.

So it's kind of like funny that some people who know the value of it and use it a lot, they actually don't want your success so wide. It's it's like it's like that favorite ice cream. If everybody loves it, I can't get it in a supermarket anymore. It's at the moment, it's a fantastic point of difference for them when they walk into a house to have such a value opposition proposition for a customer with Solax when they um they may be offering all their competitors are offering all kinds of brands, um, and it becomes a true race to the bottom for price when everyone's offering the same thing.

So, yeah, absolutely. I can understand why they'd be concerned. Well, sometimes you can be too popular. But going back into it, what's your product range at the moment?

So at the moment, we have the X1 Vast, which is our single phase inverter hybrid. Um, we also have the G4 and G4 Pro, which will come out soon, which is our three-phase residential inverter. We also have When you say soon, you know how the CC approves it and it's it's a snail race uh down the track. What are we talking about?

Plant for Q3, something like that? So yeah, we're it is very much that the product is developed and ready to be deployed to the Australian market where the listing is with the CEC at the moment. So shouldn't be too long, hopefully. Yeah, yeah.

Honestly, that's another that's another podcast. That's a whole yeah, that's another podcast. But we don't want to be we love the CEC. Please just process it, okay?

We're not criticizing you because it might just make it up the back of the shelf again. Yes, don't do that to us, Marcus. I've done it to others, don't worry. So coming back to it, so you got a single phase, you got a three phase.

So the single phase, you would have a five, I assume. Correct. A six kilowatt, an eight, correct, ten, correct. Does it where you stop?

That is where we stop. All right. What can I then add to the ten in terms of battery stacks? So you can add up to eight of our five point one batteries.

Um that's just over 40 kilowatt hours? Correct. But if that's not enough for you, we actually have dual battery battery imports, and you can put a whole nother stack of eight on there. Right, so I can go eighty.

Okay. But then with a lot of the cheap batteries, and this is possibly where really the sales guys can beat the uh foxies of this world, the Foxy batteries. Yes. Um your backup is much more solid, isn't it?

That's correct. So we have with that single phase inverter, we actually have a hundred percent depth of discharge on our batteries. Um, so you can access the full 40 kilowatt hours of power stored. Uh just for end customers, what sometimes happens is you get your 40 kilowatt hour of battery promised, but you got to always keep maybe 10% left in the battery.

So you're not getting your full uh kilowatt hours that you whacked in to be able to pull out. So that's where the Solex has an advantage. But also in the backup area, some of the batteries really don't allow a full home backup because of the throughput power that's available. As soon as you turn an earcon on, everything trips.

Now, with your 10 kilowatt, obviously your smaller units will be lower in that's correct, they'll be they'll be limited in that factor. But if you were to go just with something like a 10 kilowatt single-phase inverter, your whole home backup should be quite robust. Now, don't go welding or baking cakes um during a blackout. If you've got a gas stove, you can bake cakes, but if you've got an electric stove, don't.

Yes, yeah. So don't try and charge three EVs and all that kind of stuff at the one time. It's not not appropriate. Just wait for the power to come back on.

It's normally pretty quick in Australia. But at least it keeps the lights on. It keeps the lights on a keep. The fridge going, it'll keep the TV going for the kids, it'll keep the place cold with the air con running.

Yeah. You'll be comfortable. Okay. So we got that.

Now when we move into the three phase, what's available there? So with the three phase, um, we can then have up to 10 of those 5.1 battery stacks per battery input. Again, same story, two inputs, so you can have quite a lot of storage there.

Right, right. Okay. And what range do you do? You I assume you do a 10?

We do a 10. What's your lowest you're starting with? I believe an eight for that one. Okay, so eight, three.

I haven't sold anything less than an eight. No, look, I mean, nowadays, really, you need bigger solar, you need bigger batteries, the EVs are coming, the electrification of the home. I mean, I can't believe years ago we got away with a one and a half kilowatt system. I mean, it's it's really doing nothing.

Um, but where do you go in your range? So you say eight, I assume a 10, or what's next? So we go up to 20 with those ones. Right.

Okay. So, well, that's uh so you would say basically the home market is where you're going, because then possibly for the commercial and larger size, have you got a range of that as well? We do. We have some exciting products in that space, actually.

So we just released our ALIO unit, which is a 50 kilowatt and 60 kilowatt hybrid inverter. Um, and that can actually come with a battery cabinet connected to it with up to a hundred to two hundred kilowatt hours of battery storage system. So you can have two hundred kilowatts, do you? Correct.

Or can you is that a hundred and then two of them, or is it a 200 coming or both? Sorry, a 200 cabinet um and a hundred cabinet. So you have the choice between the two of them. All right.

Can you then go from the 200 and have two and actually go 400 or 200 is your limit? No, you can parallel them absolutely up to 10. So I can have 2000, can I? Yeah.

If I'm really greedy. If you're really greedy, you can have 2000. And then these inverters are capable of all the things that most inverters are on the market these days with hybrid technology, so 200% DC overloading. And benefit with having that battery is then you can take full, full um advantage of that DC overloading.

So the inverter is actually clever enough to be able to put, let's say it's a 50 kilowatt inverter, you've got 100 kilowatts of DC. 50 kilowatts can go straight into the battery as DC storage, and then 50 kilowatts can then be produced for AC consumption. Oh, that's sexy. Now, what about your warranties?

How long are they? 10 years for most products. Right, right. Okay.

So because I remember when you came into the market originally, it was a five-year warranty, wasn't it? That's correct. That's is and I actually picked up in the industry that some over-eager door knocking salesman. They wouldn't have done anything bad, Marcus.

Some over-eager door knocking salesman actually ran around when you had a five-year warranty and promised people 10. And then when the companies that they were responding for are not around anymore, they the customer rings you back after seven or eight or nine years when there was an issue and says, Where's my 10-year warranty? Is that kind of washed out of the system now, or what's the story? That is washing out of the system now.

But those stories, we are familiar with them of companies over-promising things. And look, that that exists for all brands. Um, salespeople are salespeople, they'll say what needs to be said to get the job done. I've did he tell me that in the middle of the podcast when he's selling me stuff.

But listen, I'm not gonna get you let you get away with anything like that. So it's 10 years, is the warranty? Correct, yes. Okay, good, good.

So look, I mean, that's why, as I said, I invited you today because I really could feel that you are kind of a little bit the unsung hero in the market. Because on the price point, when I did my research, and this is well on to the wholesaler, you're surprisingly close to the more affordable batteries, but you got all your advantages, you got better backup, you got being in the Australian market for a long time, yeah. And then which is really the unsung hero stuff, is you're literally running one of the largest VPPs in Australia for the last up to nine years now.

So your batteries are getting kicked and screamed at every night when they get released by a company called Reposit. And I actually got the founder, I had him in here for a podcast, and I go, So, because the model that he has is this I buy a solar system from Reposit, it's got the reposit control box, so the guy's driving your battery, but he guarantees you in return no bill for seven years. I buy a solar system, I let this guy worry about everything, and as long as my power consumption stays with about 10% what I had in the last five years when he gets the data, it's no bill.

If he has gear that lets him down with 3,000, 5,000, 7,000 batteries out there now, his whole model goes. But he's actually doing well and he's making a profit. And you know which battery he's using? I do.

What is it? It's a Solax battery. And it's a fantastic product that he offers to his customers as well. So the point is there is somebody in Australia who's running a fleet of about 2,500 Solaxes that he sold to them directly, another two and a half thousand thereabouts that the owner purchased them, but they've got the reposit box, and another two thousand overall.

So it's about 7,000 units. And what he does every night there is spiking in electricity prices, the batteries getting pushed and discharged, and also when it's very low, they get pulled in and charged as quick as they can. And lots of them are 40 kilowatt stacks for the maximum return. And guess what?

Let's have a look what he's actually had to say about your product. And I didn't have to pay him anything. Leonard, can we play the clip? It is the unsung hero brand of the Australian electricity system.

It cops a lot of flack, undeservedly. They've been around forever, their gear is solid. We have straight up and down financial exposure. Like the value of my business and my profit and loss statement every month is 100% dependent upon like the reliability and trading performance of Solax equipment.

And I would have stopped using it. Like money where my mouth is, I would have stopped using it if that was like if it let you down. Yeah, it was going badly. Absolutely.

So you must be quite proud, actually, having I'll say that again because we had a bit of echo. So you must be quite proud seeing that, because there isn't literally another battery brand in Australia that could have that kind of backup and endorsement by customers who uses it. This is not a single household owner. This is a bloke who's got thousands of batteries.

And I know Dean, he's very direct. Yeah. If he wouldn't be happy, you wouldn't know about it. Absolutely, absolutely.

And I mean, like he's bet his business on us, um, essentially, is what happened. And it's working, right? So he's got the results, um, and the proof is in the pudding. So this clip that we just shot with him is probably going to be one of your best sales tools.

I would imagine so. What are you gonna give me for it? No, just kidding. But listen, I mean, this is very, very important for this industry because this is the one big fear I have.

I believe a lot of the batteries at the moment that have been installed are rushed in, and we will have a backlash with some of these batteries not properly installed, and for that reason, like with any boom, then the whole industry can get a bad name. Correct. Okay. So when you pick somebody for Solac, do you kind of actually go sometimes and check the installs out, or do you train the guys up, or they just get the box in the mail and off you go?

Absolutely not. So a lot of my job is actually managing our strategic partners, making sure they have the support they need. Um, so and when we bring on new partners, making sure that our techs are working with them closely, they've got the support, they've got the oversight from us to make sure that everything is being installed correctly and as per our expectations, so that we know the people in the market who are selling our product are supported by us and they're trusted by us.

We we run partner appreciation programs. Um, yeah, we're we're very robust in the way that we um who we choose to work with. Because it's in your interest. Because if the bloke just whacks it anywhere on a northern wall or a western wall because that's the easiest and the shortest cable run on the cost of copper now, you pay the price in four or five years' time, and it wasn't your product.

It was actually a poor install. Absolutely. And it's one of the biggest fears, I think, at the moment, with so many battery systems getting installed, um, is the quality of the workmanship that's happening in the field. Yeah, look, I've I mean, I've seen those uh $96 little awnings whacked over battery on a western side.

It's not going to do the job in late summer or late winter when the light is very low and it's gonna shine directly onto the battery. So there will be issues. So it's usually the same thing as always. You get what you pay for, and those very cheap advertised batteries at the moment.

I really believe uh I don't want to get sued here, so I don't want to really really give you swear words here, but I really believe that we're not always getting the output that the government expected to get out of the battery rebate, partly because of the VPP functionality that is not that great, and B because of the uh quality of the install. Talking VPP, obviously you do work with Reposit because he's running thousands. Are you kind of VPP compatible with any other of the major brands?

We are. So at the moment we're quite close to being VPP compatible with Amber, but we also have um, I believe it's Globex. I would have to get the list in front of me. Glow uh Globe, isn't it?

Globird, yes. Yes, yes, and there's a few others. I would have to have the list in front of me that's about five or six long. But so basically the key VPP provides all the key VPP providers we we are on board with.

Working with. Okay, good. Now, um, so we got the product lineup, we got the availability discussion. What about I heard somebody, some tech guy told me something about that you kind of like a high voltage platform, so there's kind of extra safety features in it or anything like that.

What do you think? Well, how safe is your battery? That's my question. So the 5.

1 actually has a fire suppression system built into it, as does our cabinets. Um, safety is at the forefront of what we do. Um, so we want to make sure that So how does that work? Is that a little man in there that kind of sprays a bit of a spray can?

Or I mean fire suppression, what happens? How does that work? It's an aerosol suppression, yeah. So it it's it's almost like having a little man standing in there ready to go with a can of aerosol to put out and and buy time at a most at when it's most critically needed.

Right. But I mean, that doesn't happen very often, is it? Not that I'm aware of. No, because I mean look, one other fear that people have about batteries is on the safety levels.

But you have been running them in Australia for ten years. Ten years. And we've never I don't believe we've had any significant fires that I'm aware of. So there's nothing I think we should we I I I don't let's cut that and just say, look, as far as you're aware of, we don't have incidents in Australia.

Just kind of make it like that. Rather significant fires. What about the small ones? Yeah.

Yeah, so kind of okay. So from a safety point of view, I've um let's recut from the high voltage on. Sorry. So from a safety point of view, do you have any specific features in the battery that makes people feel like, oh, that's solid?

Yeah, we do, of course. Um so for our 5.1 batteries, we actually have aerosol fire suppression built into each and it, every module. So what, there's a little man inside going spray spray?

There is exactly a little man in there with a can of aerosol ready to fire, take care of any potential fires. There's a technical little man, is it? Not a real, real little man, is it? I hope not.

I didn't see anyone at the factory with that position. Okay. So you got the fire suppression. In which model is that?

So that's the HS5.1 battery. Right. Okay.

When it comes physically to your unit, you have the stackable battery, but then you still have the hybrid inverter on the side. Is that correct? That's correct, yes. Okay.

And is there then a gateway as well? No gateway for our product, actually. Right. So there's a bit less work on the installation side of that.

That's correct. Okay, so there's the inverter. Now, what about those more uh visually kind of at the moment trendy, all stackable type products? You got that in your range?

We do have an all-in-one unit. Um, and we will be releasing a new all-in-one unit um early next year. Hopefully in Q1, we'll have that ready for market. All right, and that's again single and three-phase?

That's correct. Right. So you are evolving, as you said, 40% of your staff is in RD. Yeah.

So there's evolving product coming out. That's correct. Okay. What about spare parts for anything that I bought, let's say four or five years ago?

Because I know somebody, mate of mine, bought a BYD, somebody drove in his bum, he needed a new boot lid. Seven months later, it turned up. Yeah. I mean, they're just new in the market and didn't have spare parts.

That was and the irony is they gave him a Tesla as a replacement card to drive around the insurance. But uh my question is, what's the story with uh replacement, spare parts, all that kind of stuff? So, of course, so we actually have our own facility in Dandenong South, um, which is quite a large facility where we look after all our warranty issues. So we're well prepared to take care of anything that may occur.

We also have free pill where we keep a huge amount of stock ready to replace any failed units under warranty. Talking about failed units, the these are hobby whores of mine. I don't believe the Australian government that has released all that money now for batteries and previously released all that money for solar panels, has actually done and assisted the industry enough when it comes to recycling. I could agree with you, Marcus.

So what's happening? Are you I'm gonna put it straight to you? Would you as an industry and as a brand be prepared to work, let's say, on a working group of the government to work on a recycling scheme? Because while the batteries are new now, it's not needed as much.

But as they get older, there's a lot of valuable material in it. We need to start looking at the recycling element. What's Olex's position in that area? Of course, Marcus.

And it's something that we would encourage the government to cooperate with us on as we look to find ways where these batteries in the future they will come to an end of life. And we would like to see them recycled responsibly. And we would be looking to work with the federal government if they're willing to be able to find solutions that are going to maximize that recycling effort for the market. Because I mean, you would possibly having been a company that has been in existence for that long with batteries, you obviously would have recycling facilities back in China.

Of course we do. But shipping this product all the way back is probably not really that cost efficient. Of course, especially with the price of oil at the moment. Yeah, well, that's that's a separate debate at the moment.

So, okay, so so you're definitely in favor. I like that. Uh and I think we we've just put a stow steward team together for solar panels. I believe the battery one should be right following it because uh there will be dead on arrival batteries, there will be cheap batteries that'll be literally boat anchors because the manufacturer is not around.

And so we really got to look at that from a I mean, we're supposed to be the clean and green industry. Our practice is got, you know, we've got to preach what we practice. Oh no, we've got to practice what we preach. Yes, absolutely.

And it's taken a long time just to get the panel recycling up and going, far longer than what it probably should have. So yeah, no, absolutely agree. Um, now, one thing on that panel recycling, they do say, for example, that some of the manufacturers bring new panels in, potentially should put maybe 10 bucks or so on a panel to then have that money like a deposit available for later recycling. There's no reason a similar thing, maybe with 10, 15 bucks per module, could work for batteries.

It's certainly not going to throw off the economics of a system. Um if somebody is interested in saying, okay, I've got a good, better, best model, I'd love the Solex in my offering. Um, where do I go next if I'm a solar retailer? Of course.

Well, um, reach out to me, of course. I'm always available. But now we also have a team of we're developing a team of sales regional managers in every state. And we also have our um esteemed distribution partners in RazTech as well at the moment.

Right, right. RaceTech does have uh warehouse all around Australia, and they possibly won't like me to say that, but I think with your product and popularity that we're gonna get, you need a second distributor. I hope so. Sorry, RaceTech.

I'm not gonna get a ticket to the Christmas party. I I still want my ticket. So um look, RaceTech has been a fantastic partner for us for a very long time. Um, as we grow, we may very well need a second distributor, and that's something we will look at um and act as the market needs it too.

Heard it here on this channel, looking for a second distributor. I'm just stirring up. I'm so sorry. Josh, you're gonna be big.

Oh yeah, don't get me in trouble. I don't know, I just love those moments. Um, all right. So after sale service, I got a Solax, I bought the house, it's six years old.

I got a little red light on the inverter. Yeah, I got batteries with it, they're not getting charged, I got a high electricity bill, I walked out, oh red light. What happens next? Well, your next call is either going to be to your installer who installed the system or to our hotline, and that from there, everything will get taken care of from there with our warranty process.

Now, when the red light comes up, I found in some cases it's not necessarily warranty matter because I saw an inverter was installed, the gutter happened to be rusting out just above the inverter, and when the water splashes out a lot for months it'd been running over that unit. Now they are waterproof and IP rated and all that, but even that with the plugs and all that, that's not an ideal situation. So that definitely wasn't a warranty claim. Now, based on that, what's your IP outdoor rating?

So for our products, it's IP66, Marcus. All the way through the range? All the way through the range. Oh, okay.

Well, so that means uh outdoor install perfectly possible. Obviously, indoor in the garage, not a problem at all. Not a problem at all. Okay, so really, I can't fault your product really in any area.

You've been in Australia for a long time. You've got a solid range in the single phase going from the five, six, eight to the ten. You've got up to 40 kilowatt hour stackable. Three phase goes even 50 kilowatt hour in the battery, and you've got what 15?

What what's the no? You've got to start with an eight in three phase, isn't it? Correct, yes. What is it?

Three phase eight? Eight, ten, twelve, fifteen, and twenty. Twenty. And the more popular would be probably the 10 and the 15 and the 20.

The 15 is very popular. Right. Okay. So so you've got the full range, you got the backup, you got the IP rating.

So really, the only fault I can have is that they have very young, inexperienced sales guys. How old are you? I'm I'm actually 33, Marcus. So I'm not that young.

I I I was put him down for 24. You got any kids? Three of them, actually. Oh my god, he's been busy.

All right, all right, sorry. Sorry. We shouldn't really go into privacy and don't ask me about my age. Okay.

All right, so you've got IP66, you've got a the biggest fleet of VPP units literally in Australia. Tesla's going to ring me up and say, we've got 7,300, and then he's only got 7,000. But you're actually tested. Yes.

VPP fleet for end customer means somebody literally every night discharges this battery hard, fills it in again the next day when it's cheap, hard again, and runs it hard to take advantage of those price spikes in the electricity market. And Reposit is using thousands of the Solex inverters and batteries for now up to 10 years. There's no bigger endorsement of that. And the bloke he said in his video, he puts the money where his mouth is.

If it wouldn't back him and if it wouldn't work, he wouldn't do it. And he'd be replaced to you by now. So there's no better endorsement for that. No, I couldn't agree with you more, Marcus.

We're um we're very proud of that partnership and the trust that's been placed in us. Look, to wrap up very closely, I would really see that the future is going to look very bright for you because for the battery rebate that's now coming down end of April with 2026, it's gonna go down again on the first of January, and then it keeps on dropping, dropping, dropping. That means that we're gonna get more and more customers desperate for a battery because of cost of living prices, but the price point over 14 kilowatt hour is actually going to be fairly extreme.

So, where do you see yourself sitting in that kind of price point if in the installers are interested? Are you kind of close? To a Tesla? Are you kind of more in the middle?

Are you kind of actually very affordable? Surprisingly affordable for what you're offering. Where would you put it? Sometimes I would say we're surprisingly affordable for what the value that we are offering for our products, Marcus.

As you've discussed all the benefits of Solax, you know, we we would be positioned at the lower end of the market in terms of pricing, but offering quite a high level of service compared to anyone else in the market. After this podcast, you've got to go and ask for a pay rise because I think you've done the and very proud. You've you've you've explained it to me well. Um I think solar retailers who are looking for that product after the rebate goes down that still offers a competitive offer, but they're not having to sell their company down the track because they're sold crap.

Um they're gonna actually be looking at this podcast and go, I should give Solex a go. I hope they do. And look, I I'm more than willing to help anyone who wants to come on board. Where my whole job is to support new partners and make sure they've got everything they need.

So look, normally I'm not really gonna get a brand in and talk about the brand all day. It's not really normally what our podcast does, but I do genuinely believe that we need more batteries overall on the grid in order to make overall the electricity prices lower because and less blackouts and all that, and not everybody has the money for the top-range battery, and for that reason, finding something that's reliable and affordable is really what we wanted to promote today, and that's why I invited Solex.

There are other good batteries that do this. We worked with, for example, another brand called EasySun. I like the fact that again they actually got more technical staff in Australia than they got sales staff just to be really certain that it's onboarded correctly, because that onboarding process is where sometimes you win or lose your solar retest. Now, are you kind of one of those onboarding processes where I have to wait for the Wi-Fi dongle and then I ring up the call center, and four hours later I'm really ready to go home and I had four monsters and I'm really pissed off.

Is that your onboarding process? No, that's that's not our onboarding process at all. In fact, we um we pride ourselves on the support that we give our installers. So I've involved recently onboarded a company that has over 28 different um subsidiaries um quite quickly, and the support that our team has been able to provide them coming on board and being um able to learn everything there is about commissioning Solaks when things go potentially a bit pear-shaped because you know instructions weren't followed or whatever it may be, and the way that we can pick that back up and put it together for them so they're not standing on the field at four o'clock in the afternoon wanting a beer um is impressive.

All right. So we're gonna at the end of this um podcast give out Josh's personal phone number on the bottom of this podcast so that if you're commissioning and you're stuck, he will answer your call. No, please do. Look, I I think I'm one of the people.

We're not gonna he's got three kids, we're not gonna do that to him. I I do pride myself on picking up the phone when people call. Um, so yeah, please do. All right.

Um if I if I'm now a solar retailer and I've had two or three or four different battery guys coming in, what sets Solex apart and why should I consider Solex in my three batteries I want to offer rather than the latest shiny one that's just come through? What's your key argument really? They're gonna have the support they need long term, and this is a product that's been in the market, it's been tested, it's been designed for the Australian market. It's not just something that's been designed recently in a in a lab in China and brought over here as a shiny product.

It's actually every little part of our product and every process has been fought through and tested and tr refined over over the decade that or more that we've been here to provide a product and an outcome to the end customer that's superior. So you're saying all the quirks of the Australian landscape, the fluctuation in the voltage, the uh heat and the humidity and close to the coastline, um, the distances to travel for backup and for repairs. You guys all experienced that. We've experienced that.

And we're used to sending our tech guys all over the country wherever they need to be. They travel far and wide to support our customers and make sure things run smoothly and also that customers are getting what they paid for. So, where's the long-term vision then? I mean, you know, when I started with the industry, we had a 175-watt panel.

And we were talking like get a five kilowatt inverter, put two kilowatts of panels on it, and then in six years' time you'll buy a couple more 175s. And we generally believed that because we didn't think a 175-watt panel could go to like the Aika's now 500. Okay. I mean, we just didn't think there was a development.

Now the batteries they work, they give you backup. What can still be improved? I mean, have you guys got a five-year vision? We absolutely do.

And I mean, like one thing that gets me is I recently haven't sold, I've been working with manufacturers now for three years, so I haven't sat in anyone's living room recently and actually designed and sold a solar system. But some of the things that used to be challenges to us, like in the field back then, like limited MPTs and for people with roofs that needed multiple orientations to yeah. Yep. A lot of those things have been overcome recently.

And, you know, we we continue to strive and spend big money on research and development to conquer these problems. But I mean, is there anything like a holy grail that maybe a battery that's going to come out that lasts 25 years? Not maybe that we should have the tech because technology is always evolving. 25 is supposed to be a bit long and all that.

But is there any kind of holy grail that we're all looking to faster discharge or faster discharge is always beneficial? I mean, like storage is uh we know what a household uses typically overnight. Um, you know, some of these 50 kilowatt hour batteries that have been put in are already surplused to most people's needs. Yes.

Um so I don't think it's going to necessarily be in the expansion of storage, other than the fact on a residential level at least. Um but for I think longevity of the product is and safety is critical to research and development and usability. Right. So what about the density?

I mean, I'd notice that the batteries do get a bit smaller and actually have more capacity. Of course, they're maybe the opposite of panels. Yeah, thank you. They're getting bigger.

We're getting smaller. Right, right. So that's coming as well. Okay.

Uh what about can we make them any cheaper if we get the volumes up? Of course. It's um economy of scale, right? The the more, the more that's being sold into the market, the bigger the manufacturing plant size, um, the bigger production is, the it just grows and grows, um, and the price will come down.

So when it comes to the compatibility, you know, we do in Australia have these hickly-pickly roofs where we need 10 solar panels this way, three that way. So, in terms of the inputs on the inverters, what's the story there? So for the vast markets, um, one thing that we're proud of is this in our ability to overcome some of these problems is for the five and six kilowatts, it's three MPPTs. Three.

Three. And then for the eight and ten, it's actually four. Right. And that's obviously in the three phase, you're moving from three to four as well, or is it four all the way up?

The the new inverter, I believe, has better capability with MPTT, MPPTs. The pro that's about to be released, the current one it's limited to two. Uh right. So but the new one is what then three or four?

I believe three. Right, okay. But that's in the three-phase game, is that correct? That's in the three-phase game.

So, look, much better than the two that we had with the majority of inverters in the olden days. So up to four is excellent. Now, then we move on to the next question, which is EV charging. I mean, that's all kind of becoming part of the electrification.

So, how are you guys uh do you have a charger or are you releasing something? What's the story there? Well, with that vast product, what it has dual battery ports, and actually one of those battery ports is V2X ready. Um, or V V2X is vehicle to grid.

Vehicle to grid. So what you can actually discharge through the inverter back into the house? Correct. Right.

That's once the market allow the market operator. Because it's the technical uh restrictions that not allow that. So not the technical, the rule restrictions. Correct.

So you at the moment can already technically do it, and as soon as they change the rule, it goes yippee-yippie, yay, yay, and you can do it. Is that the story? We've got the technology, it's there, it's ready to go. So for again, for normal audiences, the ch there will be chances down the track that your EV, should you have a blackout, can actually back the house up while you know the linesmen repair stuff and this and that.

And so if you go with the SOLIX gear, and when the technical rules have allowed this to happen, which isn't currently the case, then your technology allows that to do it. That's correct. And excitingly, we're about to launch a uh V2X charger as well to the market. So that's basically what, at the next next smart energy?

That'll be at the next smart energy. That'll be on our stand. So May 2026, okay. And uh what's the capacity for that one?

Is it 11 kilowatt hours or is it the large one, or am I gonna challenge you there? Or do or you're not gonna reveal it because you have to wait till the You have to wait till the event markers. Uh yeah, I thought I'd get it here first. A bit of mystery.

All right, so something's coming out of the box. And you've got to stand there, obviously, at Smart Energy. I'll be there. Right.

Okay, got it. Want to meet Josh in person? Smart Energy. All right, so we got there.

Now, you've got some installers who would possibly sell a few Solaxes here and there, and you've got others who are a big Solx fanboy and they're selling a lot of them. Correct. Do you have things like a couple of gifts for the nice guys? Or what's your what's your incentive for somebody who wants to go all in on Solacs?

Of course, of course. So at the moment we do have a promotion, which is going to end at the end of May one. Um, but following May 1, we're actually going to be introducing a rebate program to the market that's going to help the smaller installers and make Solax a better offering for them. So though it's like a gift card or something?

Very well, maybe a gift card, Marcus, and it will be a good idea. Oh, come on in. I'm trying to get all this new information out. I mean, there's going to be maybe, many.

All right. So there's a rebate scheme that you can on that already affordable price, if you buy a few of them, you can even get a better deal. Have I got that right? You've got that right.

Okay. And he's going to get a lot of phone calls, wanting the details. All right. Now, I heard and I read in one of the brochures that you also have an AI program for end customers or installers.

What's the story about that? We do. So we actually have a copilot built into our cloud app. Um, that's there.

It can help end customers do everything that they might have questions about so it can problem solve. Same as what your chat GDP might be able to do. It can um provide solutions, but it can also do this for installers when they're commissioning. So it can actually resolve quite a lot of the common questions in it and provide answers quickly and on the field just by typing in your issue.

Right. So have you tried it yourself? I actually haven't had the chance to operate. I'm actually very close to having my own Solac system replace an existing system on my roof, hopefully before May 1st.

So you're saying you've got an existing Solac and you're upgrading. No, I don't have an existing Solac. I won't say the name of the brand that's getting replaced, but you could probably hear the fan from here. Right.

The fan, okay. I can see he's not a fan of the fan. Um, which means you had what, a four or five kilowatt and you're replacing it with the larger system, or what? That's correct.

Yeah, so I'll be upgrading to um almost a 15 kilowatt kilowatt system and having that full 50 kilowatt as a battery, hopefully. And you're doing that before the 30th of April? That's that's the plan. I think you my installer knows who he is, and I'm and I'm counting on him.

I think you're gonna be on a Saturday there stacking modules to make it help. Not that it's officially allowed, he's not touching electrical, he's just helping to unbox, you know. Trade assistant. Yes, yes.

But I felt the the the Solex story was worthwhile telling, especially after I spoke to Dean from Reposit, and and I got this bloke. If he's not happy, you definitely know about it. And sometimes getting a good word out of him, even about myself, is hard. And he was waxing lyricals.

Um and uh I just found that that was worth exploring further, and that's why I thought I invite you today. We we really appreciate the opportunity to be here and have the up have your platform to be able to um showcase our brand to the market. It's an excellent opportunity for us. We appreciate it, Marcus.

Well, welcome Solex. And I know your slogan, it's uh relaxed. Relax, it's a Solax. Okay.

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