2 new plug-in home batteries facing off: EvaPower and HomeWizard

With the net-metering scheme being abolished and feed-in fines becoming more the rule than the exception, it is important for individuals to start using the energy from their solar panels themselves as much as possible. But having home batteries installed is expensive and not yet profitable. Home batteries with a plug are a nice intermediate solution. This year, two nice variants came on the market.

Earlier this year, the Dutch company HomeWizard came out with a plug-in battery that you could sign up for. The first ones will be delivered in January. That was actually supposed to be November, but it was delayed because mass production had to be set up first. In fact, there was more interest in the HomeWizard than initially expected, says founder Paul Straathof. And recently the comparable EvaPower was also launched, a German battery that is imported into the Netherlands. Its manufacturer has made slightly different choices than HomeWizard, in part because they come from a different angle, the angle of separate batteries. We look at the differences.

What is the same

The two batteries are about the same size, and they are also both lithium phosphate batteries. These are in the safest category. Both are packed with protection mechanisms and sensors to prevent overcharging, overheating and the like. Also, both have a standard maximum discharge power via the plug output of 800 watts over the socket. That has to do with European standards, which allow supply of up to 800 watts. So both batteries take full advantage of that.

Capacity

The storage capacity of the batteries is significantly different. the EvaPower has a capacity of 1.024 kWh, versus almost three times as much of the HomeWizard: 2.7 kWh. However, you can upgrade each individual EvaPower with up to 5 so-called EvaMates. This increases the capacity of one EvaPower to a maximum of 6 kWh. Furthermore, you can stack both batteries. The EvaPower up to a total of 6, the HomeWizard up to 4.

It should be noted, however, that the average household does not need nearly that many. Most households need only one battery. 'We have done extensive research into this,' says Paul Straathof. 'We didn't arrive at 2.7 kWh by accident. The battery is used all day long, so it is discharged and recharged about one and a half times. Then you end up with about 4.5 kWh per day, which is about what a household uses.

For discharge, you can upgrade the EvaPower to a maximum discharge power of 2000 watts. Only then, the battery must be connected to a special outlet connected to a separate group in your meter box.

Solar panels and dynamic contract

The reason to purchase a battery is usually that there are solar panels and you want to minimize feed-in. If that's not the case, then you're certainly not going to recoup the investment. EvaPower does let you know that you can use the battery even without solar panels. This battery can charge during off-peak hours, when power through a dynamic contract is cheaper. HomeWizard makes a different choice. They argue that the battery is really only there to use solar power as efficiently as possible. Moreover, they think the price differences are too small to pay attention to this. Not even in the winter, because winter sunlight will get you much further with your 2.7 kWh battery than you would expect.

In fact, Paul Straathof thinks it is nonsense to focus on the imbalance market or trading with dynamic rates. 'We could build that into our battery within five minutes, because we have all the information. But we don't. First, because it hardly makes any money. This is contrary to what many people think, that they will get regular money if they use power with a dynamic contract. But then they forget that they also have to pay taxes and VAT. When you factor that in, a negative price occurs very rarely, at most a few times a year. Moreover, you lose 10 percent power when you charge the battery and 10 percent again when you discharge the battery. And because charging through the grid costs cycles, the battery doesn't last as long. Then it actually costs you money. So he thinks the addition of this feature is just marketing, which people should not buy into

In addition, power suppliers are already taking measures against trading on the imbalance market. Tennet is now making it a lot harder for home users.

Off grid and emergency power in the event of an outage

Larger and thus installed home batteries can take over the supply of electricity in the event of grid failures, but this is less obvious with plug-in batteries. These batteries simply switch off in the event of an outage. Controlling that automatically requires a complex installation. However, you can still use the EvaPower to keep your freezer working, for example. There are three AV connections on that device. This allows the battery to deliver a combined power of up to 2000 watts.

Of course, you can also use this feature when camping or barbecuing. For outdoor use, you can also connect separate solar panels to it to charge the battery at the same time. That ties in with the direction this battery is coming from. It was made precisely for these applications, and now adapted as a plug-in home battery.

Paul Straathof, with his HomeWizard, chose precisely not to enable emergency power. 'For emergency power, the battery must be properly charged. But the battery charges and discharges throughout the day. So you can never count on the battery being full when the power goes out. Such a facility would only be false security.'