Germany’s 1Komma5° unveils VPP-ready home solar-plus-battery product for Australia

With the Australian government set to open a AUD 2.3 billion ($1.5 billion) battery rebate scheme on July 1, German company 1Komma5° is offering homeowners Down Under a residential system featuring full-black, double-glass solar modules; a hybrid inverter; and a battery designed to perform multiple daily “microcycles.”

1Komma5° Australia Chief Executive Officer Luke Stronach said each of the products have been developed to better manage intensive virtual power plant (VPP) trading and the daily microcycles required to engage with the wholesale energy market and create a profit opportunity for households.

“We’ve had 20 years of applying duct tape to energy infrastructure that hasn’t caught up to modern, renewable, and tech-enabled energy systems,” he said.

“We now have the policy settings to help Australian households make the most of the abundant renewable energy we have in the country and in removing the biggest barrier to energy independence. Our products are here to turn volatile pricing from a problem into a solution.”

Included in the newly launched suite of products is the 1Komma5° full-black double-glass solar panel. Engineered with tunnel oxide passivated contact technology, the panels deliver up to 450 W of power at 22.8% efficiency. They are backed by a 30-year product and performance warranty.

The hybrid Inverter features input and output capacity of 5 kW to 15 kW and up to four maximum power point trackers. It’s available in both single-phase and three-phase options and is housed in an IP65-rated unit and is supported by a 12-year warranty.

The German-designed 1Komma5° battery features a modular, stackable design that can be scaled up to 37.8 kWh. Featuring prismatic lithium iron-phosphate (LFP) cells, it delivers up to 20.16 kW charge and discharge capacity and comes with built-in power outage protection. 1Komma5° said the battery provides 7,000 cycles under a 12-year warranty, compared to the standard 4,000 cycles.

“Unlike standard batteries that simply store solar for evening use, the 1Komma5° system is designed to perform multiple microcycles daily,” the company said. “When paired with an intelligent VPP, the battery can buy any energy required when wholesale prices are low and sell back excess to the grid when prices are high, as needed.”

1Komma5° said the system has been designed to integrate with the company’s intelligent energy Heartbeat software. The energy management platform, that is already being rolled out in Europe and is slated for release in Australia soon, coordinates the use of household energy while also linking homes to the wholesale market.

“Australian households now have a one-stop shop for their renewable energy needs,” Stronach said.

“We design it, we install it, we back it. It’s German engineering paired with Australian support at a time when we’re facing the biggest shift in household energy since the original solar boom.”

The launch of the ecosystem comes as the Australian energy sector prepares for the introduction of the Australian government’s Cheaper Home Batteries Program. The AUD 2.3 billion initiative, that rolls out on July 1, 2025, will offer households and small businesses rebates of up to AUD 372 per kWh of usable battery capacity.

Battery systems with a nominal capacity of 5 kWh to 100 kWh will be eligible but small-scale technology certificates – issued by federal body the Clean Energy Council to enable homeowners to claim their battery rebates – can only be claimed for the first 50 kWh of usable capacity. The rebate is available for both new and existing home solar systems that integrate battery storage and systems supported under the program can be installed either on- or off-grid. A key element of the scheme is that the battery in an on-grid system needs to be capable of being coordinated through a VPP.

The program, to be delivered through the existing Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme, is expected to support the installation of more than one million new batteries by 2030.

From pv magazine Australia.