Fox ESS

Fox ESS ECS4000-H4 High-Voltage Battery (15.9 kWh)

Hardware good, software good

I had planned on getting an EG4 system when I dropped into the Solar Power Store in Barrie, Ontario (SPS). They, at first, humoured me but then directed me to a high voltage system (labelled “Fox ESS Maple Leaf”) since they thought it was a better solution for my cold weather setup. High voltage got me better low temp results and I’m in a very cold neighbourhood and was concerned about how to keep the batteries above 0C in the winter. So I chose the Fox ESS line. I hadn’t heard of the brand but some basic research showed me that they were relatively popular in Europe and were co-labelled by a Canadian brand called “Maple Leaf”. I knew of Maple Leaf from a ground mount solar panel system I had seen well reviewed. I picked up a 9.6 kW inverter, a G2Hub and 11.9 kWh stack of batteries. I backed away from 16 kWh because I’m thinking I can always add battery capacity but I didn’t need it over-expend on this component. I’m also thinking we could be getting closer to new and better batteries. I extended my system with a $1600 7500kW inverter generator instead of adding more battery capacity. Probably a good deal for my situation where I’m simply trying to peak shave (we have a TOU price regime in Ontario). The system installed perfectly and has performed flawlessly. I think the software to monitor performance is OK but has several unfinished and under-refined details that need to be addressed. Typical of most low volume revenue free apps, if it looks good on the main page and gets you 80% of everything, then ship it. They’ll probably invest more on features where users complain the most. My electrician was impressed and one key technology for me was a dry connect to a generator. If X happens, my hub can signal my generator to kick on (and off if Y happens). That’s a really nice feature for preppers like me. I can’t tell you about efficiency or losses from heat or if it has ever almost caught on fire. So far, everything has been great. I’d buy it again and hope that new models provide a bullet proof label so that inspectors have no choice but to approve a properly installed system.