South African battery companies taking on Chinese giants

Several South African companies are competing with major Chinese brands in the battery market, setting themselves apart with cutting-edge software and full local warranty support.

Imports of solar and backup power products have skyrocketed in the past few years as households and businesses try to shield themselves from load-shedding and other power outages.

China is unrivalled when it comes to battery manufacturing capacity and is the main source of batteries sold in South Africa.

According to Statista’s Research Department, the country accounted for more than 80% of the world’s battery manufacturing capacity, producing 2.2 terawatt-hours of storage in 2023.

As competition has intensified, the quality of battery and power products produced in China has improved significantly over time, largely thanks to significant advancement by cell manufacturers like CATL and BYD.

Many of China’s battery manufacturers have built strong reputations in South Africa — including Dyness, Hubble, Pylontech, Shoto, Huawei, and Volta.

In many cases, these batteries also come with excellent warranties guaranteeing a free replacement or fix if the product malfunctions or performs below its claimed parameters.

A typical example is a five-year lifetime or 6,000 lifecycle warranty with a depth-of-discharge (DoD) of 80%.

However, these manufacturers don’t operate local facilities for battery repairs and maintenance — which can be a problem.

Solar power installers have told MyBroadband that offering a good warranty is just one part of the equation.

Although battery problems are rare, the big issue comes in when the customer makes a warranty claim, and the product must move back up the supply chain.

In many cases, major Chinese brand batteries are supplied by large companies that have official distribution agreements with the manufacturers.

The distributors sell their products to retailers and installers, who deal with the end-users.

When an end-user experiences a problem with a battery, they must contact the retailer or installer, who will often not be able to diagnose or fix the issue themselves.

However, if the retailer or installer used a reliable distributor that is an official channel partner for the manufacturer, the battery will be returned to the supplier.

Depending on the condition of the unit, the battery will either be replaced or sent back for repairs if a local fix is not possible.

Depending on the distributor or retailer, a customer may also be provided with a temporary unit while their battery is fixed, if a full replacement is not necessary.

However, a loan unit is not guaranteed. It may be many weeks before a working battery is with the customer.

If a customer bought the battery through an unofficial channel, they would have to ship it back themselves for repair.

That would carry a significant cost to the customer, particularly considering the heavy weight of backup batteries.

Local battery assemblers

Although South Africa has no local battery cell production capability, we have plenty of battery assemblers. Four major players are Balancell, Blue Nova, Freedom Won, and Solar MD.

These companies import the parts they need from overseas but use locally made materials and components for the rest of the battery packs, including the enclosures, cabling, and other electrical parts.

They also appoint South Africans to assemble and further develop their products to ensure their offerings keep pace with market demands.

The biggest advantage of using these manufacturers is that their factories are within arm’s reach if the customer experiences any issues with their batteries.

They have the parts, tools, and professionals to repair the equipment and return it to the customer as soon as possible.

Cutting-edge software and generous warranties

All four manufacturers integrate advanced battery management systems into their products to ensure high performance and safety standards.

Solar MD also told MyBroadband that one of its advantages over many Chinese brands was support for full over-the-air updates and the ability to mix and match older battery models in the same system.

Freedom Won places emphasis on compatibility with as many inverters as possible.

Local assemblers often have generous warranties and better terms and conditions than Chinese manufacturers.

For example, Freedom Won’s current warranty guarantees that most of its residential and business Lite batteries will still have 70% of their original useable capacity left after 4,000 cycles or a 10-year lifetime.

Its newer batteries support 8,000 cycles and the 10-year lifetime warranty at the same DoD.

The other major upside to supporting these brands is that they employ South Africans and contribute more to local economic growth than the Chinese manufacturers.

For example, Freedom Won employs roughly 340 people at its production facility in Modderfontein, Edenvale.

Blue Nova and Solar MD also employ over 100 people each, while Balancell’s local workforce consists of around 60 people.