The Clean Energy Council (CEC), Australia’s official certification body, has certified the PowerPod (Agave SH Ultra) single-phase home battery energy storage system (BESS) from WHES, a provider of PV inverters and energy storage solutions. The product is targeted at the Australian residential market. 

The company states that, in addition to safety and performance criteria, this certification makes the storage product eligible for the ‘Cheaper Home Battery Program’. Starting July 1, 2025, each household consumer can receive a rebate of up to AUD 370/kWh for installing CEC-certified storage systems under this program, with a cap of 50 kWh. 

The company emphasizes flexibility, scalability, and safety as key features of the PowerPod, which combines a hybrid inverter and stacks of battery units on a single cabinet. This ‘all-in-one’ or ‘AIO’ storage system offers a power output range of 5 kW to 10 kW. Depending on consumer demand, its storage capacity can be expanded from 5 kWh to up to 100 kWh. In addition, its ‘plug-and-play’ architecture helps with quick installation, and its vertically stacked battery pack simplifies capacity expansion. Unlike the wiring of current transformers (CTs) in the outgoing metering panel of standard solar-plus-storage systems, PowerPod’s in-built metering simplifies commissioning. On the safety side, each battery unit is equipped with a built-in fire-suppression system that protects against fire or thermal runaway. 

The company states that its entire residential storage portfolio, including 1-phase, 3-phase ‘all-in-one', and split-phase types, is now certified for the Australian market. 

Alongside the CEC certification of the storage system, WHES’ hybrid inverters meet the requirements of the IEEE 2030.5 CSIP-AUS standard, the company added. It is a mandatory protocol for communication and control of grid-connected distributed energy resources in South Australia and Victoria. One of the highlights of this standard is the dynamic control of the limit on feeding excess energy (export) to SA Power Networks (SAPN). It also supports an emergency backstop function that responds to emergency signals for limiting or stopping export to all Victorian Distribution Network Service Providers (DNSPs) during grid instability, grid congestion, or safety concerns.