PSW Energy recently visited the Fox ESS headquarters and manufacturing facility in Wenzhou, China. Derek McKercher and Nicole Bilman made the trip on behalf of PSW Energy and Perth Solar Warehouse, and the trip was hosted by Australian representative Frank Wang and the Fox ESS team.
The hospitality was genuinely outstanding. But beyond the welcome, what stood out most was the scale and seriousness of the operation behind a brand that many Australian homeowners and installers are still getting to know.
TLDR
- Fox ESS is a subsidiary of Tsingshan Group, ranked #265 on the Fortune Global 500 and the world's largest stainless steel and nickel producer. That supply chain integration feeds directly into battery manufacturing.
- Sunwiz ranked Fox ESS #1 in Australia for installed energy storage capacity in both February and March 2026, with over 25,000 systems installed in April alone.
- The upcoming Power Q series scored 97% on HTW Berlin's System Performance Index, ranking first globally in the 10kW residential storage category. It is expected to reach Australia in late 2026.
Behind the brand
Fox ESS was founded in 2019 and is headquartered in Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province. That is the young part of the story. The older, bigger part is Tsingshan Group.
Tsingshan is ranked #265 on the Fortune Global 500. Founded in 1988, it is the world’s largest stainless steel producer and one of the world’s largest nickel producers, with over 56,000 employees and annual revenues exceeding US$34 billion. The group operates the world’s largest nickel mining, refining, and production hub in Indonesia, giving it direct control over the raw-material supply chain that feeds lithium-ion battery cell manufacturing.
That vertical integration matters. Fox ESS does not just assemble batteries from third-party cells. It sits within a corporate structure that controls the nickel supply from the mine to the finished product. For anyone evaluating whether a battery brand has the financial and logistical backbone to honour warranties and support products over a 10 to 15 year lifecycle, that is a meaningful differentiator.
Most people in the Australian market do not know this about Fox ESS. When they do, the conversation changes.
On the ground
What we saw in Wenzhou
Fox ESS in Australia
and Western Australia
The numbers tell a clear story. Sunwiz, Australia’s most widely cited solar industry consultancy, ranked Fox ESS #1 nationally for installed energy storage capacity in both February and March 2026. The company reported over 25,000 systems installed in April alone. Sunwiz also named Fox ESS the Top Growth Leader for 2025 and, at Smart Energy 2026 in May, awarded the company Top Solar Company for Fastest Growing Battery.
Fox ESS battery stacks are gaining real traction in Perth. The ECS series high-voltage modular battery system has become a popular choice for residential installations. It scales well, pairs cleanly with the Fox ESS hybrid inverter range, and the build quality is consistent unit to unit.
The newer CQ6 high-voltage battery, launched in late 2025, pushes capacity further with up to 48kWh in a single compact stack using eight modules. It aligns with the eligibility thresholds of the federal Cheaper Home Batteries Program and supports participation in virtual power plant programmes, including Fox ESS’s partnerships with Origin Loop VPP, Amber Electric, and Evergen.
In Western Australia, Fox ESS batteries work with Synergy’s Midday Saver and DEBS export rates to help homeowners shift stored solar into the evening peak, where the value is highest.
What is worth noting is the failure rate. Fox ESS reports an exceptionally low failure rate across the UK, Germany, and Australian markets. That tracks with our own installation experience. When a brand is backed by a conglomerate with deep manufacturing expertise and raw material control, quality assurance tends to follow.
What's coming:
The Power Q series
Why PSW visits factories
We make these trips because spec sheets and distributor presentations only tell part of the story. Walking through a manufacturing facility, meeting the engineering team, and understanding the supply chain behind a product builds a different kind of confidence. The kind we can pass on to customers with conviction.
Fox ESS is a brand with serious backing, a rapidly maturing product line, and a clear trajectory. We’re looking forward to what comes next from this team.
