From 100 million to 3 billion: How does Anker Innovations achieve overtaking on a curve with "balcony energy storage"?
On April 28, Anker Innovations released its financial reports for 2024 and the first quarter of 2025. The data shows that the company's revenue in 2024 reached 24.71 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 41.14%, and the net profit attributable to the parent company was 2.114 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 30.93%. Among them, in the energy storage business segment, Anker Innovations delivered an outstanding performance: its annual revenue from the energy storage business exceeded 3 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 184%, and its balcony energy storage sales ranked first globally.
This achievement is particularly remarkable because the energy storage market has long been a battleground for industry giants. However, Anker stood out in the highly competitive energy storage sector with its profound user insights and unique product innovation.
Recently, Anker SOLIX launched a 3600W x AI-powered balcony energy storage product - Anker SOLIX Solarbank 3 Pro. On the first day of sales, it once again broke industry records, with sales reaching five times that of last year and the subscription conversion rate being 1.8 times that of the same period last year.
Many leading German media outlets also gave their thumbs up, awarding it a clean sweep of "SEHR GUT (Very Good)."
The evaluation report of the top German media Computer Bild once gave the industry's first "Very Satisfied" rating to Solarbank 2 Pro. Solarbank 3 Pro once again received a "Very Satisfied" evaluation from this media, and the media also published an article saying that Anker is "Designed for bigger things."
Connect, one of Germany's top three technology media, also gave a "Very Satisfied" rating.
Why has Anker succeeded in the energy storage business?
Spotting opportunities: Overtaking on the curve with balcony solar energy storage
Anker Innovations' energy storage business started in a seemingly unfavorable situation. In 2022, the European energy crisis triggered a surge in demand for the energy storage market. However, the short - term influx of Chinese portable energy storage products led to intense competition in the market, and the price war became increasingly fierce. The Anker energy storage team, which had been established for just over a year, suffered a 90% plunge in sales.
However, Anker quickly seized new opportunities. Based on first - principles analysis, Anker found that although the European energy crisis was alleviated in the short term, there was a fundamental structural supply - demand contradiction in the long run. On the one hand, the electricity demand was rising with economic development. On the other hand, the energy transition brought high costs and instability to energy supply. As a result, the general public faced high electricity bills. If users wanted to reduce energy expenditure, the traditional household photovoltaic energy storage solution had the pain points of being "slow, expensive, and difficult" to implement, making it difficult to be widely adopted. The opening of balcony photovoltaic policies in the EU, led by Germany, provided the possibility of making sustainable energy accessible to ordinary families.
In early 2023, Anker entered the balcony photovoltaic market. However, the market soon fell into a quagmire of homogeneous competition due to the influx of a large number of players and the limitations of photovoltaic panel technology itself, and the price war became even more intense. Anker had to make a crucial choice: to participate in the low - price competition following the market trend or to create a new track through differentiated product definition? Anker chose the latter.
Going beyond users' essential needs: The way to break the deadlock through product innovation
Anker deeply understood that the core need of balcony photovoltaic users was not simply to pursue low prices but to maximize electricity cost savings. However, there was a timing mismatch between balcony photovoltaic power generation and household electricity demand - photovoltaic panels generate electricity during the day, while the peak of household electricity consumption is concentrated at night. To solve this pain point, photovoltaic power generation must be deeply integrated with the energy storage system to form a complete solar - energy storage system.
Based on this insight, Anker launched the Solarbank balcony solar - energy storage system in mid - 2023. Through the energy storage system, it realized the "day - generation and night - use" of photovoltaic energy, increasing the self - consumption rate of photovoltaic power from 40% to 90% and significantly increasing user benefits. Solarbank supports DIY installation by users, enabling plug - and - play. The price of around 1,000 euros is acceptable to most families, avoiding the high installation costs and months - long installation cycle of traditional household energy storage systems. It allows ordinary families to easily use sustainable energy and effectively reduces electricity bills.
Based on the fundamental user need of "reducing electricity expenditure," Anker continuously enhances user value through continuous product innovation.
In 2024, Anker further launched the Solarbank 2 Pro, increasing the photovoltaic MPPT input power to 2400W and bringing balcony solar - energy storage into a new stage of high - power and large - capacity. Through the linkage with smart meters, it realized on - demand power discharge, further increasing user benefits. In April 2025, the Solarbank 3 Pro was released. It not only further improved the photovoltaic input power and energy storage capacity but also supported bidirectional inversion and dynamic electricity prices, allowing users to take advantage of peak - valley price differences for arbitrage. Moreover, it was the first to introduce AI technology in the balcony solar - energy storage field, promoting the development of energy utilization from simple power supply to an intelligent collaborative model of "power generation - power storage - power consumption," significantly increasing user benefits.
Solarbank 3 Pro
The value of Solarbank in helping users effectively reduce energy expenditure has been verified both theoretically and practically. According to the research of EUPD Research, a professional institution in the renewable energy field, for an ordinary family, a typical balcony solar - energy storage system (a 2kW photovoltaic system paired with a 2kWh energy storage battery) can easily help them reduce electricity bills by more than 64%. According to the actual usage data of Anker SOLIX users, in 2024, users of Solarbank 2 Pro saved a median of 373 euros in electricity bills per year, and the average pay - back period was about five years. Some users in areas with good sunlight conditions could earn more than 900 euros in annual benefits. These real user values are reflected in the fact that Solarbank has become the top choice for users in the balcony solar - energy storage field and the world's number one brand in balcony solar - energy storage in 2024.
Heavy investment in R & D: Technological innovation drives product experience upgrade
Anker's success is inseparable from its strong R & D capabilities and continuous investment in technological innovation. In the energy storage field, Anker has cumulatively invested more than 1.7 billion yuan, and R & D personnel account for up to 70%, placing it in the first echelon of the industry. To attract more energy storage technology talents in the Yangtze River Delta region, Anker also established an R & D center in Suzhou, forming a dual - R & D - center pattern in Shenzhen and Suzhou.
Currently, all the core full - stack technologies of Anker's energy storage are independently developed, covering key modules such as the battery management system (BMS), energy management system (EMS), energy storage converter (PCS), photovoltaic inverter, and battery pack, building a leading technological advantage in the industry. Anker also took the lead in launching a balcony energy storage system architecture of "one cluster, one optimization; one pack, one management," which is an innovative application of this technology in the field of low - power DIY energy storage products, successfully solving the problems of battery efficiency and management in traditional energy storage products. In addition, Anker developed the "DC interleaved frequency - dithering" software technology, which successfully overcame the EMC (electromagnetic compatibility) problem in small - sized balcony solar - energy storage products, bringing an ultimate improvement to product performance and user experience.
In addition to hardware architecture and software technology, Anker also has a series of innovative technologies in the energy storage field, including GaNPrime™ technology, which can achieve a 95% energy - efficiency conversion rate while having a more compact and lightweight design; PowerlQ™ technology, which can intelligently identify charging devices and charge them with the highest efficiency; lnfiniPower™ technology, which can achieve stable and long - life operation through highly reliable hardware and software; and SurgePad™ technology, which can drive higher - power electrical equipment by upgrading power drive. Now, Anker SOLIX has obtained 471 intellectual property rights, covering multiple core technology directions in the energy storage field. These technological achievements not only make Anker stand out in the consumer - grade energy storage track but also promote the continuous progress of energy storage technology.
Why is Anker's energy storage business getting better and better?
A large industry with great opportunities
Looking at the entire industry, energy storage is in a golden development period driven by policy support, cost reduction through technology, and user demand. Third - party institutions predict that the scale of the solar - energy storage market is expected to exceed 500 billion US dollars, showing great growth potential.
The traditional household energy storage system has the pain points of being "slow, expensive, and difficult," which requires users to pay a high acquisition cost. The industry operates with low efficiency, and the government has to provide a large amount of policy subsidies. The entire industry operates in an unsustainable way, greatly limiting the release of market demand:
Expensive: It requires a high investment of up to 20,000 euros, and the pay - back period is at least 8 to 10 years.
Slow: The waiting period for installation is long and the process is complex, usually taking 3 months to half a year to complete.
Difficult: The product forms are diverse and complex, making it difficult for users to quickly understand and find suitable solutions.
Anker's DIY balcony energy storage solution has successfully solved these problems through product and business model innovation. By creating value for users and improving industry operation efficiency, it enables the entire industry to have a self - sustaining positive cycle without relying on subsidies. While creating huge incremental space for the industry, it can also effectively reduce the burden of the society's transition to new energy:
Low cost: It only requires an investment of 1,000 - 3,000 euros, and the investment can be recovered in about five years.
Fast installation: Users can purchase and install it by themselves without a long waiting period for installation and approval.
Easy to use: The product is highly integrated and plug - and - play, making it easy for ordinary users to operate.
Anker believes that the intelligentization and ecologicalization of energy will also bring great opportunities. Traditional energy storage still stays at the stage of selling single - energy products, which can only play a role in a certain part of the "generation - storage - consumption" chain. There is a lack of synergy between products, and global optimization cannot be achieved. The future of energy will inevitably move towards ecologicalization, achieving intelligent scheduling and maximizing user value through the synergy of each link in generation, storage, and consumption. Similar to the gradual evolution of autonomous driving from L1 to L5, the intelligentization of energy will also be divided into different stages:
L1: Single solar - energy storage auxiliary intelligence
L2: Intelligent operation of the solar - energy storage system
L3: Intelligent scheduling of the whole - house energy
L4: Home energy intelligent agent
Anker SOLIX has achieved the L2 intelligent operation of the balcony energy storage system, which can discharge power according to the actual household electricity consumption, through the Solarbank 2 Pro paired with a smart meter. At the same time, the newly released Solarbank 3 Pro is equipped with the Anker Intelligence™ Al EMS system for the first time, which can intelligently predict photovoltaic power generation and household electricity consumption, help with surplus power scheduling and intelligent charging and discharging, and maximize benefits, moving towards L3 intelligent scheduling of the whole - house energy.
Adhering to the right approach
Anker's success in balcony energy storage is not accidental but the inevitable result of its persistent methodology. Anker adheres to the dual - wheel - drive model of "user insight + technology R & D." The company not only attaches importance to collecting user feedback through methods such as VOC (Voice of Consumer) but also persists in digging out users' essential needs based on first - principles and quickly meeting these needs by creating extremely innovative products with high R & D investment.
As Shaun, the person - in - charge of Anker's charging and energy storage division, said: "Consumer - grade new energy is a revolution. For example, electric vehicles are a revolution on the electricity - consumption side, and Anker SOLX represents a revolution on the power - generation side. In this revolution, technology is important, but technology alone is not enough. Only innovative companies that are driven by both technology R & D and user insight and create ultimate products with leading technology based on an understanding of users can win."
Guided by values, creators take action
Anker's innovation ability is inseparable from its unique organizational culture. "First - principles, pursuit of excellence, and common growth" are Anker's values and the most important qualities Anker values when looking for "creators":
First - principles: Being able to look beyond the surface and deeply dig