ALL-IN-ONE, 5 KWH
Backup power the size of a side table
The Huawei Power-M 5kWh is the starting point of the Power-M range: a hybrid inverter with a built-in solar charge controller and one 5 kWh lithium iron phosphate battery module, on a single floor base. It stands about 70 cm tall and 70 cm wide, and it is only 16 cm deep.
With one battery, Huawei limits the system’s output to 2.5 kW. That comfortably runs lights, Wi-Fi, TVs, laptops, a fridge, the gate motor and the alarm, which is what most flats, townhouses and smaller homes need to keep going through load-shedding. It is not sized for a kettle and a microwave at the same time.
The same power module drives the larger systems, so nothing is thrown away when you grow. Add a second battery and the output rises to the full 5 kW; add a third and you have the Power-M 15kWh.
I installed the Huawei Power-M at my house in 2022 when we had regular stage 6 load shedding. Having started with one battery, I later upgraded to two batteries, then added solar panels, and eventually a third battery. With the current setup, which includes eight solar panels, my house is virtually off grid. The system is installed in my dining and music room. It’s virtually silent and looks great.
Dylan Phelan, EcoHub director
ROOM TO GROW
Start with one battery, add more as you need them
The Power-M is modular. The power module on top holds the inverter, the charger and the controls, and each battery module below it adds 5 kWh. The 5kWh configuration carries one battery, leaving room in the same tower for two more.
Each addition is the same Power-M 5kWh battery module: your installer fits it under the first, connects it and adds it in the app. The second battery doubles both the storage and the output, to 10 kWh and 5 kW, matching the Power-M 10kWh.
This is exactly how our director’s own system grew: one battery in 2022, a second, then solar panels and a third.
QUIET ENOUGH FOR THE LOUNGE
Built to live in the room, not hidden from it
Most inverter and battery combinations end up in a garage because of how they look and sound. The Power-M was designed the other way round: a matt white aluminium enclosure only 16 cm deep, rounded corners, no visible cabling once installed, and a single round status display with a green LED ring.
Huawei rates it at 40 dBA or less at one metre, about the level of a quiet library, and it relies on natural heat dissipation rather than a fan that runs all evening. Our director’s first Power-M, with a single battery, sat in his music room beside a keyboard.
The modules carry an IP66 rating on Huawei’s specification sheet, so the cabinet can also go on a sheltered patio or in a garage if that suits your wiring better. It mounts on the supplied floor base or on a wall.
WHERE IT LIVES
From one battery to three, in the same spot
Because it is slim and quiet, the Power-M can go where your distribution board is easiest to reach, rather than where the noise and the look can be hidden. Passages, studies, dining rooms and open-plan living areas are all common.
These pictures follow the range from the 5kWh to the 15kWh. The second is our director’s own system as it started in 2022, before he added a second and then a third battery in the same place.
Plan for 70 cm of wall and enough height above the unit for the batteries you may add later: about 1.1 m for two and 1.5 m for three.
SOLAR WHEN YOU’RE READY
Add panels on day one or a year later
The Power-M is a hybrid system: the solar charge controller is built into the power module, so panels connect directly with no extra hardware. Huawei rates the input at up to 5.5 kWp across two strings on one MPPT, which suits most residential roofs.
Without panels it works as a backup system, charging from the grid between outages. With panels, the sun runs the house during the day and refills the batteries for the evening, and the grid becomes the fallback rather than the main supply. Bear in mind that with one battery, the batteries are full quickly on a sunny day; a second battery lets you store more of what the panels produce.
Everything is visible in Huawei’s FusionSolar app: battery level, solar production, what the house is drawing and where the power is coming from, at home or remotely.
MADE FOR SOUTH AFRICAN POWER
Load-shedding, load reduction and municipal outages
When the grid drops, the Power-M takes over the backed-up circuits automatically, and Huawei quotes the switchover at 0.02 seconds. Clocks don’t reset, the Wi-Fi stays up and the TV keeps playing. When supply returns it switches back and recharges.
With one battery the output is 2.5 kW, which covers lights, electronics, the fridge and security comfortably. A geyser, oven or pool pump stays on the grid side; if you want to run a kettle or microwave during outages as well, start with the 10kWh or add a second battery.
This is Huawei’s 220 to 240 V single-phase model, supplied through Huawei’s South African distribution with a local 10-year warranty. Grey imports and on-demand overseas listings do not carry that warranty, and some are built for other markets.
What the Power-M 5kWh will run, and for how long
Two numbers decide what a backup system does for you: its output, which limits what can run at the same time, and its storage, which decides how long it lasts. The Power-M 5kWh delivers up to 2.5 kW with its single battery from 5 kWh of usable storage. The tables below use typical South African household figures; check the rating plate on your own appliances, and your installer will size the backed-up circuits with you.
How long it lasts
| Average load | What that looks like | Runtime on 5 kWh |
|---|---|---|
| 300 W | a light essentials load: lights, Wi-Fi, TV, laptops | about 15 hours |
| 500 W | typical essentials, adding the fridge-freezer, gate and alarm | about 9 hours |
| 1 000 W | a larger home with most plugs and lights backed up | about 4½ hours |
| 2 000 W | essentials plus regular kettle, microwave and appliance use | about 2¼ hours |
Runtimes allow about 10% for conversion losses. If the system has had no solar input for 24 hours, Huawei keeps a 15% reserve to protect the cells, so expect a little less after a long overcast spell. With solar panels connected, the batteries refill during the day.
What it will run
| Appliance | Typical draw | On the Power-M 5kWh |
|---|---|---|
| LED lights, ten bulbs | 100 W | Yes |
| Wi-Fi router and fibre box | 20 W | Yes |
| TV and decoder | 150 W | Yes |
| Laptop | 60 W | Yes |
| Fridge-freezer (average over a day) | 150 W | Yes |
| Gate motor and alarm (average) | 50 W | Yes |
| Microwave | 1 200 W | Yes, alongside the essentials |
| Air fryer | 1 500 W | Yes, alongside the essentials |
| Kettle | 2 200 W | Only on its own, with little else running |
| Hair dryer | 2 000 W | Only on its own, with little else running |
| Pool or borehole pump | 1 100 W | Ask your installer: pumps draw a surge when they start |
| Oven or stove plate | 2 500 W | No |
| Geyser element | 3 000 W | No |
Essentials and one bigger appliance at a time is the right way to think about the 5kWh. If you want the kettle and microwave to work during outages, a second battery module lifts the output to 5 kW.
The Power-M in operation
Huawei Digital Power’s South African team demonstrates the Power-M’s features and how the modules fit together.
Power-M 5kWh specifications
| Configuration | 1 power module (MAP05A1), 1 battery module (MAB05B1), floor base |
| Output by battery count | 1 battery: 2.5 kW (this configuration). 2 or more: 5 kW (6 kVA) |
| Expansion | Room for two more batteries in the same tower; up to 6 per power module |
| Solar input detail | 90–420 V DC MPPT range, 2 strings, 1 MPPT, up to 8 optimisers |
| AC input | 200–240 V, 50/60 Hz, 30 A maximum, 6 kW bypass |
| Switchover | Not on Huawei’s spec sheet; Huawei marketing quotes 0.02 s |
| Noise | 40 dBA or less at 1 m (30 °C ambient) |
| Ingress protection | IP66 (Huawei spec sheet; IP65 in its 2021 brochure) |
| Operating range | 0 to 45 °C, 5–95% relative humidity |
| Cycle life | 6,000 cycles at 25 °C and 80% depth of discharge (Huawei brochure) |
| Module sizes (W × H × D) | Power module 700 × 246 × 152 mm, 17 kg. Battery 700 × 390 × 158 mm, 50 kg. Floor base 700 × 65 × 147 mm |
| Monitoring | Huawei FusionSolar app over Wi-Fi, Ethernet or 4G |
| Certification | IEC 62619, IEC 62109-1/-2, IEC 62920, UN 38.3 |
Huawei’s documentation: Power-M brochure (PDF) and the FusionSolar app guide (PDF).
How the Power-M 5kWh sits against the alternatives
Within the range, the Power-M 10kWh adds a second battery and with it the full 5 kW output, so it can run a kettle or microwave alongside the essentials. If your budget allows, it is the better starting point; if not, the 5kWh becomes the same system the day you add a second battery.
The Sunsynk Powerlynk X is the closest small alternative we stock: a 3.6 kW inverter with 3.84 kWh of storage in one unit. It has more output than a single-battery Power-M but less storage, and it does not grow in the same tower. The EcoFlow PowerOcean 6kW starts at 5 kWh too, with a 6 kW inverter.
The Midea HICONICS 5kW is a modular 5 kW system with a second MPPT for panels on two roof faces; Midea quotes 10,000 cycles at 90% depth of discharge for its CATL cells against Huawei’s 6,000 at 80%. The Power-M’s case across all of these is its slim 16 cm profile, its very quiet running and a track record in South African homes going back to 2022.
Questions we are asked about the Power-M 5kWh
Divide the capacity by what you are running and allow about 10% for conversion losses. Essentials for a typical family (lights, Wi-Fi, TVs, laptops, fridge, gate motor and alarm) average around 500 W, so 5 kWh lasts roughly nine hours. A four-hour load-shedding slot at that load uses about 2.2 kWh, a little under half the battery.
Huawei rates the battery module at 5 kWh usable. If the system has had no solar input for 24 hours it keeps a 15% reserve to protect the cells, so plan on about 4.25 kWh in that situation.
Each Power-M battery module delivers up to 2.5 kW, so with one battery the system is limited to 2.5 kW even though the power module is rated at 5 kW. Add a second battery and the full 5 kW is available. That is the main reason most of our customers start with the 10kWh.
Not at 2.5 kW. A kettle on its own draws around 2 to 2.4 kW, which leaves almost nothing for the rest of the house, and a geyser or oven is out of reach. A pool pump needs a word with your installer because of its start-up surge. With a second battery the system reaches 5 kW, enough for a 1.1 kW pool pump, as our director’s house shows.
Yes. The solar charge controller is built into the power module, so panels connect straight to it with no separate charger. Huawei rates the input at up to 5.5 kWp across two strings on one MPPT, within a 90 to 420 V DC window, and it supports up to eight Huawei optimisers. In practice that is roughly eight to ten modern panels per power module, depending on their wattage and how your installer strings them.
Plenty of owners start with backup only and add panels a year later. Nothing on the Power-M changes when you do; your installer runs the cables to the PV input and enables solar in the app.
Yes. The tower has room for two more Power-M 5kWh battery modules. The second takes the system to 10 kWh and 5 kW; the third to 15 kWh. Your installer fits and connects each module and adds it in the app.
Yes. It is wired into your distribution board, so it must be installed by a qualified electrician who issues a Certificate of Compliance. We supply the equipment and can refer you to one of our trusted, Huawei-trained installers, who cover all major cities and most areas of South Africa; the installer quotes and carries out the work, and is responsible for it.
You can also use your own installer. They supply the cabling, isolators, changeover switch and earth leakage, then commission the system and connect it to your Wi-Fi through Huawei’s FusionSolar app.
Huawei rates the modules IP66 (its 2021 brochure says IP65), and the cabinet is approved for indoor or sheltered outdoor installation, on the floor or on a wall. It runs between 0 and 45 °C. Huawei’s South African installation guide asks for a spot out of direct sun and rain, away from taps, drains and sprinklers, and rules out outdoor installation within 500 m of the sea, where salt air corrodes the enclosure. Indoors, at the coast, is fine.
Because it is rated at 40 dBA or less at one metre, most owners put it inside: a passage, a study, a dining room or the garage.
Fast enough that lights, TVs, Wi-Fi and laptops carry on without a flicker in normal use. Huawei’s own marketing material quotes 0.02 seconds. Its published specification sheet does not list a transfer time, so we give that figure as Huawei’s rather than our own measurement. If you run something that cannot tolerate any interruption at all, such as a server, keep a small UPS in front of it as well.
The Power-M carries Huawei’s 10-year warranty, supported in South Africa through Huawei’s local distributor. If a module develops a fault, contact us with your order number: we log the claim, follow it up and keep you informed until it is resolved.
The warranty covers the equipment. Faults caused by the installation itself, such as wiring or protection errors, are the installer’s workmanship and are taken up with them, which is one reason a Certificate of Compliance matters.
Fake online stores have advertised the Power-M at prices no genuine seller can match, then disappeared with the payment. EcoHub has sold Huawei backup systems since the Power-M arrived in South Africa in 2022 and has traded as an online store since 2012. Our stock comes through Huawei’s South African distribution, which is what makes the local warranty valid. If a price looks too good to be true, check the seller’s history before you pay.
Yes. You can collect from our Kempton Park warehouse or have it delivered; choose at checkout and the delivery cost is shown before you pay. Each battery module weighs about 50 kg and the power module about 17 kg, so this system weighs about 69 kg before packaging. Bring a second person, or have your installer collect it.
Why Buy From EcoHub
Power-M market leaders
We have sold the Huawei Power-M since it reached South Africa in 2022 and are one of its largest suppliers in the country. Our director runs one in his own home.
Trusted by installers
Installers and electrical contractors across South Africa buy their Power-M systems from us, and we refer customers to experienced Power-M installers in most areas.
The right system, first time
Every system comes through Huawei’s South African distribution with the local 10-year warranty, and advice on sizing comes from a specialist store trading since 2012.
Delivery or collection
Collect from Kempton Park or have it delivered across South Africa in 1–3 working days. Orders are generally ready within 24 hours of payment.
This is the 2nd battery with inverter I buy. I have now 2 systems with 10kw each. They work very good and even look good in my garage.
Dylan is very responsive and always there to help if needed. I will certainly buy from Ecohub again.
Purchasing the Huawei Power-M from EcoHub was a pleasure and Dylan’s communication skill is refreshing and excellent before and after the purchase.
The modular unit has a sleek, modern look that blends well into my home environment — no bulky industrial feel or external connecting wires all over the place. The unit’s vertical stacking capability with a total of three battery packs to extend the backup to 15kWhr make it ideal for tight spaces and future expansion – the good part is that the added battery packs won’t give that add-on feeling and maintain a well-engineered and esthetically pleasing look.
Installation guides, including the one on Youtube from SA Huawei CEO Herman Fourie offer step-by-step guidance, including app setup, wiring, and real-world installs.
The monitoring FusionSolar app allows real-time tracking of battery status, load usage, and solar input and with such an integrated package setup there should be few if any compatibility issues between the unit and the OEM designed battery backup system.
Sydney, Koringberg
No fuss, no hassles. A quick turnaround, definitely worth all the recommendations.
100% recommended going forward i will always use eco hub
This is such a great purchase for a 2 bed 2 bath apartment. It’s still early stages but so far I think it’s probably the best out there. Looking to add a battery at some point just to be on full 5Kvh but otherwise it’s strong and silent.