Anker SOLIX Solarbank 4 Pro: A New Contender in Plug-In Solar?
According to my wife (affectionally known as my CFO) Apparently, there is a limit to how many batteries one house needs.
I haven't found it yet.
The latest addition to my increasingly complicated home energy system is the Anker SOLIX Solarbank 4 Pro, Anker's new entry into the rapidly developing plug-in solar and home battery market.
Anker supplied the system and sponsored my initial video, but rather than reviewing it after a few days and declaring it wonderful, terrible or somewhere in between, I'm doing something slightly different.
It's staying for a year.
And you can watch the first video here:
So, what is the Anker SOLIX Solarbank 4 Pro?
At its heart, the Solarbank 4 Pro combines solar generation and battery storage in a system designed to be considerably simpler than a conventional home battery installation.
My setup combines the main Solarbank 4 Pro with an additional expansion battery, giving me around 10kWh of storage.
There are four independent solar MPPT inputs, so panels with different orientations can be connected without everything being dragged down by the least productive panel.
And, of course, you don't have to rely entirely on sunshine.
The battery can also charge from cheap overnight electricity, store that energy and then use it when grid electricity becomes expensive.
Welcome to 2026, where buying electricity when nobody wants it and using it when everybody does has somehow become a hobby.
What does "plug-in ready" actually mean in the UK?
This is where things get interesting.
The phrase plug-in solar might suggest taking it out of the box, finding a convenient socket and plugging it in.
Not quite.
My Solarbank has been connected through a fused spur and the installation checked by a qualified electrician. There are also DNO requirements to consider, including G98 notification or potentially G99 approval depending upon the installation and power levels involved.
I cover this in considerably more detail in the video because it's an important distinction if you're considering a plug-in battery system in the UK.
Home Assistant users may particularly like this bit
One of the things that immediately caught my attention was Home Assistant integration.
Anker provides integration through Modbus TCP, giving me access to the system data locally rather than forcing everything through somebody else's cloud.
That opens up some interesting possibilities.
Cheap electricity available? Charge the battery.
Expensive period approaching? Make sure there's enough stored energy.
Solar forecast looking glorious? Leave some room in the battery.
That's the sort of automation I'll be experimenting with over the coming months.
But is the Anker Solarbank 4 Pro actually any good?
That's the question I'm deliberately not answering yet.
I've seen far too many "long-term reviews" apparently conducted over a particularly demanding fortnight.
Instead, this system will run through autumn, winter, spring and summer. I'll be collecting its generation, consumption, savings and performance data, with results available through my website.
Then we can see what happens to the economics when the British weather gets involved.
Early numbers are interesting.
But twelve months of real-world data will be considerably more interesting.
Watch the full Anker SOLIX Solarbank 4 Pro video to see the installation, app, Home Assistant integration, UK power limits and the start of my year-long test.
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