Three Batteries, Three Different Spec Sheets
Tesla Powerwall 3, Enphase IQ Battery 5P, and FranklinWH aPower 2 come up in most homeowner battery conversations, and they are not simple drop-in substitutes for each other. Powerwall 3 holds 13.5 kWh of nominal AC energy capacity with 5.8 to 11.5 kW of nominal AC output power depending on configuration, uses lithium iron phosphate (LFP) chemistry, and ships with a built-in hybrid inverter, meaning it does not need a separate solar inverter or Backup Gateway the way the earlier Powerwall 2 did.
The IQ Battery 5P is smaller on paper: 5.0 kWh of capacity, 3.84 kW of continuous power, also LFP chemistry, rated at 96% DC round-trip efficiency and 90% AC round-trip efficiency. The aPower 2 sits at the large end: 15 kWh of capacity, 10 kW of continuous output, also LFP, and it is the only one of the three rated for outdoor extremes, operating from negative 4°F to 131°F with IP67 weatherproofing rated for submersion to 3.3 feet.
The Warranty Comparison That Matters More Than Capacity
Capacity tells a homeowner how much the battery holds. It says nothing about how much of that capacity the manufacturer still guarantees years into ownership, and the three brands do not answer that question the same way.
Tesla backs the Powerwall 3 for 10 years of unlimited cycles, guaranteeing at least 70% of original capacity retained at the end of that term. Enphase backs the IQ Battery 5P for 15 years, but ties the guarantee to 6,000 cycles rather than years alone, and sets the capacity floor lower, at 60%. FranklinWH covers the aPower 2 for 15 years or 60 megawatt-hours of throughput, whichever comes first, at a 70% capacity floor, matching Tesla’s percentage on a longer timeline with a throughput cap Tesla’s warranty does not carry. A separate FranklinWH component, the aGate controller, carries its own, shorter 5-year warranty.
Worth flagging plainly: this specific FranklinWH figure comes from Green Ridge Solar’s review of the manufacturer’s own datasheet, since this research pass could not independently confirm the exact wording on FranklinWH’s warranty-terms page itself. Treat it as a well-corroborated secondary report, and confirm directly with FranklinWH before quoting a homeowner an exact number.
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Book a Solar CallWhy a “15-Year Warranty” Does Not Mean the Same Thing Twice
Enphase and FranklinWH both advertise 15-year warranties, and a rep repeating just the number is quietly comparing two different guarantees. Enphase’s 15 years comes with a 6,000-cycle ceiling and a 60% capacity floor. FranklinWH’s 15 years, per the secondary reporting above, comes with a 60 megawatt-hour throughput ceiling and a 70% capacity floor, a stronger end-of-term guarantee on the percentage that matters most to a homeowner: how much usable battery they will actually have left.
None of this makes one brand simply better. It means the three warranty structures answer three different questions, years, cycles, or throughput, capped at three different capacity floors, and a homeowner comparing quotes on battery brand alone is not comparing like for like until someone walks them through what each number guarantees.
What This Means for the Pitch
A setter does not need to become a battery engineer to have this conversation well. Three things are worth knowing cold: usable capacity in kWh, warranty length in years, and the capacity floor guaranteed at the end of that term, since that third number is the one most sales conversations skip entirely. A homeowner who hears “15 years” from two different companies and assumes identical protection is deciding with incomplete information, and clearing that up before the closer walks in the door builds real trust rather than just filling a technical footnote.
| Battery | Capacity | Chemistry | Warranty |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tesla Powerwall 3 | 13.5 kWh, 5.8 to 11.5 kW output | LFP | 10 years, unlimited cycles, 70% capacity floor |
| Enphase IQ Battery 5P | 5.0 kWh, 3.84 kW continuous | LFP | 15 years or 6,000 cycles, 60% capacity floor |
| FranklinWH aPower 2 | 15 kWh, 10 kW continuous | LFP | 15 years or 60 MWh throughput, 70% capacity floor |
FranklinWH warranty figures per Green Ridge Solar’s review of the manufacturer’s datasheet, not a direct read of FranklinWH’s own warranty page; confirm directly with FranklinWH before quoting a homeowner.
What this means for you
- Tesla Powerwall 3 (13.5 kWh), Enphase IQ Battery 5P (5.0 kWh), and FranklinWH aPower 2 (15 kWh) are not interchangeable specs; capacity, output, and warranty structure differ across all three.
- Warranty structure differs more than the headline year count suggests: Powerwall 3 is 10 years at a 70% capacity floor, IQ Battery 5P is 15 years or 6,000 cycles at 60%, and aPower 2 is reported at 15 years or 60 megawatt-hours of throughput at 70%.
- Two “15-year” warranties are not automatically equal; check the capacity floor and the cycle or throughput cap behind the year count before treating them as the same guarantee.
- The FranklinWH figures here trace to a secondary review of the manufacturer’s own datasheet, not a direct read of FranklinWH’s warranty-terms page, worth confirming directly before quoting a homeowner an exact figure.
Sources
The external data in this guide draws on the sources below. Figures described in the text as estimates or industry triangulations are directional and are not attributed to a single dataset.
- Tesla, Powerwall 3 datasheet, on capacity, output, and warranty terms
- Enphase, IQ Battery 5P product page, on capacity and warranty terms
- Green Ridge Solar, review of the FranklinWH aPower 2’s specs and warranty terms