Every Fox ESS CQ7 model with its real height, weight and footprint from the datasheet, plus the rules that decide which wall it can stand against.
Search the Fox ESS CQ7 datasheet and you will find the capacity numbers within seconds. What almost nobody publishes is the thing you were actually trying to work out: how big the box is, how heavy it is, and whether it is allowed to go where you were planning to put it.
Those three questions decide more quotes than people expect. We have walked away from more than one job because the only sensible wall had a bedroom behind it and a hot water unit beside it.
So here is the whole picture in one place: every CQ7 model with its real dimensions and weight, straight off the manufacturer datasheet, and then the Australian rules that decide where it can legally stand.
The CQ7 is not one product. It is two parts that combine into thirteen models, and the naming trips people up constantly.
CQ7-M is the master module. Every system has exactly one. It carries the six-LED display you can see on the front of the top module in the photo above, and it is the taller of the two parts at roughly 265 mm.
CQ7-S is the slave module. It has a single LED, adds 155 mm of height, and you can have between one and thirteen of them.
CQ7-L2 through CQ7-L14 is the finished system. The number after the L is the total module count, master included. So a CQ7-L4 is one master plus three slaves, four modules, 28.08 kWh.
If you have seen CQ7-L3, CQ7-L6 or CQ7-L7 quoted at you and wondered whether they were different products, they are not. Same modules, different stack height.
Every model shares an identical footprint of 660 mm wide by 360 mm deep. Only the height and the weight change. Figures are from the Fox ESS CQ7 datasheet, version 1.1, dated 21 November 2025, with weights quoted to plus or minus five per cent.
| Model | Modules | Nominal capacity | Usable at 90% DoD | Height | Weight | Nominal voltage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CQ7-L2 | 2 | 14.04 kWh | 12.6 kWh | 420 mm | 102.8 kg | 115.2 V |
| CQ7-L3 | 3 | 21.06 kWh | 19.0 kWh | 575 mm | 151.6 kg | 172.8 V |
| CQ7-L4 | 4 | 28.08 kWh | 25.3 kWh | 730 mm | 200.4 kg | 230.4 V |
| CQ7-L5 | 5 | 35.10 kWh | 31.6 kWh | 885 mm | 249.2 kg | 288.0 V |
| CQ7-L6 | 6 | 42.12 kWh | 37.9 kWh | 1,040 mm | 298.0 kg | 345.6 V |
| CQ7-L7 | 7 | 49.14 kWh | 44.2 kWh | 1,195 mm | 346.8 kg | 403.2 V |
| CQ7-L8 | 8 | 56.16 kWh | 50.5 kWh | 1,350 mm | 395.6 kg | 460.8 V |
| CQ7-L9 | 9 | 63.18 kWh | 56.9 kWh | 1,505 mm | 444.4 kg | 518.4 V |
| CQ7-L10 | 10 | 70.20 kWh | 63.2 kWh | 1,660 mm | 493.2 kg | 576.0 V |
| CQ7-L11 | 11 | 77.22 kWh | 69.5 kWh | 1,815 mm | 542.0 kg | 633.6 V |
| CQ7-L12 | 12 | 84.24 kWh | 75.8 kWh | 1,970 mm | 590.8 kg | 691.2 V |
| CQ7-L13 | 13 | 91.26 kWh | 82.1 kWh | 2,125 mm | 639.6 kg | 748.8 V |
| CQ7-L14 | 14 | 98.28 kWh | 88.5 kWh | 2,280 mm | 688.4 kg | 806.4 V |
The pattern underneath the table is simple arithmetic, and it is worth committing to memory if you are planning a space. Each extra module adds exactly 155 mm of height and 48.8 kg. Nothing else moves.
A 660 by 360 mm footprint is 0.24 square metres, roughly a bar fridge lying against a wall. That is the part people find reassuring.
The weight is the part that catches them out. A CQ7-L4 at 28 kWh puts 200 kg on that quarter of a square metre, which works out at about 840 kg per square metre. A CQ7-L14 is 688 kg on the same patch, close to 2,900 kg per square metre.
On a concrete garage slab that is a non-issue. On a suspended timber floor, on a raised deck, or on a mezzanine, it becomes a question for someone qualified to answer it, and the honest answer from an installer is that it needs looking at rather than assuming. It is also why the taller stacks are anchored rather than stood up: a 2,280 mm tower on a 360 mm base is a tall, narrow object.
One more number that shifts with height, because it surprises people who assume a bigger battery only means more hours. The current limit is fixed across the whole range at 80 A maximum, 50 A recommended, with a 110 A peak for 60 seconds. Voltage is what scales, from 115.2 V on an L2 to 806.4 V on an L14. Since power is volts times amps, a taller stack is also a more powerful one. In practice your hybrid inverter is almost always the smaller number and that is what caps what the house can actually draw, which is the point we made at length in what a battery really does in a blackout.
This is where a datasheet stops being useful. The battery is compliant hardware; the installation is what gets inspected, and AS/NZS 5139:2019 sets out a list of restricted locations that applies to every battery system, Fox or otherwise.
Solar Victoria publishes the clearest plain-English version of that list, in technical guidance sheet 2.2, reviewed by Energy Safe Victoria. A battery system must not be installed:
That last one is worth spelling out, because it is the single most common reason a preferred spot gets rejected. A habitable room is a bedroom, living room, lounge, kitchen, dining room, study, playroom or sunroom. A bathroom, laundry or powder room is not. Solar Victoria’s guidance adds a point that saves arguments later: judge the room by what it could reasonably become, not only what it is used for today. A spare room currently full of boxes is still a bedroom.
Separate rule, separate clause, and the one that most often turns into a small building job.
If a battery is mounted on, against or near a wall with a habitable room on the other side, that wall has to be a non-combustible barrier. If it is not, a barrier goes in between. The zone runs 600 mm out to each side of the battery and 900 mm above it.
Four materials are exempt from testing and count as non-combustible on sight: brick or masonry block, concrete, compressed cement sheeting, and ceramic or terracotta tiles. Anything else needs documentation showing it passed AS 1530.1. Plasterboard does not qualify. Neither does timber, particle board, or the skirting board running along the bottom of the wall inside the zone. Glass and corrugated steel are not automatically non-combustible either, which catches people who assumed a window was fine.
Any penetration through the barrier with more than 5 mm of free space, a cable entry or an old socket cutout, has to be sealed with fire-retardant material.
In practice this is why so many Melbourne installs, including the ones in these photos, end up on an external brick wall. Brick is exempt, it is usually outside, and IP65 rating means the battery is rated for it.
Here is the detail almost nobody checks until the installer is standing in the garage.
If the battery sits within 900 mm of the ceiling, the ceiling itself must be protected with a non-combustible barrier extending 600 mm past the outer edges of the battery.
Run that against the CQ7 heights on a standard 2,400 mm ceiling and there is a clean dividing line. A CQ7-L8 at 1,350 mm leaves 1,050 mm of clear air and does not trigger it. A CQ7-L9 at 1,505 mm leaves 895 mm and does, by five millimetres. Everything from L9 upward brings the ceiling into scope.
Two caveats before you measure your own garage with a tape and a calculator. The 2,400 mm figure is a common Australian nominal ceiling height, not a rule, and plenty of Melbourne garages are lower. And the datasheet height is the tower itself, before adjustable feet or a plinth. Anything landing within about 100 mm of the trigger is worth measuring on site rather than assuming.
Most people want the battery in the garage, and the garage brings two rules of its own.
The first is vehicle impact. Where a battery is installed somewhere a car can reach, fixed mechanical protection is required. Solar Victoria’s guidance sheet 2.1 is blunt about what does not count: shelving, benches and cupboards are movable, so a homeowner can remove the protection without realising it. Bollards or an equivalent fixed barrier are the usual answer, and they belong on the quote rather than appearing as a surprise.
The second is the doorway. A battery cannot sit within 600 mm horizontally of an exit. Where the opening is wider than 900 mm, a garage roller door being the obvious example, the rule has been relaxed under the 2025 amendment to the standard, provided safe egress is maintained. This is one to confirm against the current wording rather than a blog post, ours included.
Gas is the third thing we check and the one homeowners never raise. Battery systems must not go in a hazardous area as defined in AS/NZS 3000, which includes separation distances from gas cylinders and gas relief vent valves, and your local gas network provider may impose its own exclusion zone around the meter. A great many Melbourne homes have the gas meter on precisely the side wall that looked ideal.
Amendment 1 to AS/NZS 5139:2019 was published on 19 December 2025. NSW’s regulator has confirmed it is mandatory there. The standard is a national document, though the timing of adoption is a state matter, so treat the substance below as current and check the Victorian position with your installer or Energy Safe Victoria.
Four changes are worth knowing about as a homeowner:
That last point answers a question we get asked in a roundabout way. People search for the CQ7 safety data sheet expecting a technical document to read once. It is now part of the handover, and if your installer did not leave one on site, that is a gap worth chasing.
Five questions, all answerable before anyone touches a wall:
Answering those five before you compare prices is also the fastest way to tell two quotes apart. A quote that has considered the barrier and the bollards will look more expensive than one that has ignored them, right up until the day of the install.
What are the dimensions of a Fox ESS CQ7?
Every CQ7 is 660 mm wide and 360 mm deep. Only the height changes with the number of modules, from 420 mm on a CQ7-L2 up to 2,280 mm on a CQ7-L14. Each additional module adds exactly 155 mm. Figures are from the Fox ESS CQ7 datasheet version 1.1, dated 21 November 2025.
How much does a Fox ESS CQ7 weigh?
From 102.8 kg for a CQ7-L2 at 14.04 kWh to 688.4 kg for a CQ7-L14 at 98.28 kWh, quoted to plus or minus five per cent. Each extra module adds 48.8 kg. Because the footprint never changes, a full stack puts close to 2,900 kg per square metre on the floor, which is worth checking on anything other than a concrete slab.
What is the difference between CQ7-M and CQ7-S?
CQ7-M is the master module and every system has exactly one. It has a six-LED display and is roughly 265 mm tall. CQ7-S is the slave module, has a single LED, adds 155 mm, and you can fit between one and thirteen of them. The model name, CQ7-L2 through CQ7-L14, counts the total modules including the master.
Can a Fox ESS CQ7 be installed indoors?
Yes, with conditions. The datasheet lists it as suitable for outdoor or indoor installation on its stand, and it is IP65 rated with natural convection cooling and no fans. What rules out most indoor locations is AS/NZS 5139:2019 rather than the hardware. The standard prohibits battery systems in habitable rooms, ceiling spaces, wall cavities and under stairways. A garage, laundry or external wall is the usual answer in a Melbourne home.
How much clearance does a CQ7 need?
Two zones matter. No appliance unrelated to the battery may sit within 600 mm to either side, 600 mm in front, or 900 mm above it. If a habitable room is behind the wall, a non-combustible barrier is required across the same 600 mm side and 900 mm above envelope. Adding the 600 mm front zone to the 360 mm depth, a CQ7 effectively claims about 960 mm off the wall.
Do I need a fireproof wall behind a Fox ESS CQ7?
Only where a habitable room is on the other side of it. Brick, concrete, compressed cement sheeting and ceramic or terracotta tile are exempt from testing, so an external brick wall needs nothing added. A plasterboard wall does, and under the December 2025 amendment the barrier material must be at least 6 mm thick. Timber, particle board and untested glass do not qualify.
Where can I get the Fox ESS CQ7 datasheet?
From Fox ESS directly at fox-ess.com. The current revision is version 1.1, dated 21 November 2025, and every specification quoted on this page comes from it. Note that under the December 2025 amendment to AS/NZS 5139, a physical copy of the product safety data sheet must also be left at your installation, protected from damage.
The CQ7 is 660 by 360 mm no matter which one you buy. Height and weight run from 420 mm and 103 kg to 2,280 mm and 688 kg, in even steps of 155 mm and 48.8 kg per module.
Where it can stand is decided by what is behind the wall, what else is on that wall, how high the ceiling is and whether a car can reach it. None of that is on the datasheet, and all of it is on the quote if the quote was done properly.
If you already know roughly what capacity you want, we can tell you where it can physically and legally go at your address, and what the site work costs before you commit. Send us a photo of the wall you had in mind and the meter box beside it. That is usually enough to answer it. If you are still deciding on size, start with what size battery you actually need, and for the product itself, our full Fox ESS CQ7 review covers what it is like to live with. What happens on the day is set out in home battery installation in Melbourne, and current pricing is in what a home battery costs in Melbourne.
Specifications checked against the manufacturer datasheet on 6 September 2026. Regulatory requirements are summarised for homeowners and are not a substitute for the standard itself or the judgement of your accredited installer on site.
