Store Your Solar for When You need it
You likely already know that solar panels are a great way to generate free energy to power your home. Their biggest problem though is that they only work when it’s light during the day, likely when you’re out at work, or busy with the family. By adding a battery to your solar system, you can store the energy that’s generated when you’re out, ready to use when you get home.
A battery also allows you to take advantage of time of use tariffs (like the old economy 7 tariffs). You can set your battery up to charge on cheap over night energy rates and power your home in the morning before the sun comes up for your solar panels to start working. Put together, using more of your solar and taking advantage of time of use tariffs could save you hundreds of pounds per year, if not more.
Our recommended solar Battery brands
Use more of your green energy
Smart tariff options available
Hundreds of £’s of annual savings
How it works
1) A solar battery is fitted alongside either a new or existing solar panel system, connecting through the inverter.
2) When you don’t need the power generated from your solar panels, the battery charges up using the excess energy, rather than sending it back to the grid.
3) When you need power, your appliances will automatically pull power from your battery when there’s not enough solar power e.g. at night.
4) You can choose to connect your solar battery inverter to a smart time of use tariff, such as those offered by Octopus Energy, to charge your battery on cheap energy when there’s not enough solar, to use later when energy is more expensive.
Most batteries come with a 10 year warranty, with a set number of cycles (times that the battery charges and discharges). Much like your smartphone, the charging capability of your battery will decrease overtime, but many experts expect batteries to last well beyond their 10 year warranties, meaning you’re making a great long term investment.
In some cases yes, if you purchase a battery with powercut protection (EPS/UPS) you can avoid grid based powercuts. But batteries do not come with this as standard and it can be costly. If you want to be backed up then you should consider whether it’s financially worthwhile for the few powercuts we experience in the UK.
This depends upon a number of factors, including your energy usage and solar generation, as well as your home energy usage patterns. To find out what size battery you’ll need, or whether a battery is right for you, speak with our team.
No, you can get solar and a battery at the same time with Help to Buy Funding. If you’ve already got solar at home, you can retrofit a battery to the system and can still access Help to Buy Funding.