Batteries for domestic power use are a highly effective enhancement in almost all homes, and in the last few years they have come down in price significantly. Whether you have solar panels or not, batteries can enhance your system and allow you to save money and use power more effectively.

Prices start from:

• £3,295 for 1 Battery (5kWh)
• £4,995 for 2 Batteries (10kWh)
• £6,495 for 1 Battery (5kWh) and 8 Solar panels (3.2kW)
• £9,995 for 2 Batteries (10kWh) and 16 Solar panels (6.4kW)
Prices include installation. Renewable energy installs are 0% VAT rated.

20 kWh battery system

In a basic way batteries can store electricity for you to use at another time of day, which lends itself to many helpful uses:

1. No solar panels

If you don’t or can’t have solar panels for some reason, such as living in a flat, batteries can still help you. Most electricity suppliers have tariffs that allow lower cost electricity at certain times of day – especially at night. If you install a battery system, it can be configured to charge up on the cheaper rate, and then power your house from the stored electricity at all other times. That means all your electricity can be purchased at the cheap rate saving you money.

2. New solar panels

If you are planning to get new solar panels fitted, the system can be greatly enhanced by the addition of a battery system. One of the downsides of solar energy is that it's at its peak when your usage is at its lowest – such as the middle of a sunny day! Even if you are usually at home all day, it is likely that you will only be able to actually use around 25%-35% of the generated energy. The rest will either be wasted or sold back to the grid, but the energy suppliers will only pay a very low rate these days for buying energy. You will also likely still buy peak rate energy when your usage is highest in the early evening for cooking and heating. If you add a battery system to your solar panel system, you can store all the extra energy from the solar panels in the batteries, and then use it when the sun goes down to power your house. In this case you should then be able to use 70%-90% of the solar generated power, and in the summer months you may well find you don’t use any power from the grid and are completely self-sufficient.

3. Older solar panels

Many people have older solar systems which were designed and fitted when the utility companies paid much higher tariffs for generated energy. If you have a system like this it's unlikely to have batteries as they weren’t available then. Your system is also likely to generate income for you based on the amount of energy generated, regardless of whether you use it yourself or not. It is now possible to add a battery system to an installation like this without affecting your feed in tariff. If this is done you can then store the solar energy generated during the day, and rather than sending it to the grid you can store it in the batteries. That will allow you to use it yourself after dark, and not only do you save on your bill by buying less from the supplier, you also still get the same payments for your generated power!

4. Emergency power

If you live in an area where you are susceptible to power cuts, or if you have critical equipment, a battery system can help to give you peace of mind and security by supplying your house with power when the mains goes off. You wouldn’t expect to power the whole house as normal, but the battery system can supply critical circuits such as lighting, boiler for heating, power for telephone, internet and security systems, and suchlike.

As explained, battery systems are extremely helpful and versatile. Every home is different though, so please do contact us if you are interested in solar and battery systems and we will be able to explain it all and advise the best setup for your needs.