Solar & Battery
Panels generate. Batteries decide when you use it.
Solar alone knocks a big chunk off your day-time bill. Add a battery and you shift solar (and cheap overnight rates) into evening peak — where it actually costs you.
Panels vs Panels + Battery
What each configuration actually gets you.
Feature
- Cuts daytime grid usage
- Uses evening/peak-hour power
- Cheap overnight rate charging
- Sells surplus via SEG export
- Blackout backup (with backup gateway)
- Typical install cost
- Typical bill reduction
Panels only
- Yes — up to ~35% self-consumed
- No — solar's gone by evening
- No storage to charge
- Yes — ~65% exported at ~13p/kWh
- No
- £6,000–£7,500 (4kW)
- 30–45%
Best for most homes
Panels + Battery
- Yes — plus stored solar in the evening
- Yes — 60–80% self-consumed
- Yes — charge at 7p/kWh, use at peak
- Yes — smaller surplus, higher value use
- Yes, if fitted with a backup gateway
- £10,500–£12,500 (4kW + 5kWh)
- Up to 70%
Smart Export Guarantee
You get paid for what you don't use.
Every UK licensed electricity supplier with 150,000+ customers has to offer a SEG tariff. You export surplus back to the grid; they pay you for it, quarterly or monthly.
- Market average: around 13p/kWh (fixed rate).
- Best tariffs: 24–32p/kWh (time-of-use, e.g. Octopus Outgoing Agile / Fixed).
- You can be on a different supplier for import vs export — pick the best of both.
- We register you with your chosen SEG provider as part of every install.
A realistic export year
4kW system, S-facing, no battery3,400 kWh/yr
Self-consumed (~35%)1,190 kWh
Exported (~65%)2,210 kWh
Export earnings @ 13p£287/yr
On a 24p Outgoing tariff£530/yr
Why a battery
Batteries are cheap overnight rates in a box.
Time-shift your solar
Store what you generate at noon and use it at 7pm — when unit prices are highest.
Charge on cheap overnight tariffs
Off-peak rates like Intelligent Octopus drop to ~7p/kWh. Charge the battery overnight and run the house on it all day.
Blackout resilience (optional)
Add a backup gateway and your fridge, router and lighting circuits keep running when the grid drops.