Places · Street note
Home battery installation in Leicester
Updated
Leicester terraces and semis, plus city-centre apartments, cover the range. Many owner-occupied terraces have a rear yard rather than a garage, so the battery ends up in a cupboard that must stay within temperature limits.
The houses, not the postcode average
Rear additions shade a surprising number of terrace roofs. The survey has to stand in the garden at the right time of day or use a shade tool honestly.
A cupboard next to a boiler can be too warm in summer for the battery datasheet even if it is convenient for the cable run.
Rear access through the house is normal and should be allowed for in labour.
What gets fitted here
A 5 kWh pack for a careful terrace, or about 10 kWh where there is solar and an EV, are the two shapes that come up most.
Do not model Leicester on a south-coast yield table.
National Grid Electricity Distribution, yield and a 4 kWp example
A 4 kWp array at 940 kWh per installed kilowatt is about 3,760 kWh a year before shade. That is the local ceiling on solar charging, not a promise the battery will cycle fully in January.
In Leicester, on National Grid Electricity Distribution, 5 kW sits above the 3.68 kW G98 line, so this wants a G99 application before anyone energises it. Export can still be capped. Agree that before the inverter is ordered. The figure uses 8 kWh and 4 kWp, which is enough to tell two quotes apart if they assumed something else.
Take an 8 kWh pack, cycled about 340 times, at 90% round trip. Charge at 9.0p, and value what comes back at 30.8p. Export given up is priced at 12.0p. About 1554 kWh a year of the charge is treated as spare solar from 4 kWp that might otherwise have been exported. Delivered energy is about 2448 kWh. After charging cost and lost export, the figure saves about £500 a year. Set that against £6,323 fitted, which is a September 2026 illustration at the temporary 0% residential rate, not a quote. That is a simple payback of about 12.6 years on these assumptions. Nudge the night rate up by 4p and see if you still like it.
What I would not sign in Leicester
Where the job is a qualifying install in a home, the 0% rate runs to 31 March 2027 and is due to become 5% after that. This figure prices the work at £6,323 on that basis. It does not apply to a shop, and it does not apply to a battery you buy and fit yourself.
I would not compare a £6,323 headline with another until usable kWh and the fate of any existing inverter match.
The cupboard beside the boiler is the location that looks convenient and fails the temperature line in the datasheet.
Common questions
Is the price on this page a quote?
No. £6,323 is a September 2026 illustration for a 8 kWh example at the temporary 0% residential rate. Your survey replaces it.
Will it stay on in a power cut?
Only if a gateway or essential-load board was designed and paid for. A standard grid-tied battery turns off with the grid. On this 8 kWh example the inverter is 5 kW, and backup is still a separate line.
What paperwork should I keep?
Keep the MCS certificate where the job is certified, the electrical certificate, the DNO record, the schematic, the warranty registration and a photo of the schedule. For an illustrated £6,323 job, that folder is part of what you bought.
What if the cheap rate is not 7p?
Then the figure changes. This page used 9.0p as a charge rate and 30.8p as the rate avoided. A smaller gap means a worse payback. Read the live tariff.
Sources
Want a price for your house?
The figures above are a rough guide. An installer still needs to see your fuse board, where the battery will go, and whether you want power during a blackout.