Tariffs · Seven-day note
Export payment versus storing solar
Updated
Every unit you store is a unit you do not sell. If export pays 15p and your evening import costs 25p, storing can win after round-trip losses.
One ordinary week, not a yearly slogan
If export is high and your evening rate is only a little higher, the battery's extra cost may not. Write both rates down before you believe a savings chart. I would still write seven days on paper before trusting a savings chart. A grey January week will not look like a bright June week, and a cheap rate only helps during the hours it exists.
Take a 10 kWh pack, cycled about 340 times, at 90% round trip. Charge at 11.0p, and value what comes back at 30.8p. Export given up is priced at 12.0p. About 1943 kWh a year of the charge is treated as spare solar from 4 kWp that might otherwise have been exported. Delivered energy is about 3060 kWh. After charging cost and lost export, the figure saves about £596 a year. Set that against £6,880 fitted, which is a September 2026 illustration at the temporary 0% residential rate, not a quote. That is a simple payback of about 11.5 years on these assumptions. Nudge the night rate up by 4p and see if you still like it.
What the inverter has to do
In most single-phase houses in Britain, 3.6 kW is in the band where G98 connect-and-notify is often enough. Export can still be capped. Agree that before the inverter is ordered. The figure uses 10 kWh and 4 kWp, which is enough to tell two quotes apart if they assumed something else.
If a supplier is allowed to move the battery, ask what remains when you leave that supplier or the broadband fails. A schedule kept on the inverter beats a cloud routine you cannot see. At a steady 600 W, 10 kWh is about 16.7 hours.
How the saving gets eaten
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 £6,880 on that basis. It does not apply to a shop, and it does not apply to a battery you buy and fit yourself.
A car, a heat pump or the standing charge can flatten the result. The standing charge does not fall because a cabinet arrived. I would not treat backup as included on a 10 kWh quote unless the circuits are listed.
Before a deposit, I would want usable capacity, the warranty counterparty and a G98 note for this 3.6 kW inverter. The cupboard has to be a place you can stand in, at a temperature the datasheet allows. A five-minute video is not that.
Common questions
Is the price on this page a quote?
No. £6,880 is a September 2026 illustration for a 10 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 10 kWh example the inverter is 3.6 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 £6,880 job, that folder is part of what you bought.
What if the cheap rate is not 7p?
Then the figure changes. This page used 11.0p 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.