Local Battery InstallersQuestions · Memo
What does a sane 2026 quote look like?
Updated
A surveyed scope, usable kWh, inverter kW, named equipment, VAT treatment, DNO route, warranty holder, and a price you can compare. For many straightforward UK houses the illustration band is roughly £4,500 to £9,000 depending on size and brand, with premium backup systems higher.
The claim, without the fog
Your survey beats the band. This is a decision about paperwork, money or safety. It is not a product ranking.
Take a 5 kWh pack, cycled about 280 times, at 90% round trip. Charge at 7.0p, and value what comes back at 27.2p. Export given up is priced at 6.0p. There are no panels beside this 5 kWh pack, so every unit charged comes off the grid. Delivered energy is about 1260 kWh. After charging cost and lost export, the sketch saves about £245 a year. Set that against £3,650 fitted, which is a September 2026 illustration at the temporary 0% residential rate, not a quote. That is a simple payback of about 14.9 years on these assumptions. Nudge the night rate up by 4p and see if you still like it.
What the rules actually bite on
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 sketch uses 5 kWh and 0 kWp, which is enough to tell two quotes apart if they assumed something else.
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 sketch prices the work at £3,650 on that basis. It does not apply to a shop, and it does not apply to a battery you buy and fit yourself.
What I would do next
I would not sign off a 5 kWh install from a video call. Someone has to open the consumer unit. Photograph the board, the meter and the wall you have in mind.
Then get two written scopes. If they describe different machines, you do not have two quotes yet.
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.
Questions worth asking out loud
Is the price on this page a quote?
No. £3,650 is a September 2026 illustration for a 5 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 5 kWh sketch 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 £3,650 job, that folder is part of what you bought.
What if the cheap rate is not 7p?
Then the sketch changes. This page used 7.0p as a charge rate and 27.2p as the rate avoided. A smaller gap means a worse payback. Read the live tariff.