Everything you should know about home battery storage

by E.ON

28/10/20 11.00am

Everything you need to know about home battery storage

Solar panels produce renewable electricity that can power your home, appliances and even your electric vehicle. It's a popular renewable source of energy that can help cut your energy bills – but without battery storage, you might not be making the most of your solar power.

We've created this guide to help you understand what home battery storage is, how it works and how it could help you and your home.

What is home battery storage?

Solar panels convert the energy from the sun into electricity, which is then passed through an inverter system to turn it into power you can use in your home.

If you install a home battery storage system, any power your panels generate that you don't use straight away is stored in the battery, rather than being sent back to the grid. This helps you to make the most of the electricity you generate – you can use it when you need it and not only when it’s being generated.

How is solar energy stored in batteries?

Solar battery storage works by storing any excess electricity generated during the day rather than sending this electricity back to the grid. Once charged, the battery will power your home and you can use the electricity you generate during the evening, even when the sun isn't shining, if you’ve generated enough during the day.

Your system will only export electricity to the grid if your battery is fully charged and your solar panels are generating excess power that you can’t use. You can even get paid for exporting this excess electricity with our Smart Export Guarantee. And your home will only draw electricity from the grid if your battery doesn’t have enough electricity to meet your needs.

Is storing solar electricity worth it?

If you store your excess electricity in a battery, you can reduce your reliance on the grid, make the most of the electricity you generate and make sure your home energy is as green as possible. And what’s more, we provide all our customers’ homes with 100% renewable electricity¹ – so you can be confident that all the electricity needed to power your home will be backed by renewable sources.

And our new research² reveals that almost nine in 10 prospective homebuyers now want properties with sustainable solutions, such as solar panels and battery storage, and three-quarters want to buy a property that has sustainable solutions over one that doesn’t. What’s more, adding solar panels to your home can also increase its value by £30,000 on average³.

Having your own electricity stored in a battery will also mean you’ll use less electricity from the national grid so your energy bills will be lower and your home will be greener. How much you can save will depend on the size of your solar panels and the battery storage capacity you have, combined with how much you generate and use. So make sure that you run your house as energy efficiently as possible, using low energy lighting and updated energy efficient appliances, for example.

How much does a solar battery cost?

The costs will depend on the size and type of solar panels you have and how much storage capacity you require. If we install your solar panels, then you can add solar battery storage from just £2,574.

We have four sizes of batteries to suit all types of homes and offer an interest-free finance option to spread the cost over 36 months⁴. We are a credit broker and not a lender.

You can have a survey with one of our solar experts who can advise on the best option for your home, how much electricity you’ll be able to generate and store and how much you'll be likely to save on energy bills over the lifetime of your solar and battery system.

How are solar battery systems managed?

You can manage your solar panels and battery storage through our free E.ON Home app, which will show you how much solar energy is being stored in your battery system and how much of the electricity you're generating is being used by your home. The app can also show you how and where you're using the most energy in your home to help you become more energy efficient, which can help you cut your energy bills even further.

^{1. Electricity backed by 100% renewable sources. E.ON's renewable generation assets, agreements with UK wind generators and the purchase of renewable electricity certificates. The electricity supplied to your home comes from the National Grid and DNOs. eonenergy.com/renewable}

^{2. The research was conducted by Censuswide between 27.08.20 – 02.09.20 with 1,000 UK respondents who are prospective homebuyers in the next two years}

^{3. Solar Power Portal: Residential solar boosts house prices by average of £30,000}

^{4. E.ON Energy Installation Services Limited acts as a credit broker not a lender and work exclusively with Creation Consumer Finance Limited who acts as the lender. Credit subject to status, terms and conditions apply and can be found at eonenergy.com/terms-and-conditions/eon-installation, E.ON reserves the right to amend its finance offering at any time and may withdraw at short notice. E.ON UK plc is an Introducer Appointed Representative of E.ON Energy Installation Services Limited who are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority in relation to credit broking services under number 750410. Registered in England and Wales under company number 09965944 with its registered office at Westwood Way, Westwood Business Park, Coventry, CV4 8LG.}