Can You Have a Home Battery Without Solar Panels?

Yes. A home battery doesn’t need solar panels to be useful. A standalone battery charges from the grid at times when electricity is cheaper, usually overnight on a time-of-use tariff, then powers your home at the times when electricity costs more. Whether it is worth it depends on how much electricity you use, when you use it, and the tariff you can get.

Key points

• A standalone battery charges from the grid instead of from solar panels.

• It works best with a time-of-use tariff that has a cheaper rate at set times, usually overnight.

• It needs its own inverter, called an AC-coupled battery inverter, and is connected to your consumer unit.

• It counts as generating equipment, so your network operator has to be told about it, just as with solar.

• Solar panels can be added later, and a battery chosen with that in mind will work alongside them.

How a battery works without solar

With solar panels, a battery mainly stores surplus daytime generation for the evening. Without them, the battery is filled from the grid instead. You set it to charge during your tariff’s cheaper period, then it supplies the house during the rest of the day until it runs low. After that, the house draws from the grid as normal.

The battery doesn’t change how much electricity you use. It changes when you buy it. The Energy Saving Trust describes exactly this approach: using a battery with a smart time-of-use tariff “to buy electricity when it’s cheap”.

Who a standalone battery suits

A battery without solar tends to make the most sense where:

• You use a lot of electricity in the evening. Cooking, washing, showers and heating in the evening peak are what the battery covers.

• You are on, or can switch to, a time-of-use tariff. The bigger the gap between the cheap and expensive rates, the more a battery can do.

• Solar isn’t possible yet. A shaded roof, a flat in a building where you can’t use the roof, a roof that needs replacing first, or planning restrictions can all rule panels out for now.

• You have a heat pump or an electric car. Both add to your electricity use. The Energy Saving Trust notes that a battery saves more when it runs a heat pump than when it only stores spare solar.

It suits less well if your usage is low, if most of it falls in the cheap period anyway, or if you can’t get a tariff with a meaningful off-peak window. A smart meter is normally needed for a time-of-use tariff.

What about selling battery power to the grid?

The Smart Export Guarantee pays for renewable electricity you export. GOV.UK says a storage device that can import and export could be used to benefit from it, but tells you to check with your tariff supplier. Suppliers set their own terms on electricity that was bought from the grid and exported again, so don’t plan around export payments on a battery-only system until your supplier has confirmed them in writing. Our guide to the Smart Export Guarantee explains how export payments work.

What installation involves

A standalone battery is connected on the AC side of your electrics, through its own inverter. The work usually includes:

• A survey of your consumer unit, your electricity supply and where the battery can go.

• Mounting the battery and inverter, with isolators and protective devices.

• A meter or CT clamp so the system can see what the house is using.

• Notifying your network operator. Electricity storage is classed as generation in GB, so it falls under the same G98 or G99 connection rules as solar. Our guide to DNOs and export limits explains the difference.

• Setting up the charging schedule to match your tariff.

Location matters. Batteries can go in garages, on external walls or in utility rooms, depending on the model. Current UK guidance for home batteries rules out places such as lofts, bedrooms and escape routes. Our guide to where a home battery can be installed covers this in detail.

Sizing a battery without solar

Without solar, the size question is simpler: how much of your peak-time use do you want to cover? A battery that empties by early evening leaves you buying peak-rate electricity for the rest of it. One much bigger than your evening use never gets fully used. Look at your usage by time of day on your smart meter data or supplier app before deciding. Our guide to what size solar battery you need explains the principles, which apply with or without panels.

Storing electricity always loses a little. The Energy Saving Trust notes that using stored energy is less efficient than using it straight from the grid or panels, so the cheap rate has to be cheap enough to cover those losses.

Adding solar panels later

If solar may come later, plan for it now. An AC-coupled battery works alongside a separate solar inverter added in future. Alternatively, a hybrid inverter can be fitted from the start, ready for panels to be connected later. Our guide to what a hybrid inverter does explains the trade-off. Either way, tell your installer at the survey so the right equipment goes in first time.

Is it worth it?

That depends on your tariff, your usage pattern and the battery’s lifespan. The Energy Saving Trust says a typical battery lasts around 10 to 12 years, shorter than solar panels. Any honest assessment should be based on your own half-hourly usage and a real tariff, not a generic figure. Our guide to whether solar batteries are worth it sets out what to weigh up.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need solar panels to have a home battery?

No. A battery can charge from the grid and run on its own. Solar panels give it a free source of charge, but they aren’t required.

Does a standalone battery need permission from the network operator?

Your installer has to notify the network operator, because storage is treated as generation. Small systems are usually a notification after installation. Larger ones need approval first.

Will a standalone battery keep the lights on in a power cut?

Only if it is designed and wired for backup. Many batteries switch off in a power cut unless a backup function and the right switching equipment are fitted. Our guide to what keeps working in a power cut explains the options.

Can I add solar panels to a battery later?

Yes. Say so at the survey, so the battery and inverter are chosen to work with panels added later.

Is VAT charged on a battery without solar?

Our guide to VAT on solar panels and batteries explains the current position for standalone and retrofit batteries.

Request a solar and battery quotation. We’ll look at your usage and your electricity supply, and tell you whether a battery on its own makes sense for your home.