There are many reasons to be disgruntled with Big Energy.
Rising bills, poor customer service, over-reliance on non-renewable and unethical energy sources – not to mention the ever-looming spectre of total climate collapse – all make reliance on the grid a little bit yucky, and any one of them is reason enough to consider ‘going solar’.
Solar power has been an alternative energy mainstay for decades now, offering ancillary off-grid power acquisition to homeowners and businesses alike. It’s only in recent years that solar has become a true contender as a full-throttle energy alternative, particularly as domestic solar systems get more and more affordable.
A basic solar system would comprise solar panels and an inverter for converting their DC output to AC; an optional extra, though, could utterly transform the utility of your system: a solar battery.
Why invest in solar battery storage?
As you’d expect, solar batteries capture and store electricity generated by your panels – and their introduction to your solar energy system can be beneficial in key ways. Firstly, and most obviously, a charged solar battery ensures you have stable access to electricity all the time.
Obviously, solar panels can’t produce electricity at night. A battery enables the capture of electricity during the day for use at night, or to make up for shortfalls on darker or shorter days – adding convenience to a given system, especially for off-grid households that would otherwise have to limit their energy usage to daylight hours.
Convenience aside, solar battery storage can also offer cost savings, particularly for grid-connected households that rely on imported electricity to plug their solar system’s shortfall. Being able to store electricity means you rely less on imported electricity; if you export excess electricity back to the grid via the Smart Export Guarantee, you can effectively increase your income from it by reducing your expenditure on costlier import tariffs.
Capacity and consumption are amongst the most important considerations: capacity being the power output of your solar panel array, and consumption being how much energy you use as a household.
Put simply, there’s no point buying a battery with a small capacity if your array will fill it instantly, or if you’ll empty it just as quickly; likewise, it is pointless to invest thousands in a super high-capacity solar battery if your array has no hope of charging it in a reasonable period.
Best solar battery storage in the UK at a glance
- Best overall: Q.Home Core 6.8kWh Solar Storage Battery – £1,966.32, Infinite Solar
- Best for portable power: EcoFlow DELTA 2 Power Station 1024Wh Portable Power Bank – £899, Argos
- Best for rack-mount modular storage: Pylontech 2.4kWh US2000C Lithium Solar Storage Battery 50Ah 48V – £638.59, Amazon
- Best for capacity on a budget: Growatt GBLI 6532 6.5kWh Battery – £1700, City Plumbing
- Best for van-lifing leisure usage: Eco-Worthy 12V 100Ah LiFePO4 Lithium Battery – £239.99, Amazon
- Best for comprehensive solar storage on the road: Anker SOLIX F2000 Portable Power Station – £1699, Amazon
- Best for starting an outdoor modular battery system: Sunsynk L3.0 3.07kWh Outdoor Battery Storage – £625 ex. VAT, HDM Solar
- Best for high-usage households: Fogstar Energy 15.5Kwh 48V Battery – £2,499, Fogstar Batteries
- Best for seamless home integration: Huawei LUNA2000 Solar Storage Lithium Battery Module (5KWh) – £2,600 ex. VAT, Eco Wizard
- Best for customisability: Fogstar SEPLOS V4 48V DIY Kit – £599.99, Fogstar Batteries
When putting together a solar system, there is no singular ‘right answer’.
The scope of the project changes dramatically depending on your circumstances, electricity usage, and other key requirements – which is why we’ve picked a broad-ranging sample of the best options on the market, from small-scale portable power banks to supersized commerce-friendly solar battery packs and everywhere in-between.
