Planning solar panels and battery storage

Build the brief around your home

Share electricity use, daytime occupancy and future EV or heating plans. Ask for a roof and shading assessment, a suitable battery location and an explanation of usable capacity, power output and expected losses. Larger storage is not automatically better value.

• Separate measured facts from assumptions about tariffs, export income, weather and future consumption.
• Request performance estimates and a sensitivity comparison if prices or usage change; do not treat a payback estimate as guaranteed.
• Ask about roof condition, access equipment, fire safety, maintenance and replacement costs.

Check technology-specific competence

Verify the installer and the technologies covered by any MCS claim; solar PV and electrical energy storage are distinct scopes. Confirm the certification and consumer protection offered for your project. General electrical registration does not itself establish solar or battery competence.

• Agree who obtains any planning, freeholder and Building Regulations permissions.
• Ask the installer to establish the correct network application or notification route, including existing generation and any export limits. Keep the network correspondence.

Understand backup and handover

Do not assume solar panels or a home battery will keep the property powered in a power cut. Ask exactly what backup is designed to supply and what its limits are. Get commissioning information, applicable certificates, warranties, monitoring access and emergency contact instructions. Leave electrical covers and switching arrangements to the installer; never improvise a connection to the house wiring.