Starting From Scratch? • Hardware Guide
Don’t spend £14,000 on a locked-down system that won’t talk to anything else.
National solar companies routinely quote £10,000–£14,000 for a small 5 kWh battery and an inverter tied to a closed cloud app. By choosing open, standard hardware instead, you can buy a 16 kWh battery + ~4 kW solar + Victron hybrid inverter for around £3,750 in parts—and have your local electrician fit it.
What We Recommend When Buying New
Because we don’t sell hardware or take installer markups, we only care about equipment that is reliable, affordable, and easy to join up.
1. A Proper-Sized Battery (~16 kWh for ~£1,350)
A tiny 5 kWh battery runs out before dinner in winter. A 16 kWh battery costs roughly £1,350 when sourced directly, charges overnight at 7p/kWh, and comfortably powers a typical family home all day without touching 30p peak electricity.
2. An Open Inverter With Zero Cloud Lock-In (~£590)
We love the Victron MultiPlus-II. Unlike cheap inverters that rely on unreliable overseas cloud servers, it runs locally, supports instant backup power, and lets you add extra battery capacity whenever you like.
3. Standard All-Black Solar Panels (~£835 for 3.7 kW)
Modern 460W panels cost around £104 each. Eight panels generate roughly 3,750 kWh of free electricity a year—paying for themselves in under three years when paired with a smart tariff.
4. Monobloc Heat Pump Synergy (~2p/kWh Heat)
A simple monobloc air source heat pump only needs water pipes into the house (no specialist refrigerant gas work). When run off your battery’s 7p overnight power and daytime solar, it heats your home for under 2p per kWh.
How we help before you buy
If you have been handed a confusing £12,000+ quote—or want to source open equipment for your own builder or electrician to fit—email us before you commit.
We can review your quotes for free, share our exact parts list, and then come in once your electrician or plumber finishes to commission and join the whole system up properly.