Is a home battery worth it in the UK?

A home battery stores electricity — either from your solar panels or from the grid at cheap overnight rates — and uses it when electricity is most expensive. The financial case depends on your situation. With solar panels: a 10kWh battery costs around £3,000–5,000 installed and can increase your solar self-consumption from 30–40% to 70–80%, saving an extra £400–600 per year on bills. Payback: 6–10 years alongside your panels. Without solar, on a smart tariff: charge overnight at 7p/kWh (Octopus Agile), discharge during the day at 30p/kWh — saving around £500–700/year. But battery degradation, inverter replacement costs, and installation costs make the maths tighter — payback 10–15 years. Batteries also give you backup power when the grid goes down (if the battery has this feature — not all do). Popular models: GivEnergy, Pylontech, Tesla Powerwall, Solis/Sofar hybrid inverters.