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  • Established 1985over 40 years in the Borders
  • 9 full-time electriciansAll 18th Edition qualified
  • SELECT 17074 · ECA 1683735NSI, MCS, OZEV & RECC
  • £10m / £5m insuredEmployers' & public liability
  • Free fixed-price quotesSupplied free, no obligation

Service overview

What a battery does, and what it does not

A battery does not make electricity. It moves it in time: from the middle of the day when your solar is producing, or from a cheap overnight tariff, into the hours when you would otherwise be buying at full rate. Its value is entirely in how much buying it displaces.

What the service covers

We design, install, commission and certify battery storage for homes, farms and commercial premises: system sizing against consumption data, battery and inverter specification, integration with new or existing solar, tariff-based charging where a time-of-use tariff makes it worthwhile, protection, isolation and metering, monitoring setup, and MCS certification via NAPIT (NEP-66400) where applicable.

Who it is for

Households with solar exporting more than they use, homes on time-of-use tariffs wanting to charge overnight and run on stored power at peak, farms with large evening loads and daytime generation, and commercial sites looking to reduce peak demand or improve self-consumption from an existing array.

When it is needed

When your solar is exporting a substantial share of what it generates; when you are installing solar and want the storage designed in from the start rather than retrofitted; when you have moved to a tariff with a cheap overnight rate; or when adding an EV or heat pump has changed your consumption pattern.

Why professional work matters

Battery sizing is where most of the money is won or lost. Undersize it and you still buy at peak; oversize it and you have paid for capacity that never cycles. Getting it right requires actual consumption data, which is why we start there. Installation quality matters too: siting, ventilation, isolation and protection all determine whether the system is safe and serviceable for its working life.

The cost of leaving it

What happens when storage is specified badly

A battery is one of the more expensive items on an energy project, and one of the easiest to get wrong on paper.

  • Exported generation you paid to produce

    Without storage, a household with a daytime-light profile exports a large share of its solar at a low rate and buys it back in the evening at a high one. That gap repeats every day the sun shines.

  • Capacity that never cycles

    An oversized battery spends much of its life partly charged. You have paid for kilowatt-hours that never displace a purchase, and the payback calculation quietly collapses.

  • Undersized to hit a price point

    The opposite error is just as common: a battery that empties by 8pm and leaves you buying at peak anyway. The system technically works and still fails to do the job you bought it for.

  • Poor siting and ventilation

    Batteries need appropriate location, temperature range, ventilation, mounting and access for service. Cupboards chosen for convenience rather than specification shorten life and complicate every future visit.

  • No monitoring, no evidence

    Without monitoring configured at commissioning, nobody can tell whether the system is doing what was promised, and underperformance is discovered years later, if at all.

Our process

How the job runs, start to finish

  1. 01

    Step 1: Consumption analysis and site inspection

    We review your bills, half-hourly data or existing solar monitoring, and inspect the proposed location, board capacity and any existing inverter arrangement.

  2. 02

    Step 2: Sizing and fixed-price quote

    Capacity is calculated against real consumption and generation, and you receive battery and inverter specification, expected effect on imported units, and a written fixed price.

  3. 03

    Step 3: Installation

    Battery and inverter installed in a suitably ventilated, accessible position, with correct protection, isolation and labelling, and integration into new or existing solar.

  4. 04

    Step 4: Commissioning, testing and verification

    Charge and discharge behaviour proven, tariff and time-of-use schedules configured, protection and isolation tested, and monitoring set up on your own devices.

  5. 05

    Step 5: Certification and handover

    Electrical certification and MCS certification via NAPIT (NEP-66400) where applicable, grid notification, and a handover covering monitoring, isolation and settings.

Payment by bank transfer (preferred) or card. Deposits on larger jobs only, agreed case by case before we start.

What you get

The difference it makes on your site

Sized from your own data

Capacity is calculated against real consumption, so the battery cycles fully most days instead of sitting half-used.

More of your solar used at home

Generation that would have been exported at a low rate displaces units you would otherwise buy at a high one.

Cheap-rate charging where tariffs allow

Where you are on a time-of-use tariff, the system is configured to charge at the low rate and carry you through peak periods.

Installed by an MCS certified contractor

MCS via NAPIT (NEP-66400), RECC registered, SELECT and ECA approved, the same firm that certifies your wider electrical installation.

Sited to be serviceable

Location chosen for ventilation, temperature and access, so future service and warranty work does not mean dismantling a cupboard.

Visible performance

Monitoring configured at handover so you can see charge, discharge and savings rather than take them on trust.

In detail

Sizing, integration and system variations

Storage is specified from three inputs: how much you generate, when you consume, and what your tariff charges at each hour.

AC-coupled and DC-coupled systems

DC coupling connects the battery on the DC side of a solar system and is generally the more efficient route when solar and storage are installed together. AC coupling adds a separate battery inverter and is usually the practical answer when retrofitting storage to an existing array, including arrays installed by other companies.

Sizing against the consumption profile

A household using very little during the day and a great deal from 5pm needs enough usable capacity to carry the evening peak, but no more. A farm with heavy daytime load may need less storage and more generation. We work from half-hourly data where it is available, and from bills and load assessment where it is not.

Time-of-use tariffs

Where a tariff offers a substantially cheaper overnight rate, a battery can be charged from the grid and discharged through peak periods, delivering a saving independently of solar. Schedules are configured at commissioning and can be adjusted if you change supplier or tariff.

Siting, ventilation and protection

Batteries are located in a temperature-appropriate, ventilated position with clearance for service, correctly mounted and clearly labelled, with dedicated protection and accessible isolation. Garages, plant rooms and utility spaces are typical; unventilated cupboards and unheated exposed locations are not.

Retrofit to existing solar

We add storage to existing arrays, including installations we did not carry out. That starts with a condition check of the existing system, DC connections, isolation, inverter status and certification, because there is no sense connecting a new battery to an array with unresolved defects.

Commercial and agricultural storage

On commercial and farm sites, storage is often about peak demand and continuity as much as tariff arbitrage: smoothing short high-demand periods, improving self-consumption from a large array, or supporting critical loads. Sizing is done against metered demand, and integrated with power factor correction or supply upgrades where those are also in play.

Accredited for this work

  • SELECT17074
  • ECA1683735
  • NSI Approved (Fire)NSI-000082/FS/S
  • BAFESP203 Registered
  • MCS via NAPITNEP-66400
  • OZEV ApprovedEV chargers
  • RECCRegistered
  • SMAS WorksafeSSIP approved

Before you call

Battery Storage Installation: your questions answered

How much does battery storage cost?

It depends on usable capacity, whether it is AC or DC coupled, and whether it is installed alongside new solar or retrofitted. We size against your consumption first, then issue a written fixed price.

How quickly can you quote?

Free quotes supplied. Commercial and agricultural systems requiring demand analysis take one to two weeks.

How long does installation take?

A domestic battery is generally installed and commissioned within a day or two. Larger systems follow the programme issued with the quote.

Can I add a battery to solar panels installed by someone else?

Usually yes, most often AC-coupled. We check the condition and certification of the existing array first, because a new battery should not be connected to an installation with unresolved defects.

How long does a battery last?

Battery life is measured in cycles and years, and the manufacturer's warranty terms are set out in your quotation. Correct sizing helps: a battery that cycles sensibly ages more predictably than one worked to its limits daily.

What warranty applies?

Manufacturer warranties are stated at quotation. For related solar equipment, panels carry 25 years and SolarEdge inverters 10 years, with SIG Energy broadly matching. We do not issue a formal written workmanship guarantee, but we always return to put right anything we have done incorrectly.

Will a battery keep my power on in a cut?

Only if the system is specified with backup capability, which is a design decision with cost and wiring implications. Tell us at survey stage if that matters to you, and we will price it properly rather than imply it comes as standard.

Is storage worth it without solar?

It can be where you are on a tariff with a significantly cheaper overnight rate. We model it against your tariff and consumption and tell you plainly whether it pays.

Do you offer support after installation?

Yes. Monitoring makes problems visible early, call-outs are available including out of hours for existing customers at approximately 1.5 times the standard rate, and we handle warranty items with the manufacturer.

Which areas do you cover?

The Scottish Borders and North Northumberland, including Coldstream, Duns, Kelso, Eyemouth, Greenlaw, Chirnside, Jedburgh, Wooler and Berwick-upon-Tweed.

Related services

Battery Storage Installation near you

Working from Unit 4 Home Pl, Coldstream TD12 4DT across the Scottish Borders and North Northumberland.

See the full list of service areas, read about the company, or return to the homepage.

Get a price

Stop exporting cheapand buying back dear.

Send us your bills or your solar monitoring data and we will size storage against what you actually use, then price it as a fixed sum.

01890 882981
  • Established 1985 | over 40 years' experience
  • SELECT 17074 · ECA 1683735 · SMAS Worksafe SSIP
  • £10m employers' and £5m public liability cover
  • Free quotes supplied

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Related electrical services and areas we cover

Not sure which trade you need? Read about the family-run team behind WPP Electrical, browse recent commercial, industrial and agricultural electrical projects, or request a free fixed-price electrical quote.

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