Residential · Solar & battery
Solar & battery storage — frequently asked questions
Straight answers to the questions we hear most from homeowners considering solar, storage, or both. For anything specific to your home, ask Current — our AI adviser can model options against your actual roof, usage, and goals.
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Is my home suitable?
- Will solar actually work on my roof?
- Very few roofs are ruled out entirely. South-facing gives the highest total annual yield, but east/west splits often produce better financial results because generation spreads across morning and evening — closer to when you actually use power, which also reduces how much battery you need to cover the gap.
- Does my roof need to be replaced first?
- Only if it doesn't have the years left to outlast the system. Panels last 25+ years; if your roof has under 10 years of life remaining, replacing it first avoids paying to remove and refit panels later.
- Does solar still work in winter?
- Yes, at reduced output — typically 10–20% of summer generation — but it's still useful during the demand peaks that matter most, morning and evening.
- Can I go fully off-grid?
- Rarely viable economically. Winter generation is a fraction of summer output and can't cover winter heating loads without radically oversizing the system. Staying grid-connected with storage is almost always the better-value design.
Getting the design right
- Is the mounting system just a detail, or does it matter?
- It matters more than the panels themselves. The mounting system carries the load and keeps your roof watertight — a failure here risks a leak or detachment, not just lost output. Panel warranties don't cover roof integrity; the mounting system needs its own separate, long-term warranty.
- What's the difference between a battery with storage and a battery with backup?
- This is the one most people get wrong. A storage-only battery shuts down in a power cut — that's a safety feature (anti-islanding), not a fault. Backup capability requires additional hardware (a gateway or changeover switch) to isolate your home into its own microgrid, and even then it's rarely whole-house — high-load circuits like ovens and EV chargers are typically excluded.
Generation, storage & money
- Can a battery save me money without solar panels?
- Yes — this is tariff arbitrage. On a time-of-use tariff, a battery can charge from the grid when electricity is cheap and discharge when it's expensive, entirely independent of any solar generation. It requires a smart meter and battery software compatible with your tariff.
- Does exporting surplus power make money?
- It can — how much depends on your tariff, your export rate, and how much surplus you actually have left over after covering your own use. For most homes, self-consumption (avoiding buying power back at peak rates) is the bigger lever, with export as a genuine but secondary income on top. Ask Current to model both against your real usage rather than relying on a general rule of thumb.
- What's the honest payback picture?
- It depends on future energy prices and how you use the system — it's not a guaranteed fixed return. Self-consumption savings are usually the dominant factor, since import rates typically run well above export rates, but the actual balance depends on your specific tariff and usage pattern.
Compliance & lifespan
- What actually needs planning permission?
- Most roof-mounted installations are Permitted Development. Conservation areas, listed buildings, and larger ground-mounted arrays are the main exceptions where permission is required.
- What's MCS certification, and why does it matter?
- It's the accreditation your installer and products need for you to be eligible for export payments and insurance-backed guarantees. Always confirm certification directly rather than taking it on trust.
- How long do the components actually last?
- Panels: 25–30+ years. Inverters: 10–15 years — worth budgeting for one replacement over the system's life. Batteries: 10–15+ years, with gradual capacity loss over that time.
Still have a question specific to your home? Ask Current — it can walk through generation, storage, or both, sized to your actual roof and usage.