Check if your home qualifies for a free battery
Homeowners and private tenants can apply. It only takes a few minutes.
It helps to separate two things: the general benefits of battery storage, which apply to home batteries broadly, and the specific benefits of the scheme, which apply only to households taking part in the Free Home Battery Scheme.
General benefits of home battery storage
Energy flexibility
A battery separates when electricity is bought from when it is used, so a home isn’t tied to drawing power at the busiest, most expensive times.
Smart energy management
Smart controls charge and discharge automatically in response to prices and signals from the system — no daily effort needed.
Storing electricity
Electricity that’s cheap or plentiful at one time of day can be kept and used later.
Reducing pressure on the grid
Using stored energy at peak times means less demand on the network when it is under the most strain.
Supporting renewable energy
Storage helps make use of wind and solar power when it is available, rather than it going to waste.
Future smart-energy opportunities
Batteries fit naturally with smart tariffs, electric vehicles and heat pumps as homes become more connected.
Potential household financial benefits
Depending on your tariff and how the battery is run, storing cheaper electricity to use at more expensive times can reduce what you pay. How much varies a great deal from one household to another — our guide to electricity bill savings with battery storage explains why.
Get these benefits without buying a battery
What the scheme specifically offers
Buying a battery yourself means paying for the equipment and installation and looking after it. The scheme works differently:
| Buying a battery yourself | Free Home Battery Scheme | |
|---|---|---|
| Equipment and installation | You pay | No cost to eligible households |
| Ownership | You own it | Owned by the scheme owner |
| Maintenance, servicing and insurance | Your responsibility | The scheme owner’s responsibility |
| Replacement and recycling | Your responsibility | The scheme owner’s responsibility, where required |
| Help towards bills | Depends on your tariff and usage | Up to £500 per year, subject to scheme terms |
Read more about who owns and maintains the battery.
Benefits beyond your home
- Lower household bills
- Support the grid
- Strengthen energy security
Connected home batteries, managed together, provide distributed energy storage that can help balance the electricity network and make better use of the electricity that is generated. See how home batteries work for the detail.
Don’t have solar panels?
You don’t need them. Here’s how a battery works without solar.