HOME BATTERY STORAGE FAQs

Yes, and more so now than a year ago. In March 2026, one of the UK’s most popular export tariffs cut its rate from 15p to 12p per kWh. Every unit you export is now worth less, while every unit you store and use yourself is worth around 25p in avoided import costs. That’s roughly double the value, simply by keeping your own power instead of giving it away. Without a battery, a typical Scottish home uses only 30–50% of the solar it generates. Add a battery and self-consumption jumps to 60–80%. Add a smart tariff on top and you can charge overnight for around 13p and run the whole house through the 4–7pm peak on cheap power.

Boxergy battery storage systems (battery and 10 solar panel system) start from £5,999 fully installed, and right now they carry 0% VAT, a genuine saving that runs only until 31 March 2027, after which the rate rises to 5%. That price includes the battery, inverter, installation, DNO notification and full commissioning documentation. We also operate a Price Match Guarantee: find a like-for-like quote cheaper and we’ll match it.

Yes. Home Energy Scotland offers up to £7,500 as a grant (rising to £9,000 for rural and island homes), plus an optional £7,500 interest-free loan. The standalone solar grant closed in June 2024, so solar and battery funding is now available as part of a heating package — typically alongside an air source heat pump. This is one of the most generous renewable funding packages anywhere in the UK, and it’s Scotland-only.

Most Scottish homes land between 5 kWh and 13 kWh. The right size comes from three things: your half-hourly consumption data, your solar generation (or planned system), and your tariff.
Get it right and the battery carries you through the evening peak every day of the year. Our design engineers size from your actual data and show you the working including why a smaller battery is sometimes the better buy. We’d rather sell you the right system once than the wrong system twice.

Modern home batteries are exceptionally safe. They use LFP (lithium iron phosphate), a fundamentally different, far more thermally stable chemistry than the lithium-ion cells in phones and e-bikes. It is extremely difficult to push into thermal runaway. Safety also comes from the install: a battery management system, correct isolation, compliant siting away from escape routes, and an interlinked heat alarm where required. Boxergy is MCS certified, TrustMark registered and works under the NAPIT competent-person scheme every install is done to standard and fully documented.

Expect roughly 70–80% of original capacity still there at year 10. That means a 10 kWh battery is still delivering 7–8 kWh comfortably enough to cover the evening peak for most Scottish households. Good batteries come with a guaranteed minimum retained capacity written into the warranty, so this isn’t guesswork. We show you that figure before you sign, and we build degradation into your payback calculation rather than pretending it doesn’t exist.

Ten years is the market standard, and the leading manufacturers now guarantee capacity as well as hardware. What matters more than the headline number is what’s behind it: is the manufacturer established in the UK with real service support? Boxergy is an Alpha ESS Certified Gold installer and only fits brands with an established UK service operation. We also carry IWA Deposit and Guarantee Insurance, so your money is protected even in the unlikely event Boxergy ceased trading.

No. On a well-designed system the inverter and the battery are separate components, so at end of life you replace the battery module only not the whole installation. Cell prices have fallen dramatically and continue to fall, so a replacement a decade from now is very unlikely to cost what you’d pay today. Boxergy designs for modularity and future capacity as standard, so your system can be added to or refreshed rather than ripped out.

No, daily cycling is exactly what these batteries are built to do. Warranties are typically quoted in cycles, often 6,000–10,000. At one full cycle a day, that’s 16 to 27 years of use. In practice you’ll reach calendar life long before you reach the cycle limit. Cycling daily is how the battery earns its keep. A battery that sits idle is a battery that isn’t paying for itself.

Scotland’s cool climate is actually kind to batteries. Heat is the main enemy of lithium cells, and we have a lot less of it than most of Europe. What matters is avoiding extremes, so we advise against unheated lofts and prefer an attached garage, utility room, plant room, or an outdoor-rated unit where appropriate. This is a survey question, not a catalogue question. We’ll look at your actual spaces and recommend the right unit for the location.

Not always, and this is where quotes get slippery. Rated (nominal) capacity is the total; usable capacity is what you can actually draw. A “10 kWh” battery might give you 9 kWh usable, or 8. Always compare quotes on usable kWh. Every Boxergy quote states usable capacity in plain numbers, so you can put ours next to anyone else’s and see the truth immediately. We think that’s what a Price Match Guarantee should mean.

It can, if it’s specified for backup. A standard grid-tied battery shuts down in an outage for safety. Backup requires either an EPS (emergency power supply) circuit or a whole-home changeover switch. This is a decision to make before installation, and for many rural and semi-rural Scottish homes it’s well worth it. Tell us if backup matters to you and we’ll quote it explicitly never as an afterthought.

The direction of travel is firmly in your favour. Time-of-use tariffs exist because Scotland generates huge volumes of cheap wind power overnight and the grid needs households to soak it up. That structural driver is getting stronger, not weaker which is why the number of smart tariffs on the market keeps growing. Boxergy is an Octopus Trusted Partner with in-house smart tariff experts, so we’ll match your system to the best tariff available and re-optimise it as the market moves.

Yes. Retrofit is done either DC-coupled (higher efficiency, may need a hybrid inverter) or AC-coupled (works with virtually any existing solar array, simpler install). Since the 2024 VAT rule change, retrofit batteries added to existing solar also qualify for 0% VAT. If you already have panels and no battery, you’re currently exporting most of your generation for 12p when it’s worth 25p to you.

About the footprint of a large radiator. A typical 10 kWh unit is wall- or floor-mounted, needs a solid surface, sensible clearance and ventilation. Stackable modular units are ideal where space is tight, and they let you add capacity later. We confirm siting at survey, before you pay a deposit, and show you photos of the same unit installed in a comparable home. No surprises on installation day. And we guarantee no mess.

Because most quotes leave out the numbers that matter. Insist that every quote you receive shows: usable kWh, battery make/model, inverter make/model, warranty years and retained capacity %, whether backup is included, DNO notification, and any electrical upgrades. Once those are on the page, the differences become obvious. Boxergy itemises all of it as standard , and backs it with a Price Match Guarantee.

You get full visibility and full control. Live and historical data, manual charge/discharge, tariff scheduling, and automatic firmware updates from an actively supported manufacturer. We also monitor your system remotely, so if something drops out we usually spot it before you do, and we offer ongoing service and repair contracts to keep it that way. Ask for a live demo of the actual app on the actual system we’re proposing, before you buy.

Check the certificates — and check they’re for batteries specifically.

Boxergy holds:

• MCS certification (required for Smart Export Guarantee payments)
• TrustMark registration for solar, battery and heat pumps
• NAPIT competent-person scheme registration
• RECC alternative dispute resolution
• IWA Deposit and Guarantee Insurance
• Alpha ESS Certified Gold installer status

Add a 4.7 Google rating and a 27-strong team operating from a 6,500 sq ft facility in Livingston since 2017.

A little, and the maths still works comfortably. Round-trip efficiency on a good modern system is around 85–92%, so for every 10 kWh you store you get roughly 8.5–9.2 kWh back. Charge at 13p on a smart tariff and use it against a 25p import rate, and even after losses you’re keeping the large majority of the saving. We build round-trip losses into your savings figure because a quote that ignores them isn’t a quote, it’s a wish.

Usually just notification, and it’s our job, not yours. Most domestic battery systems are notified to your DNO under G98 after installation; larger systems or constrained areas need G99 approval beforehand, which can add a few weeks. Boxergy handles the DNO application, MCS registration and SEG paperwork as part of the installation, and we’ll tell you upfront if your address is likely to need G99, so your timeline is honest from day one.

Because we don’t push, we talk and educate. We believe people make the best decisions when they’re properly informed, not pressured. No pushy sales tactics: honest conversations, clear answers, and a system designed around your home rather than our stock list.

What you get with Boxergy:

• Award-winning and Scottish-built — founded in Edinburgh in 2017, now a 27-strong team in a 6,500 sq ft Livingston facility, and winner of the Scottish EDGE R13 Award
• Fully accredited — MCS certified, TrustMark registered, NAPIT scheme, RECC dispute resolution, IWA deposit insurance
• Rated 4.7 on Google by Scottish homeowners
• Three guarantees — Best Price, 100% Customer Satisfaction, No Mess
• Grant experts — we handle your Home Energy Scotland application end to end
• Octopus Trusted Partner with in-house smart tariff specialists
• Whole-house thinking — solar, battery, heat pump and EV charging designed as one joined-up system, not bolted together piecemeal
• We’re here afterwards — servicing, repairs and remote monitoring, with an emergency line

We’re innovators, not just installers: Boxergy holds granted patents in domestic energy management (GB2596245) and designed the patented Hero2 heat pump system in-house.