Why install battery storage at your business?

Battery storage can move electricity into the hours your business needs it, but its value depends on your load and tariff. The government’s Energy Technology List requires at least 95% round-trip efficiency for listed battery systems [S1]; that is a listing criterion, not a forecast for your installation. Compare usable output, losses and operating costs before committing. Checked October 2026.

Last checked 16 October 2026

How does battery storage work at your business?

A battery stores electricity for later use. Kilowatts (kW) measure power: how quickly it charges or discharges. Kilowatt-hours (kWh) measure energy: how much it stores or delivers. The government’s Energy Technology List describes commercial storage as a package including batteries, controls and power conversion equipment [S1].

Start by writing the job you need it to do. A hotel might want to move solar output into evening demand. A depot might want to limit a charging peak. Your reason should determine the specification, rather than buying a cabinet and searching for a use afterwards. The government’s business storage discussion recommends starting with the commercial problem [S2].

Compare battery sizing with your electricity demand before discussing capacity. Ask for usable energy and continuous discharge power separately.

What benefits of battery storage can your site actually use?

The business storage discussion identifies storing renewable output, shifting demand and providing grid services as possible uses [S2]. They need separate lines in your assessment.

Treat this as a shortlist for testing. Do not assume every row produces an additional income stream. Ask the designer to show a dispatch schedule that assigns each unit of energy to a particular use. If a proposed service requires you to keep the battery available, show how that affects your own charging or evening demand.

Peak shaving and tariff arbitrage need different evidence. Request separate calculations, then a combined schedule.

Is battery storage worth it, and what payback could it produce?

Here is an illustration, not a quote. Every input in this table is an assumption, including the installed price. None is a UK market benchmark. It models grid price shifting only, with no solar export, grants or grid-service income. These choices make the calculation repeatable.

For each delivered kWh, charging costs £0.10 ÷ 0.90 = £0.1111. The gross difference is therefore £0.25 − £0.1111 = £0.1389/kWh. Annual net bill benefit equals delivered energy × that difference − £1,000. This is avoided expenditure, rather than sales income.

ROI means return on investment: annual net benefit ÷ capital × 100. Payback is capital ÷ annual net benefit. Results are rounded from unrounded calculations. Long calculated paybacks may extend beyond the useful life of the equipment. They do not establish that a project will recover its cost.

This simple model excludes degradation, replacement, financing, tax, inflation and changing tariffs. Reduce the usable output and narrow the price difference in a sensitivity test. If the calculation then becomes negative, there is no positive simple payback. Use battery cost questions to build a site-specific scope.

How should you compare buying storage with a funded offer?

Keep a battery service proposal separate from a charger-host offer. Under fully funded charging, the provider pays, installs, owns and operates the equipment, while you provide space and receive agreed rent or revenue share. Under part funded charging, you contribute capital for a larger share. Under self funded charging, you buy the equipment and retain net income after costs. These describe allocation of costs and income, rather than a promise that storage funding is available.

For a battery attached to your building supply, request the exact payment mechanism. Is it a lease, an energy service charge or a share of measured benefit? Establish who pays for charging electricity, who controls dispatch and who carries replacement costs. Do not apply a charger’s revenue-share percentage to your whole electricity bill.

Ask for the meter boundary and the comparison bill in writing. Specify treatment of tariff changes and periods when the battery is unavailable. Check accounting treatment with your accountant and contract obligations with your solicitor.

What should your survey and risk assessment cover?

If continuity is your main reason for storage, specify backup explicitly. A NSW Government practical example explains that not every battery can provide it [S5]. Ask which circuits remain live, what load they can support and how the system isolates from the grid. This is a technical distinction, not evidence for UK installation rules.

A distribution network operator (DNO) runs the local electricity network. G99 is the engineering recommendation used for connecting relevant generation and storage equipment. National Grid Electricity Distribution publishes a storage connection process and commissioning forms [S3]. Ask your installer to confirm the route for your location, proposed inverter and existing generation.

The Health and Safety Executive’s grid-scale guidance explains that planning sits with local planning authorities and that health and safety duties continue through the system’s life [S4]. It is not a design manual for every small commercial cabinet. Request advice specific to your equipment and nation, including location, isolation, access, emergency response and end-of-life removal. Check legal duties with your solicitor.

Give the designer interval electricity readings, import and export contracts, available space and the circuits you want to support. Ask for an operating schedule and a list of exclusions you can compare between proposals.

What should you do next?

Prepare your load data and compare storage with changing demand first. Read solar, battery and charging integration if those systems share your supply.

Test your own figures with the income and payback calculator.

Piggy Pineapple Ltd operates this referral service. We refer enquiries to installer partners and may be paid a fee. Our owner holds shares in at least one partner. Before sharing your details, we name the proposed partner and disclose whether our owner holds shares in it. Read how we work, then get matched with an installer that covers your area.