If you already have solar panels, a battery is usually the next thing you think about: the panels make most of their electricity in the middle of the day, and most homes use most of theirs in the evening. The Warm Homes Loan Scheme, which opened to households on 27 October 2026, is a new way to spread the cost of that battery. This guide covers the one case people ask us about most: adding a battery to a solar system that is already on the roof. Our main Warm Homes Loan Scheme page covers solar panels and batteries together.
First, the status line, because it matters on any page that talks about loans: Green Tech Hub is not a Warm Homes Loan lender and does not arrange these loans. The loan is between you and a lender you choose from the GOV.UK list. We are the installer.
Is a battery on its own covered?
Yes. GOV.UK lists battery storage systems as one of the energy-saving improvements a Warm Homes loan can pay for, alongside solar panels and heat pumps, and you can apply for more than one improvement. Nothing in the eligibility rules says the battery has to arrive with new panels, so a battery added to an existing array is a battery storage improvement like any other.
The scheme rules (version 3, September 2026) set a maximum for each technology. For battery storage it is £15,000 per home. That is a ceiling on the loan for that improvement, not a price, and your installer’s quote is what sets the actual figure.
The installer rule
The work must be done by an installer certified by the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS). You cannot fit the battery yourself and still use the loan. Before you go further with any quote, check the installer on the MCS register and check that their certificate covers battery storage, not just solar PV: the register lists each technology separately.
Green Tech Hub is on the register as Green Tech Hub Ltd, certificate NIC-600049, for solar PV and battery storage (checked 3 November 2026).
Who can apply
According to GOV.UK and the scheme rules:
- you must own the property, with or without a mortgage, or be a private landlord borrowing personally;
- the property must be residential, not commercial, and in the UK;
- there is no income threshold;
- the lender runs its own credit and affordability checks, and may have extra rules of its own.
Rates and terms vary by lender — compare them on the GOV.UK lender list. We do not quote rates or recommend lenders.
What the survey has to answer for an existing system
The loan question is simple; the house question is where the work is. For a battery added to existing solar, the survey decides four things:
- How it connects. An existing string inverter can usually stay, with the battery AC-coupled alongside it. If the inverter is near the end of its life, a hybrid inverter that runs both the panels and the battery (DC-coupled) can be the better job. We price both when both are realistic.
- What size. We size from your smart-meter data and your evening use, not from a brochure. Our home battery storage page explains the systems we fit.
- Where it goes. A loft or integral garage usually works. Batteries in homes are installed to PAS 63100, the fire-safety specification BS 7671 now requires for dwellings, which rules some locations out.
- The paperwork. The network operator is notified or applied to, depending on the inverter size, and the MCS certificate is issued at the end. Your export tariff also asks for that certificate.
Combining it with other help
You may be able to use other grants or funding alongside a Warm Homes loan, but not to pay for the same improvement. Separately, installing a battery in a home is currently 0% VAT, until 31 March 2027, including a battery retrofitted to an existing solar system, when the installer supplies and fits it.
How to go about it
- Get an MCS installation quote for the battery: a written, itemised fixed price.
- Choose a lender from the GOV.UK list of Warm Homes Loan lenders and apply to them with that quote.
- Once the lender has decided, the installer fits, commissions and certifies the battery.
Stay safe
The government and lenders never cold-call to sell Warm Homes Loans or charge a fee to apply. Turn down doorstep and phone offers, check any installer on the MCS register, and report suspected fraud to WHLScounterfraud@energysecurity.gov.uk.
If you are in Sandwell, Dudley, Walsall, Wolverhampton or elsewhere in the Black Country and want a battery quote for your existing panels, the form below comes straight to us in Oldbury.
Sources
- GOV.UK, Warm Homes Loan Scheme and eligibility, checked 3 November 2026.
- GOV.UK, Lenders offering Warm Homes loans, checked 3 November 2026.
- DESNZ, Warm Homes Loan Scheme factsheet, 27 October 2026.
- Warm Homes Loan Scheme Rules, version 3, September 2026, sections 3 and 4.
- MCS installer directory (mcscertified.com), Green Tech Hub Ltd, NIC-600049, checked 3 November 2026.
- HMRC, VAT Notice 708/6: energy-saving materials and heating equipment.