Four battery platforms dominate the UK residential market in 2026: GivEnergy, Tesla Powerwall, SolarEdge Home Battery, and Solis + Pylontech. They all do the basics — store cheap overnight power, release it during peak hours, integrate with solar — but they differ meaningfully in warranty length, EPS backup, app quality, and capital cost.
Here’s the honest comparison from an installer who fits all four.
Quick comparison table
| GivEnergy AC | Tesla Powerwall | SolarEdge Home Battery | Solis + Pylontech | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Capacity | 5/10/15/20kWh modular | 13.5kWh fixed | 10kWh modular | 3.6-12kWh modular |
| Chemistry | LFP | LFP | LFP | LFP (Pylontech) |
| Warranty | 12 years | 10 years | 10 years | 10 years |
| EPS / backup | Critical circuits | Whole-home standard | Configurable | Critical circuits |
| App | GivEnergy Cloud | Tesla app | mySolarEdge | Solis Cloud |
| OCPP/open | Yes | Closed (Tesla only) | Closed (SolarEdge only) | Yes |
| SEG eligibility | Standard | Tesla Energy Plan (24p/kWh) | Standard | Standard |
| Fitted price (10kWh) | £4,500-£6,500 | £8,500-£10,500 (13.5kWh) | £5,500-£7,500 | £4,000-£5,500 |
| AC or DC coupled | AC (retrofit-friendly) | AC | DC (SolarEdge inverter required) | Either via hybrid inverter |
GivEnergy: the default choice
GivEnergy has become the de facto choice for UK home battery installs in 2026. The reasons are practical:
Modularity. GivEnergy AC batteries stack in 5kWh units. Start with 5kWh, add another 5kWh next year, and another later. Total flexibility on capacity without retiring kit.
Retrofit-friendly. AC-coupled units don’t care what inverter your existing solar uses. Tesla Powerwall is also AC-coupled but the 13.5kWh fixed capacity is overkill for some homes. SolarEdge batteries need a SolarEdge inverter. GivEnergy works with everything.
12-year warranty. The longest mainstream warranty on the UK market. Two years more than Tesla and SolarEdge.
British company. Designed in Cambridgeshire, manufactured partly in Newcastle. UK support is responsive — we typically get warranty replacement within 3-5 working days for any in-warranty failure.
GivEnergy Cloud app. Class-leading for live data. Half-hourly resolution, year-long retention, exportable CSV. Lets you actually verify what the battery is doing.
The downside. Less polished than Tesla on physical aesthetics — the units are visibly utilitarian. EPS backup is critical-circuits only, requiring a dedicated sub-board (£400-700 install supplement). Smaller installer ecosystem internationally if you’re worried about long-term support.
Best for: Most customers. Retrofit installs to existing solar. Modular capacity needs. Customers who value warranty length and app data quality.
Tesla Powerwall: premium, with the Tesla Energy Plan
Tesla Powerwall sits at the premium end of the market — significantly more expensive than GivEnergy, but with three features other batteries can’t match.
Whole-home backup as standard. During a power cut, every circuit in the house stays live automatically — no separate critical-circuits sub-board, no manual switching. The Powerwall ships with a Backup Gateway that handles the islanding transition seamlessly.
Tesla Energy Plan SEG access. Tesla Powerwall is the only battery eligible for the Tesla Energy Plan, which currently pays up to 24p/kWh for solar export — the highest rate in the UK market by some margin. For homes with significant solar export, this is worth £200-400/year more than the next-best SEG tariff.
Polished aesthetics. The 13.5kWh unit is visually integrated — wall-mounted, sleek, Tesla-branded. For garage installations where the battery is on display, this matters.
The downside. Capital cost roughly 60-80% above an equivalent GivEnergy install. 13.5kWh is sometimes overkill (a 3-bed semi rarely uses more than 8kWh per evening — the extra capacity sits idle most days). Tesla’s UK service network is solid but not as locally embedded as GivEnergy’s. Closed ecosystem — no OCPP-equivalent for third-party tariff integration.
Best for: Homes with large solar arrays (8kW+) generating significant export. Customers who specifically want whole-home backup. Premium-spec installs where aesthetic and brand matter.
SolarEdge Home Battery: for SolarEdge solar customers
SolarEdge’s home battery is designed to integrate tightly with SolarEdge solar inverters and panel-level optimisers. If you’re installing fresh solar with a SolarEdge inverter, their battery is the natural complement.
DC-coupled efficiency. Most home batteries are AC-coupled — energy flows panel → inverter (DC→AC) → battery (AC→DC) → home (DC→AC). Each conversion loses 2-3% efficiency. SolarEdge’s DC-coupled battery skips the intermediate steps. Net effect: roughly 1-2% more usable energy through the system over its lifetime.
Panel-level optimisation. SolarEdge’s signature feature is per-panel power optimisers, useful for partially-shaded roofs. The battery integrates into the same monitoring framework.
The downside. Locked-in to SolarEdge — can’t easily switch inverter brand later without abandoning the battery. Significantly more expensive than GivEnergy. Smaller UK installer base than GivEnergy or Tesla. Tend to recommend it specifically where the panel-level optimisation is genuinely needed.
Best for: Homes with significant roof shading where panel-level optimisation pays off. New solar + battery installs as a unified system.
Solis + Pylontech: budget-conscious option
The Solis hybrid inverter paired with Pylontech batteries is the value-conscious choice. Solid kit, well-supported, but with less polish than the premium brands.
Lowest capital cost. Typically 15-25% below GivEnergy for similar capacity. £4,000-£5,500 for a 10kWh install is achievable.
Hybrid inverter included. Solis hybrid inverters handle solar + battery + grid in a single box. For new solar + battery installs, the integration is clean.
Pylontech battery modules. Industry-standard format used across multiple inverter platforms. Modular like GivEnergy.
The downside. Solis Cloud app is functional but less polished than GivEnergy Cloud or Tesla app. Customer-facing support runs through the installer rather than direct from the brand. 10-year warranty matches Tesla/SolarEdge but is 2 years shorter than GivEnergy.
Best for: Budget-conscious new solar + battery installs. Cases where capital constraint matters more than premium features.
How we pick for AMP customers
Our default recommendation by use case:
“I want the best battery, money no object.” Tesla Powerwall — for the whole-home backup and Tesla Energy Plan access alone.
“I want the best battery for the price.” GivEnergy AC — best balance of warranty length, modularity, app quality and brand support.
“I have an older solar inverter, want a retrofit.” GivEnergy AC — AC-coupled retrofit is the cleanest path.
“I’m installing fresh SolarEdge solar.” SolarEdge Home Battery — the DC-coupling and panel-level optimisation add up.
“Budget is tight.” Solis + Pylontech — solid kit at a meaningfully lower price.
“I already have a Tesla EV / want unified Tesla ecosystem.” Tesla Powerwall — the app integration with the car is genuinely useful.
The questions to ask any installer
If you’re getting quotes from multiple installers, these questions sort the good ones from the rest:
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“Which inverter are you proposing and is it MCS-listed?” Solar inverter manufacturer matters. Avoid no-name Chinese inverters; they save £200-400 capital cost and cost you in unreliability later.
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“What’s the EPS configuration and what does the backup runtime look like?” A vague “yes it has backup” is not enough. You want specifics on what circuits stay live and for how long.
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“Is the install going to include a tariff switch?” Most installs perform much better on Octopus Go or similar. Installers who don’t actively help with the tariff switch are leaving most of the savings on the table.
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“What’s the warranty process if something fails?” A real installer will have warranty replacement procedures in place. We typically replace failed in-warranty units within 5-7 working days from initial fault report.
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“Can you show me an install you did 18+ months ago?” Anyone can install a battery. Maintaining one over years is a different challenge. Reference checks on older installs are revealing.
Bottom line
For most UK home battery customers in 2026, GivEnergy AC is the answer. Tesla Powerwall is worth the premium only if you specifically value whole-home backup or want the Tesla Energy Plan SEG. SolarEdge is the right answer for SolarEdge solar customers specifically. Solis is the value-conscious choice.
We install all four — happy to recommend the right one for your specific setup during the free survey.
Related: Smart Export Guarantee explained 2026 · Solar panel cost UK 2026 · Home battery storage service page