Earlier this month we published our first BYD battery and inverter installation. All three of our first BYD systems went in inside a single week, and between them they cover almost every scenario a homeowner is likely to be in.
BYD approve only a small, select group of installers across the UK, and DES Renewable Energy is one of them. Here is what the first three jobs looked like, and what we have taken from them.
Install one — a full system replacement in West Moors, Ferndown
The first went into a home in West Moors. The property already had a working solar array on the roof, but the original inverter and battery had reached the point where they needed a decision. Rather than patch up the old setup, we took it out and replaced it with a complete BYD system.
- BYD Power-Box SH4.6K — a 4.6kW single-phase hybrid inverter
- BYD Battery-Box HVE — one 6.4 module and one 4.2 module, stacked into a single tower (10.6 kWh)
- The existing solar array, recommissioned onto the new inverter and now charging the battery
Install two — battery only, onto an existing array
The second was a different proposition again: a battery-only upgrade at a property with solar panels already on the roof and no appetite for touching them. The panels stayed exactly as they were. We added the same Power-Box and Battery-Box pairing underneath.
This is the job a lot of people with older solar are quietly wondering about. If your panels are fine but you are exporting most of what you generate for a few pence a unit, storage is usually the single biggest improvement available to you — and it does not mean starting again with the roof.
Install three — panels and storage together in Verwood
The third, completed this week in Verwood, is the first time we have put in a BYD system and the solar array at the same time. It is a proper from-scratch installation rather than an upgrade:
- 14 × 480W panels — a 6.7 kWp array
- BYD Power-Box 4.6kW hybrid inverter
- BYD Battery-Box — 6.4 and 4.2 modules, 10.6 kWh of storage
- Installed in the garage, with the DC and AC isolation, consumer unit and labelling all set out on one wall
Because the whole system went in together, the array, the inverter and the battery were sized against each other and against the household’s actual consumption from the outset. That is the ideal position, and it is worth saying that it produces a noticeably tidier installation as well — everything lands where it was designed to land rather than being worked around.
What the three jobs have in common
The same 4.6kW Power-Box covered all three, which tells you something useful: one inverter platform handled a full system replacement, a battery-only retrofit and a brand new solar and storage installation without compromise in any of them.
Two things stand out about the Battery-Box itself. The first is the footprint — it is noticeably slim, which matters a great deal when storage has to go down the side of a property or into a corner of a garage rather than a dedicated plant room. The second is that the tower is modular. Each of these homes has a 6.4 module and a 4.2 module today, and if their usage changes they can add capacity later without replacing what is already there. That is a far better position to be in than with a sealed, fixed-size battery.
Which one applies to you?
Most enquiries we take about storage fall into one of the three situations above:
- You have solar and ageing kit. A newer hybrid inverter paired with modern storage will often get considerably more out of the same panels. Worth assessing the whole system rather than swapping one component in isolation.
- You have solar that works fine and no battery. A battery-only retrofit leaves the roof alone entirely.
- You are starting from nothing. Sizing the array and the battery together from day one gives the best result.
It is also worth knowing that domestic solar and battery installations are currently zero-rated for VAT until 31 March 2027, after which the rate is due to return to 5%. Systems installed before that date save the VAT in full.
If you are not sure which camp you are in, our home solar batteries compared guide is a good place to start, and the solar panel savings calculator will give you a quick sense of the numbers.
Thinking about BYD battery storage?
Whether you are adding storage to an existing array, replacing ageing equipment, or starting from scratch, we would be glad to talk it through and look at what would suit your property. We install across Dorset, Hampshire and Wiltshire.
Call the DES Renewable Energy team on 01202 985 888, or send us an enquiry.