Is a solar battery worth it if you use little electricity?
Yes, if it is planned. In a modelled year, the seven homes using under 4,000 kWh saved £390 with a 9.5 kWh battery Orza planned, only £45 less than the average home, against £156 with it left to itself.
What these figures rest on: 20 London households’ real smart meter readings (Low Carbon London) with a modelled 9.5 kWh battery and 4 kWp of panels, on the prices Octopus published and the sun that came, planned on the forecasts as issued, 1 October 2025 to 30 September 2026. How Orza is tested.
The homes that used least still saved £390 a year, planned.
The same 4 kWp of panels and 9.5 kWh battery on every home, split by what each used in the year. Each is on whichever of five Octopus tariffs suited it best, with the battery and without.
| Yearly use, average home | No battery, the year cost | Battery left to itself saved | Battery planned by Orza saved |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 4,000 kWh (7 homes, about 10 kWh a day) | £90.04 | £156.47 | £390.02 |
| 4,000 to 6,000 kWh (8 homes) | £344.40 | £180.55 | £429.78 |
| Over 6,000 kWh (5 homes) | £1,078.18 | £176.03 | £508.25 |
Average of the homes in each group, 1 October 2025 to 30 September 2026. The year’s energy cost is what the home paid for electricity, less what export paid it. Standing charges are left out, and no limit was put on export.
- Every low use home saved £368.65 to £406.33 plannedLeft to itself, the same battery saved them £131.77 to £178.29. Planned saved two and a half times as much.
- The saving fell far less than the useThe homes over 6,000 kWh used more than twice as much as the low use homes, and saved £118 more a year.
- The battery saved more than the billWith panels and an export tariff, the low use homes paid £90.04 for the year with no battery. Planned, the battery turned that into £299.98 coming in: export earned more than the house bought.
Orza replans your battery every half hour, however much your home uses.
Free, with no card: an email and a password, and you look round an example home first. Connect your battery through its maker’s cloud when you’re ready, or never. It starts in Monitor only, and nothing is sent to it until you choose.
Planned, each £1,000 took 2.6 years to earn back on a low use home.
The Energy Saving Trust puts a battery’s cost at £1,500 to £10,000 installed and its life at about 10 to 12 years. At this year’s prices, with nothing taken off for the battery ageing, the low use homes would have earned back:
Under 4,000 kWh a year, average home
- Planned: 2.56 years for every £1,000A £3,000 battery in 7.7 years, a £5,000 one in 12.8. Across all 20 homes it was 2.3 years.
- Left to itself: 6.39 years for every £1,000A £3,000 battery in 19.2 years, longer than it lasts.
- Over 10 to 12 years, planned: £3,900 to £4,680Left to itself, £1,565 to £1,878. How many years each price takes, for every home.
A bigger battery added least for the homes that use least.
The seven low use homes again, run with three sizes of battery, each planned, on Agile with Outgoing Octopus’s fixed export rate. Each figure is against the same home on the same tariff with no battery.
| Battery, planned | Saved a year | What the step added |
|---|---|---|
| 5 kWh | £337.17 | |
| 9.5 kWh | £377.60 | £40.43, about £9 a kWh |
| 20 kWh | £420.81 | £43.21, about £4 a kWh |
Average of the seven homes under 4,000 kWh, 1 October 2025 to 30 September 2026, 5 kW of charge and discharge at every size. On Go with nothing paid for export, 9.5 to 20 kWh added £30 a year for these homes.
- Doubling to 20 kWh added £43 a yearFor the five homes over 6,000 kWh it added £97 on the same tariff. Ask what the extra kWh cost and set it against that. Four sizes on all 20 homes.
- Half the size gave up £40 a yearA 5 kWh battery planned still saved the low use homes £337.17 a year on this tariff.
If you use even less than these homes.
The lowest home here used 3,426 kWh in the year, about 9.4 kWh a day. Ofgem’s typical home uses 2,500. Nothing on this page measured a home below 3,426, so for one that uses less, these are the things that move the answer.
- Get paid for export firstWith panels and a small use, more of the sun is left over to sell. Across these homes, moving from no export payment to Outgoing Octopus’s fixed rate cut the year’s cost by £408 with no battery at all. Which export tariff paid more on a real home.
- Your export limitUsing little means leaning on what you sell. No limit was put on export here, and a limit cuts what a battery can send. What a 3.68 kW limit cost one real home.
- Your sunEvery home here had the same south facing 4 kWp, which made 4,954 kWh in the year: more than the low use homes used. Less roof or more shade leaves a battery less to store.
- The tariffPlanned, four of the seven low use homes did best on Agile with Outgoing Octopus and three on Flux. How five Octopus tariffs compared over the same year.
- One year, modelled homesThese are one year’s prices and weather, on real households’ meter readings with a modelled roof and battery. They are strong evidence, not a quote for yours. The whole year, for all 20 homes.
Battery cost and life: the Energy Saving Trust’s battery storage advice, last updated 6 October 2026. Typical use: Ofgem’s typical domestic consumption value for electricity from 1 July 2026. Prices: as Octopus published them for North West England. Outgoing Octopus paid 15p a kWh to February 2026 and 12p from March.
Before you buy for a small home.
What people with a low bill ask next, answered from the same year where it can be.
All our guidesGet more from your battery
How Orza is tested
What counts as low electricity use?
Ofgem’s typical home uses 2,500 kWh a year. Your bill or your supplier’s app shows your own; divide by 365 for a day. The low use homes here used 3,426 to 3,955 kWh, about 10 kWh a day, the lowest of the 20.
Are these real homes?
Their electricity use is: real households’ smart meter readings, from Low Carbon London (UK Power Networks, CC BY 4.0), moved to 2025 to 2026 a whole number of weeks so a Thursday stays a Thursday. The panels and batteries are modelled, on a south facing roof in London, with the weather that came. The prices are the ones Octopus published.
How can a battery save more than my bill?
Because it also earns. With no battery, the low use homes paid £90.04 for the year after export. Planned, the battery saved £390.02, so the year ended with money coming in. That needs an export tariff that pays; with nothing paid for export, a battery can only cut what you buy.
Should I get a smaller battery?
For these homes, a 5 kWh battery planned saved £337.17 a year, £40 less than 9.5 kWh, and going up to 20 kWh added £43. Set each step against what the extra kWh cost. Four sizes on all 20 homes.
What about a battery without solar panels?
Every home here has panels. A battery with none fills when power is cheap and sells or covers the dear hours. What one made over the same year’s prices.
What does Orza cost?
Nothing right now: everything is free while we spread the word, and no card is needed to join. Paid tiers will come later, and there will always be a free version. If you already have a battery, Orza plans it every half hour for your own tariff.
Use little? Make your battery the planned one.
Free, with no card. Look round an example home first, and connect your battery when you’re ready.