Surge in battery storage installations shown in installer data from UK accreditation body MCS. While 2024 is comfortably the best year on record, MCS Head of Scheme Alex Hughes tells ESS News she would like to see even more solar installers take on a storage accreditation.
It’s been a record shattering year for accredited battery storage installations in the United Kingdom. September 2024 was the best month on record according to data collected by UK certification body MCS, with 1,193 recorded certified installations recorded.
Certification isn’t required to install battery storage alongside PV, and MCS data will not capture all installations, but growth among certified installers has surged. In 2023, the scheme recorded just 4,965 accredited battery installations for the year, compared to 13,263 year-to-date at the end of September 2024.
GivEnergy AC3 battery inverter on the right, with 9.5kWh battery on the left (Image: Tanjent)
More than 5,000 UK contractors currently hold MCS certification, with 77% certified for solar PV, 58% for heat pumps and 34% for battery storage. MCS is a voluntary certification scheme, however using an MCS-certified installer is the only way households can guarantee access to the Smart Export Guarantee export tariff, a UK government’s successor to the feed-in tariff.
Hughes said that installers being certified for solar but not storage had potential to create confusion for consumers.
Read more: ess-news
