SolarEdge in the UK: optimisers, inverters and batteries

SolarEdge is worth comparing if you want to see how every panel performs and plan to add a battery from the same system. Its design puts a power optimiser behind each panel and a central inverter indoors or on a wall. That helps on roofs with several faces or some shading, and it gives you panel-by-panel monitoring. It also puts more electronics on the roof, and a battery on the same inverter has to come from SolarEdge's own range (an AC-coupled battery from another brand is the alternative). SolarEdge's standard warranty is 12 years on inverters and 25 years on optimisers, and it needs the system to stay connected to SolarEdge's monitoring.

SolarEdge has a UK subsidiary, SolarEdge Technologies (UK) Ltd, based in Cambridgeshire, and sells through UK distributors to installers.

How optimisers and the inverter work

Solar panels produce direct current (DC). In a SolarEdge system each panel has an optimiser that tracks that panel's best operating point, so one shaded or dirty panel drags down the others less than on a plain string. The inverter then converts the power to alternating current (AC) for your home. That is different from a microinverter, which does the conversion at each panel; our guide to microinverters and string inverters compares the three designs.

Optimisers can reduce losses on a roof with chimneys, dormers or panels on two faces. They can't create light that doesn't reach a panel, and on an unshaded single-face roof the gain over a well-designed string system may be small. Our shading guide explains when it matters. Ask for two production estimates for your roof, one with optimisers and one without, using the same panels.

Two practical points: optimisers are on the roof, so a replacement needs roof access, often with scaffolding; and the panel-level map in the SolarEdge app is only useful if you have your own login and the map matches the real layout. Ask for both at handover.

Home Wave or Home Hub: which inverter?

SolarEdge's UK site lists two residential inverter families, both in single-phase and three-phase versions:

• Home Wave: the solar inverter. SolarEdge's UK battery page says the single-phase Wave works with the Home Battery 400V for storage, but not for backup.
• Home Hub: the inverter designed around batteries and backup. With a SolarEdge Home Battery and a Home Backup Interface, it can supply full or partial home backup in a power cut.

The model code decides compatibility, not the family name. A quote that says "battery-ready" should state which battery can be added now, and what extra parts and work that would need.

On a single-phase supply, the G98 connect-and-notify route covers up to 16 A per phase in total, 3.68 kW. SolarEdge's single-phase range includes an SE3680H rated at 16 A, which fits that limit. A larger inverter, or a SolarEdge system plus a second inverter or AC battery, means your installer applies to the network operator under G99 first.

Which Home Battery, and how much you can use

The 400V and 48V in the names describe the battery's electrical design, not its size. They are different products for different inverters, not two sizes of one battery.

Figures from the datasheets we checked (400V: July 2021 edition; 48V: October 2022 edition):

The battery connects on the DC side, so solar power charges it without first being converted to AC. The 400V datasheet we checked (2021 edition) notes that one communication option can reduce usable energy to 9.5 kWh; ask which your installer uses.

Example (illustrative): if your home uses about 6 kWh between evening and morning and your panels leave enough surplus on most days, one 400V battery (9.7 kWh) is the size to model, leaving room for a backup reserve. A second battery only adds savings if you have the extra surplus, or a cheap overnight rate, to fill it. Our guide to solar battery storage explains how to read those estimates.

Adding a battery to an existing SolarEdge system

If you already have a SolarEdge inverter and optimisers, before asking for a battery quote find the inverter's full model code, its age and its remaining warranty. Not every older SolarEdge inverter can run a battery. The options are usually:

• keep the inverter if its model supports a SolarEdge Home Battery, adding the battery and a meter;
• replace it with a Home Hub, which can also give you backup;
• add a separate AC-coupled battery from another brand and keep the solar side as it is.

Get each option priced with the parts that stay and the parts that go. A second inverter or AC battery usually needs a G99 application.

Backup needs the Home Backup Interface

An ordinary grid-connected solar system switches off in a power cut, and a battery on its own doesn't change that. SolarEdge's UK pages say backup needs a Home Hub inverter, a SolarEdge Home Battery and the Home Backup Interface, and is subject to local regulations. The Interface lets you choose which circuits are backed up and in what order.

Ask which circuits stay on, how much power is available in backup, what reserve is kept in the battery, and to see a changeover test at handover.

Warranties: read each part separately

SolarEdge splits its warranties by product. Its Limited Product Warranty (effective 1 January 2026) gives:

This edition covers products bought from 1 January 2026 and installed in the UK; SolarEdge's list of covered locations says "mainland only", so if you live on an island or in Northern Ireland, ask SolarEdge to confirm cover. Older systems keep the warranty edition in force when they were bought.

Periods run from installation, or 4 months after the product left SolarEdge if that is earlier. The warranty needs the system to stay connected to SolarEdge's monitoring platform with security updates installed; if not, SolarEdge says it won't honour it. It does not cover labour, travel or the cost of removing and refitting parts on site unless SolarEdge agrees in writing, so ask your installer who pays for a callout and scaffolding if an optimiser fails.

On SolarEdge's UK site you can extend an inverter warranty to 20 or 25 years, depending on the model, for a one-off fee, bought within 24 months of the inverter leaving SolarEdge. Since April 2025 you need to register for SolarEdge's online services first.

The Home Battery 400V has its own warranty. The English edition we read (April 2023) gives 10 years and 70% of capacity at the end, with unlimited cycles when used for solar self-consumption, time-of-use, backup or SolarEdge-managed services. It adds a condition that matters on smart tariffs: if a third party manages the battery, cover is limited to 26 MWh of throughput, about 2,700 full cycles of 9.7 kWh (26,000 ÷ 9.7 = 2,680), or fewer than one a day over 10 years. If an energy supplier's app or tariff will control your battery, ask the installer for the current warranty wording.

SolarEdge's warranty excludes labour and roof access, and an installer's workmanship guarantee covers their own fitting work rather than a failed product, so ask the installer to say in writing who pays for labour and scaffolding to replace a failed optimiser, for how many years, and whether an insurer backs that promise if the installer stops trading.

Checking a SolarEdge quote

Ask for separate prices, or at least a separate list, for:

• the inverter model and kW rating, and the number of optimisers with their model;
• each battery, the meter and the Home Backup Interface, or a clear statement that there is no backup;
• the G98 notification or G99 application;
• whether the 400V battery sits next to the Home Hub, and how that spot meets PAS 63100:2024, the BSI fire-safety specification for home batteries;
• scaffolding, and who pays for roof access if an optimiser fails.

Adding a Home Battery to your SolarEdge system is VAT-free if the installer supplies and fits it, until 31 March 2027, then 5% from 1 April 2027 unless the relief is extended. MCS's product directory lists panels but not inverters or batteries, so look up the installer's MCS certificate number; MCS's redeveloped installer scheme no longer requires consumer-code membership, so RECC or HIES protection is something to check on the code's own register. Our guide to comparing solar quotes has the rest of the line-by-line checklist; choosing an installer covers vetting the company that will service a SolarEdge system.

Our view: SolarEdge earns its place on complicated or partly shaded roofs, and for owners who want panel-level monitoring and one system for solar, battery and backup. On a simple, unshaded roof, compare it with a good string or hybrid inverter quote for the same panels, and compare batteries in our best solar batteries guide.

SolarEdge FAQs

Do optimisers always produce more electricity?

No. They help most where panels face different ways or are partly shaded. Compare two estimates for your roof with the same panels, with and without optimisers.

Are the Home Battery 400V and 48V interchangeable?

No. The 400V pairs with single-phase Home Hub and Home Wave inverters (and single-phase StorEdge models); the 48V with the three-phase Home Hub. The voltage doesn't tell you the capacity.

Does the 25-year warranty cover the inverter?

No. 25 years is the optimiser warranty. The inverter has 12 years as standard, which you can extend to 20 or 25 years, depending on the model, for a fee within 24 months of the inverter leaving SolarEdge.

Will a SolarEdge battery keep my power on in a power cut?

Only with a Home Hub inverter and the Home Backup Interface installed and wired for backup. A battery on a Home Wave inverter doesn't provide backup.