Solar & Heat Pumps in Every New Home… But No Batteries?

The UK government has announced that all new homes in England will include solar panels and heat pumps as standard, with gas connections effectively removed from 2028.

Battery storage isn’t being mandated.

At first glance, that feels like a gap. If we’re generating more electricity from solar, surely we should be storing it?

But the more you think about it, the more this decision starts to make sense.

Are we solving the wrong problem?

There’s an assumption baked into much of the current conversation around solar: that excess electricity should be stored as electricity.

That’s the logic behind batteries. Capture solar during the day, store it, and use it later.

But that only holds if electricity is the main thing homes actually need.

In the UK, it isn’t.

Most of the energy used in homes goes into heating. Not lighting or appliances, but warmth. Space heating and hot water dominate demand, particularly through the colder months.

So when a home generates excess solar energy, the more relevant question might not be how to store electricity, but how to meet that heating demand more effectively.

Turning electricity into something more useful

This is where the combination of solar and a Heat pump becomes interesting.

A heat pump takes electricity and turns it into heat. That heat can then be stored, not in a battery, but in something far simpler: a tank of hot water.

Instead of exporting excess solar or storing it electrically, it can be used to heat water during the day and then drawn on later, when the home actually needs it.

It’s not a new idea. Hot water storage has been around for decades. What’s new is how well it aligns with a home that generates its own electricity and relies on electrified heating.

Cost, practicality, and scale

The policy is expected to add around £10,000 to the cost of a new home. That’s before any consideration of batteries.

Mandating battery storage on top of solar and heat pumps would push that cost even higher, potentially slowing adoption at the very point where scale is needed most.

Thermal storage, by contrast, is relatively low cost, robust, and long-lasting. It doesn’t rely on complex control systems or expensive materials, and it fits naturally into the way homes already manage hot water.

From a developer’s perspective, and ultimately a homeowner’s, that matters.

What batteries still do well

None of this is to say batteries don’t have a role.

They offer flexibility. They allow households to shift electricity use into peak periods, respond to tariffs, and even support the grid. For some homes, particularly those with higher electrical demand or dynamic pricing, they make a lot of sense.

But they solve a different problem.

They optimise electricity use.

They don’t directly address the largest energy demand in the home, which remains heating.

The piece that’s still missing

What’s interesting about the policy is that while it mandates generation and low-carbon heating, it stops short of fully addressing storage.

Not electrical storage, but thermal storage.

If homes are going to rely on solar and heat pumps, then how they store and use that energy becomes critical. Without that, there’s a risk that homes still draw heavily from the grid at peak times, even if they are technically low carbon.

Designing in hot water buffers, thinking about when heat is generated and when it’s used, and aligning systems to work together could unlock much more value than simply adding a battery.

A shift in thinking

This policy may quietly represent a broader shift.

Away from the idea that homes should store electricity at all costs, and towards a more practical view of energy.

Because ultimately, people don’t live in kilowatt-hours.

They live in warm homes.

Final thought

Solar panels and heat pumps in every new home is a significant step forward. It reduces reliance on fossil fuels and moves the housing stock toward a lower-carbon future.

But the real opportunity now is in how these systems are used together.

The cheapest and most effective way to store solar energy might not be a battery on the wall.

It might be a tank of hot water in the airing cupboard.

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