Solar PV and Battery Storage: Should Electricians Add It?

Solar panels and home battery systems are going up on roofs across the country, and homeowners are asking their electrician whether they can fit them. If you keep turning that work away, you are handing a growing, high-value market to someone else. The question is whether the certifications, kit and learning curve are worth it for your business.

This guide walks through what is actually involved in adding solar PV and battery storage, the money side, and how to decide if it fits.

Why solar PV and battery storage is a real opportunity

Demand is being driven by rising energy bills and the simple fact that payback on a well-specified system now stacks up for a lot of households. Add a battery and the customer can store cheap overnight electricity and self-generated power, which makes the numbers even more attractive to them.

For you, the appeal is straightforward:

• High job values. A typical domestic solar install is far bigger than a socket change or a light fitting. Battery storage pushes the ticket higher again.
• Skills you already have. You are a qualified electrician. The core electrical work — DC and AC wiring, isolation, protection, connection to the consumer unit — is squarely in your wheelhouse.
• Add-on work. Solar customers often want EV chargers, consumer unit upgrades and smart controls. One install opens the door to several. If you are weighing up that wider electrification market, our look at the EV charger installation opportunity is worth a read alongside this.
• Repeat and referral. A well-run solar job in a street tends to bring neighbours out of the woodwork.

It is genuine, growing demand. But it is not a free lunch, and the entry requirements are the part people underestimate.

What you need before you can install it

Being a registered electrician is the foundation, not the finish line. Solar PV and battery storage sit under their own competency and certification requirements, and these change, so always check the current official position before you commit money.

In broad terms, expect to deal with the following.

MCS certification (and what it unlocks)

The Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) is the standard most installers work to. MCS certification is what lets your customers access certain grants and the Smart Export Guarantee payments for the electricity they sell back. Many homeowners will only use an MCS-certified installer for exactly that reason.

Getting MCS-certified is a business-level process: you typically need the right qualifications, a quality management system, and an assessment. It is more involved than a single course, so factor in the time and cost.

Product and design training

Beyond the wiring, you need to design a system: panel layout, string sizing, inverter selection, and battery sizing and placement. Battery storage in particular has its own safety considerations around location, ventilation and fire risk. Manufacturer and accredited training courses cover this, and several inverter and battery brands require their own product certification before they will honour the warranty.

Working at height and structural awareness

Most of these systems live on a roof. That brings working-at-height duties and the need to understand roof loading and fixings, often alongside a roofer. Do not treat the access side as an afterthought — it is a real cost and a real risk. Our working at height regulations summary is a useful refresher.

Tip: don't try to learn solar, batteries and a new inverter brand all in one job. Pick one system you trust, get properly trained on it, and standardise. Predictability is what makes these installs profitable.

The money: what it costs to get in and what it pays

There is an upfront investment before you earn a penny from it. As a rough guide, budget for:

• Training courses and assessment fees
• MCS certification and the ongoing membership/audit costs
• Test equipment suited to PV and DC systems
• Access equipment or hired scaffolding/towers
• Time spent learning and doing your first, slower installs

Against that, the job values are high. A domestic solar and battery install is a substantial ticket, and the margin can be healthy once you are working efficiently and buying kit well. The trap is the early jobs: they take longer than you expect, the design has a learning curve, and underpricing while you find your feet will hurt.

Price it properly from day one. If pricing bigger, multi-part jobs is new territory, our guide on pricing a job for profit covers the formula, and getting your material markup right matters more when the kit bill is this large.

Is it right for your business? An honest checklist

Solar and battery is not for every electrician. It suits you if:

• You can afford the upfront training and certification without straining cash flow.
• You are happy to design systems, not just install to someone else's spec.
• You have, or can build, a reliable route to leads — solar buyers shop around hard.
• You can handle (or subcontract) the working-at-height and roofing side safely.

It is probably not for you right now if you are flat out with reactive work you already enjoy, your cash is tight, or you have no appetite for the admin and audit side that MCS brings.

There is also a middle path: partner with an established solar firm and do the electrical connection work as a subcontractor. You earn from the boom without carrying all the certification overhead yourself — a sensible way to test the water before going all in.

Running solar jobs without drowning in admin

Solar installs are multi-stage: survey, design, quote, deposit, scheduled install, sign-off, certification, and often a handover to the customer on how the system works. That is a lot of moving parts compared with a quick repair.

This is where a job-management system earns its keep. With everything in one place you can turn a survey into a detailed quote quickly, take a deposit to secure the install date, and store the design notes, certificates and photos against the job so they are audit-ready. Gaffer also chases the balance for you when the work is done, so a high-value install does not turn into a high-value chase. Slow paperwork loses these jobs — if your quotes drag, see why you are losing jobs to slow quotes. Spend your time on the roof, not on the laptop.

FAQs

Do I need to be MCS-certified to install solar panels?

You do not legally need MCS to do the electrical work, but without it your customers usually cannot access grants or Smart Export Guarantee payments, so most domestic buyers will insist on an MCS-certified installer. Always check the current official requirements before deciding.

Can a qualified electrician install battery storage?

The electrical side is within an electrician's competence, but battery systems have specific design, safety and siting requirements, and many manufacturers require their own product certification before the warranty is valid. Get properly trained on the specific system you intend to fit.

Is solar PV installation profitable for electricians?

It can be, because job values are high. The catch is the upfront cost of training and MCS certification, plus slower, lower-margin early installs while you learn. Price the work properly and the margins improve quickly once you are efficient.

How long does it take to start installing solar professionally?

Plan for several weeks to a few months once you account for training courses, gaining the qualifications MCS expects, and putting a quality management system in place for certification. The exact timeline depends on your current qualifications, so check the current MCS route.