Solar
String inverter or microinverters: a decision tree that fits on one page
If your roof is split across three planes and one is shaded, the question stops being interesting.
The lead essay
Solar on the roof, a battery in the cupboard, an EV in the drive and a heat pump on the wall. Each one a small decision; together a new kind of house. We write the guides we wish we had read first.
Four pillars
Panels, inverters and the unglamorous bits like mounting and DC isolators. What the installers will not volunteer.
14 guides →
Home storage, hybrid systems, V2H and the long question of whether any of it pays back in your lifetime.
11 guides →
Home chargers, the smart-tariff question, load balancing and the truth about public network reliability.
9 guides →
Air source, ground source, the radiator question, the grants, the noise concerns and the survey that decides it all.
8 guides →
This week's long read
A 4 kWp roof in Surrey, a 5 kWh battery and a year of half-hourly meter data. We ran the numbers four different ways and changed our mind twice.
By the editors · 14 minute read · Updated this week
Working tools
Calculator
Roof orientation, shading, tariff and behaviour. The honest version, not the salesman's.
Calculator
How much storage you actually need based on your consumption shape, not a round-number sales pitch.
Calculator
Smart-tariff overnight charging compared to standard rates, including home losses.
Solar
If your roof is split across three planes and one is shaded, the question stops being interesting.
Tariffs
The cheapest unit rate is not the cheapest tariff. We pulled twelve months of data to show why.
Heat pumps
A semi in West Yorkshire. The 14 kW survey was wrong. Here is how to tell when yours is.
Batteries
The vehicle-to-home story keeps getting closer. We tally what is shipping, what is promised and what is still a slide.
EV charging
7 kW is a polite number until you switch the oven on. What dynamic load management actually does.
Solar
A short, slightly tedious essay on the part of your solar install that fails first.