How do you sell a battery with more of your solar PV jobs?

What does the SEAI grant pay for a battery as of November 2026?

SEAI pays a flat €600 for a home battery of 5 kWh or larger. Together with the standard solar PV grant, the combined maximum is €2,400 per home as of November 2026.

The battery grant is separate from the solar PV grant. The standard solar PV grant pays €700 per kWp up to 2 kWp and €200 for every additional kWp up to 4 kWp, capped at €1,800. Homeowners on certain welfare payments can get the enhanced solar PV grant instead, and SEAI checks that eligibility with the Department of Social Protection itself.

Source: SEAI solar electricity grant page, as of November 2026. The enhanced figures are SEAI's caps for homeowners on qualifying welfare payments.

The SEAI battery grant page sets the conditions that matter when you quote. The home needs an MPRN, must have been built and occupied before 2025, and must not have had battery funding at that MPRN before. An SEAI-registered solar PV contractor must install the battery to the technical specifications, and a post-works BER is required for the battery if the home has solar PV.

When you install both measures together, the customer can make a single application on the SEAI solar electricity grant page. SEAI must issue a grant offer before the battery goes in, and it cannot accept applications for installations that have already started.

How does adding a battery affect VAT on the job?

On a private dwelling, a battery supplied and installed in the same contract as the panels falls under the zero rate. Revenue's Tax and Duty Manual on solar panels, last reviewed May 2025, names batteries among the ancillary equipment covered, alongside the wiring, the controller and the combiner box.

The zero rate applies from 1 May 2023 to panels on or next to a private dwelling, and the supply and the installation must be the responsibility of the same business in the same supply. Panels supplied without an installation contract are standard-rated. SEAI's homeowner guidance on batteries, dated 9 October 2026, says a battery installed at the same time as solar panels carries 0% VAT, while a standalone installation has VAT on top.

Do not assume 0% VAT on a retrofit. The manual does not address a battery added to an existing system under a separate, later contract. Confirm the rate with Revenue or your accountant before you quote.

The guide to VAT on solar installations covers the wider rules.

Which customers are good candidates for a battery?

A battery suits a household that uses much of its electricity when the panels are not producing. You find that out by asking, not by guessing from the roof.

Questions that sort candidates quickly:

• When does the household use most of its electricity: mornings and evenings, or during the day?
• Is anyone home during the day?
• Do they have an electric car or heat pump, or plan to get one?
• Which tariff are they on, and what does their supplier pay for exported electricity?
• Is there a suitable place to install the battery?
• Do they expect power during an outage? SEAI's guidance says a standard installation disconnects the battery in a power cut, and backup needs a changeover switch and a design that allows it.

A customer who wants a battery for reasons other than bills can still be a good sale, provided they know what it does and does not do. For more on sorting enquiries before you visit, see the guide to qualifying solar leads.

Smart Solar passes on solar PV enquiries from private homeowners to installers and installs nothing itself. A lead carries the homeowner's wishes on battery and finance, and installers can filter on the battery wish. Treat that answer as a starting point for the conversation, not as a decision.

How do you present a battery option in the quote?

Quote two options for the same system: solar PV only, and solar PV plus battery. Keep the panel and inverter specification identical in both, so the customer sees exactly what the battery adds.

1. Price the battery as its own line. Show the installed difference between the two options, so the choice is one decision.
2. State the capacity in kWh. If the quote refers to the grant, confirm that the battery is 5 kWh or larger.
3. Put the supply and installation of panels and battery in one contract. That is the zero-rate condition in Revenue's manual.
4. Show the grant as money the homeowner may receive from SEAI, not as a discount from you. Under the apply-yourself route SEAI pays the applicant once the works are complete, so the customer funds the job first. A registered One Stop Shop can deduct the grants upfront, but SEAI allows that for solar PV only when the customer is getting multiple upgrades at once.
5. Set out the order of events. Grant offer first, then installation, then the post-works BER and evidence of works to SEAI. For solar PV, SEAI allows 8 months from approval to finish the works and submit the documents.
6. Leave out payback promises. If the customer asks, work from their own bills and tariff.

What should you check before offering a battery to past customers?

Check each home against SEAI's criteria before you quote, because a past customer is not automatically eligible. SEAI says a homeowner installing only one measure now can apply for the other later, provided all eligibility criteria are met at the time of the application.

• No battery funding at this MPRN before. If there was any, the battery grant is closed to the home.
• The home has an MPRN and was built and occupied before 2025.
• The battery is 5 kWh or larger and an SEAI-registered solar PV contractor installs it.
• The customer can wait for the grant offer before work starts.
• The existing system suits a battery. SEAI's guidance says a battery can be added to existing panels, but the installer must check that the inverter is compatible.
• The VAT rate is confirmed. The manual's wording covers a battery in the same contract as the panels, not a later retrofit.

The solar PV grant page excludes homes with previous solar PV funding at the MPRN, while the battery page excludes previous battery funding. If a case is not clear from the pages, ask SEAI before you quote.

Contacting past customers to offer them a battery is likely to count as direct marketing. Electronic direct marketing by phone, text message or email is regulated by S.I. 336/2011 alongside GDPR, as the Data Protection Commission explains. That page does not set out the exceptions, so read the DPC guidance and the regulations in full before you start a campaign. The guide on contacting leads legally covers the practical side.

Typical mistakes when upselling batteries

• Starting before the grant offer. SEAI cannot accept applications for installations that have already started.
• Promising the grant as certain. SEAI decides each application, so the quote should say "subject to SEAI approval".
• Quoting a smaller battery with the grant. Batteries under 5 kWh are not eligible.
• Assuming 0% VAT without checking the contract. The zero rate rests on the supply and installation being one business's responsibility in the same supply.
• Selling on a payback figure you cannot support. Use the customer's own bills, not a rule of thumb.
• Pushing a battery on a household that uses little electricity after dark. Ask the questions above first.

If the customer also asks about a charger, the guide to selling EV chargers to solar customers covers that conversation. The grant side of the main job is in selling with the SEAI solar grant, and the wider picture is in the solar PV installer guide.