Battery storage — Essex
EnSmart Battery Installation in Essex
EnSmart batteries for Essex homes, sized from your actual usage, with the grid paperwork, the seasons and the power-cut reality explained before you commit.
EnSmart Power, the manufacturer behind the SolarAll storage system, is headquartered in Braintree, Essex, according to its published company profile. That gives an Essex home a UK-headquartered manufacturer behind its battery rather than a badge-engineered import. We install the EnSmart SolarAll range, the cabinets in our own job photos, and quote it from a survey with every part itemised.
Our Essex towns run from the new towns of Harlow and Basildon to Chelmsford, Brentwood, Epping and Loughton. The county overview is on solar panels in Essex, the general guide on battery storage, and town detail on battery storage in Chelmsford, Harlow and Basildon.
Quick answer
EnSmart in Essex:
- Our own work: EnSmart is the battery system in HCE's own job photos; the survey confirms whether it suits your home before anything is quoted.
- Cost: the Energy Saving Trust puts home battery storage at £1,500 to £10,000, with a 5 kWh system at around £4,600; a quote for your home comes from a survey of your usage.
- VAT: residential battery installations carry 0% VAT until 31 March 2027, then 5% from 1 April 2027.
- Grid: every battery is notified to, or approved by, the local network operator depending on its size (G98 or G99); the installer handles it.
- Power cuts: a standard grid-tied battery shuts down when the grid does; backup has to be designed in and is never assumed.
- Who fits it: HCE is a NAPIT member (73495), MCS-certified for solar PV and battery storage via NAPIT, and a HIES Consumer Code member.
Figures: Energy Saving Trust (batteries, updated 19 August 2026) · HMRC VAT Notice 708/6. Product facts are the manufacturer's, cited below.
How a home battery gets fitted in Essex
Four steps from first call to switch-on. No pressure at any stage, and a straight answer if it would not pay its way.
- Step 1
Your usage, not a guess
We look at when your Essex home uses power, especially evenings, and your tariff, because that, not the sunniest month, decides the battery size.
- Step 2
Sizing and siting
Where the unit can go (garage, utility room or an outside wall, as the manufacturer allows), whether it pairs with existing panels, and a written, itemised quote.
- Step 3
Installation and notification
Fitting and commissioning, with the battery notified to or approved by your network operator depending on its size. Backup in a power cut only if it is designed in.
- Step 4
Settings and handover
Charge and discharge set up around your tariff, the app explained, and the warranty documents in your hand.
How EnSmart fits Essex homes
The two new towns are built on terraces: 45.0% of households in Harlow’s built-up area and 43.9% in Basildon’s live in terraced houses (Census 2021). In a terrace without a garage, the EnSmart ELV-W wall pack, rated IP50 for indoor use only, usually goes in the understairs cupboard or a utility space; where there is none, the ELV-F floor packs (IP55) can stand outdoors away from direct sunlight, and the IP65 SolarAll-H inverter can go on the outside wall. Chelmsford and Brentwood lean the other way. Chelmsford’s built-up area is 31.9% semi-detached and 20.0% detached, and Brentwood’s 24.7% detached, so a garage or utility room is more often available. Brentwood also has 29.4% of households in flats or maisonettes, where the freeholder’s consent comes first.
Five of our six Essex town centres sit in UK Power Networks’ Eastern Power Networks area; Loughton’s sits in its London Power Networks area, about 1.2 km from the Eastern boundary, so we confirm by postcode. EnSmart’s single-phase SolarAll-H runs 3–6 kW on the datasheet: up to 16 A per phase (3.68 kW) we notify under G98 after commissioning, and above it a G99 application has to be approved before installation.
Essex: sunshine, the grid and local uptake
Essex has some of the highest December figures on our battery town pages. PVGIS puts a 4 kWp south-facing array at about 138 kWh in December (Epping) to 145 kWh (Chelmsford and Basildon), and at about 486 kWh (Harlow, Epping and Loughton) to 503 kWh (Basildon) in June. On our arithmetic, 145 kWh is about 4.7 kWh a day, still under one 5.12 kWh ELV-W pack. DESNZ records about 14,025 solar PV installations across Harlow, Epping Forest, Chelmsford, Brentwood and Basildon (end of 2025, our sum), and DVLA about 19,065 privately kept plug-in vehicles across those five councils, up from about 13,874 a year earlier (our sum).
Ofgem’s 2024/25 figures show about 44.6 supply interruptions per 100 customers and about 32.5 minutes lost per customer for Eastern Power Networks, and about 11.2 and 10.5 for London Power Networks, planned and unplanned. A SolarAll system rides through an outage only where it is designed and wired for backup.
Local facts, sourced
EnSmart and Essex in numbers
Every figure below comes from a named public or manufacturer source.
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EnSmart Power is headquartered in Braintree, Essex, with facilities in the UK, Turkey and China, according to its published company profile.
Source: EnSmart Power published company profile, as cited on /products/ensmart/
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45.0% of households in Harlow’s built-up area live in terraced houses, with 27.5% in flats, maisonettes or apartments.
Source: ONS, Towns and cities, characteristics of built-up areas, Census 2021, tables 1c and 5c
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43.9% of households in Basildon’s built-up area live in terraced houses, against 18.7% semi-detached and 13.3% detached.
Source: ONS, Towns and cities, characteristics of built-up areas, Census 2021, Tables 1c and 5c, Basildon BUA E63004799
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Chelmsford’s built-up area households are 31.9% semi-detached, 21.8% terraced, 20.0% detached and 26.2% flats or maisonettes.
Source: ONS, Towns and cities, characteristics of built-up areas, Census 2021, Tables 1c and 5c, Chelmsford BUA E63004442
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PVGIS gives a 4 kWp south-facing array about 145 kWh in December in Chelmsford and Basildon, and about 503 kWh in June in Basildon.
Source: European Commission JRC, PVGIS 5.3 (PVGIS-SARAH3 2005–2023; 4 kWp, 35° tilt, due south, 14% losses, building-mounted), runs of 15–16 October 2026 at each town-centre point
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DESNZ records 5,254 solar PV installations across Chelmsford (51.05 MW) at the end of 2025.
Source: DESNZ, Renewable electricity by local authority 2014 to 2025 (Regional Renewable Statistics, published 29 September 2026), solar PV sites and capacity at end of 2025, as first published
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DVLA records 5,507 privately kept plug-in vehicles across Chelmsford at the end of June 2026, up from 3,996 a year earlier.
Source: DfT and DVLA, VEH0142 licensed plug-in vehicles by local authority (published 23 September 2026), privately kept, end of June 2026 and end of June 2025
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Harlow, Epping, Chelmsford, Brentwood and Basildon town centres sit in UK Power Networks’ Eastern Power Networks area; Loughton’s sits in London Power Networks’ area, about 1.2 km from the Eastern boundary.
Source: UK Power Networks, licence boundaries (Open Data Portal, modified 17 December 2024); NESO, GB DNO licence-area boundaries (3 May 2024)
Data last reviewed: October 2026
Battery storage across Essex
Town by town, with each town's own sunshine figures and network operator: battery storage in Harlow, battery storage in Epping, battery storage in Loughton, battery storage in Chelmsford, battery storage in Brentwood and battery storage in Basildon.
The full specification is on our EnSmart page. For how sizing, warranties and pairing with panels work, see our main battery storage guide, and for the wider area, solar panels across Essex. For a longer read, see Which home battery suits an Essex house? Five brands.
Comparing systems for a Essex home? See Tesla Powerwall in Essex, Sigenergy in Essex, EcoFlow PowerOcean in Essex and Fox ESS in Essex.
EnSmart in Essex: questions
Does it matter that EnSmart is based in Essex?
It matters for support more than for distance. EnSmart Power is headquartered in Braintree, so warranty backing comes from a UK-headquartered manufacturer with a power-electronics background. It does not change how we survey, price or install the system, and the warranty terms for your installation are still put in writing with the quote.
Can an EnSmart battery go in a Harlow or Basildon terrace?
Usually, yes. The ELV-W wall pack is IP50 and indoor-only, so an understairs cupboard or utility space is the common answer. The SolarAll-H inverter is IP65 and can go outside. If there is no indoor spot, the ELV-F floor packs are IP55 and rated for outdoors away from direct sunlight. If you rent from the council or a housing association, the landlord’s consent comes first.
Is Loughton on a different network from the rest of Essex?
Loughton town centre sits in UK Power Networks’ London Power Networks area, about 1.2 km from the Eastern Power Networks boundary, so some addresses nearby may be on Eastern. Both are UK Power Networks, the G98 and G99 rules are the same, and we confirm the postcode and submit the paperwork.