Battery storage — Sussex
EnSmart Battery Installation in Sussex
EnSmart batteries for Sussex homes, sized from your actual usage, with the grid paperwork, the seasons and the power-cut reality explained before you commit.
We install EnSmart SolarAll battery systems, and the cabinets in our own installation photos are exactly that kit. In Sussex the question we get most is not which brand but where it goes, because the county’s housing pulls in two directions: of Horsham district’s 62,371 households, 37.2% live in detached homes, while terraced houses are Crawley’s largest type at 37.4% of its 45,500 households (Census 2021). The EnSmart range has an answer for both, as long as the right pack goes in the right place.
For the county overview see solar panels in Sussex, and for how sizing works across brands, our battery storage page. The town pages go deeper still: battery storage in Crawley, Horsham and Haywards Heath.
Quick answer
EnSmart in Sussex:
- 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 Sussex
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 Sussex 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 Sussex homes
A Crawley terrace from the New Town years, designated on 9 January 1947, often has no garage and no side access, so the indoor-only rule on the ELV-W wall pack (IP50) usually points to the understairs cupboard or a utility space, with the IP65 SolarAll-H inverter on the same wall inside or on the rear wall outside. Where indoor room runs out, the ELV-F floor packs (IP55) can stand outdoors away from direct sunlight, which on a south-facing back garden means finding shade rather than the sunniest wall. Horsham’s detached and semi-detached stock is simpler: a garage or utility room takes the wall pack and keeps it away from living space. In Haywards Heath, where 27.3% of the civil parish’s homes are purpose-built flats, consent from the freeholder or managing agent comes first.
All three Sussex town centres we cover sit in UK Power Networks’ South Eastern Power Networks area, so one operator receives the notification. Horsham town centre is about 2.9 km from SSEN’s Southern Electric Power Distribution area, so homes on the western side should confirm by postcode. The SolarAll-H’s 3–6 kW single-phase range straddles the G98 limit of 16 A per phase (3.68 kW): within it we notify after commissioning, within 28 days; above it, a G99 application has to be approved before the work starts, which adds time rather than just a form.
Sussex: sunshine, the grid and local uptake
PVGIS puts a 4 kWp south-facing array at about 139 kWh in December in Crawley, 140 kWh in Horsham and 146 kWh in Haywards Heath, and at about 493 kWh (Crawley) to 526 kWh (Haywards Heath) in June: December is roughly 28% of June on our arithmetic. That gap is the honest case for modest storage: on a June day a Horsham roof makes about 16.8 kWh (our arithmetic), more than three 5.12 kWh packs hold, while in December it makes about 4.5 kWh a day, less than one. DESNZ records about 13,085 solar PV installations across Horsham, Crawley and Mid Sussex (end of 2025, our sum), and DVLA about 12,968 privately kept plug-in vehicles, up from about 9,570 a year earlier (our sum).
Ofgem’s 2024/25 figures for South Eastern Power Networks show about 42.2 supply interruptions per 100 customers and about 30.4 minutes lost per customer, down from 49.5 and 36.5 the year before. A SolarAll system rides through an interruption only where the installation was designed and wired for backup.
Local facts, sourced
EnSmart and Sussex in numbers
Every figure below comes from a named public or manufacturer source.
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Of Horsham district’s 62,371 households, 37.2% live in detached homes, 26.9% in semis and 17.1% in terraces.
Source: ONS Census 2021, table TS044 (Accommodation type), via Nomis
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Terraced houses are Crawley’s largest housing type at 37.4% of 45,500 households; flats and maisonettes are 25.1% and detached houses 14.2%.
Source: ONS Census 2021, TS044 accommodation type (censusdata.uk)
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Haywards Heath civil parish had 3,600 purpose-built flats (27.3%) alongside 3,355 detached (25.4%) and 3,553 semi-detached homes (26.9%) at the 2021 Census.
Source: ONS Census 2021 TS044, Haywards Heath civil parish E04009988 (censusdata.uk)
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PVGIS gives a 4 kWp south-facing array about 140 kWh in December and 503 kWh in June in Horsham, and about 139 kWh and 493 kWh in Crawley.
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 5,845 solar PV installations across Mid Sussex (40.28 MW) and 4,976 across Horsham district (72.67 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 5,430 privately kept plug-in vehicles across Mid Sussex at the end of June 2026, up from 4,027 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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Horsham, Crawley and Haywards Heath town centres sit in UK Power Networks’ South Eastern Power Networks area; Horsham’s is about 2.9 km from the Southern Electric Power Distribution boundary.
Source: UK Power Networks, licence boundaries (Open Data Portal, modified 17 December 2024); NESO, GB DNO licence-area boundaries (3 May 2024)
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DESNZ estimates about 22.57% of homes in Horsham district have no mains gas connection, against about 8.67% in Crawley (2024).
Source: DESNZ, Subnational estimates of properties not connected to the gas network, 2024 (published 18 December 2025)
Data last reviewed: October 2026
Battery storage across Sussex
Town by town, with each town's own sunshine figures and network operator: battery storage in Horsham, battery storage in Crawley and battery storage in Haywards Heath.
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 Sussex. For a longer read, see Sussex home batteries: where each of five brands can go.
Comparing systems for a Sussex home? See Tesla Powerwall in Sussex, Sigenergy in Sussex, EcoFlow PowerOcean in Sussex and Fox ESS in Sussex.
EnSmart in Sussex: questions
Can an EnSmart battery go in a Crawley terrace with no garage?
Often, yes, but the pack decides the spot. The ELV-W wall pack is IP50 and indoor-only, so an understairs cupboard or utility space is the usual answer in a terrace. If there is genuinely no indoor room, EnSmart’s ELV-F floor packs are IP55 and rated for outdoors away from direct sunlight. The SolarAll-H inverter is IP65 and can go inside or out. We agree the exact spot at the survey, not from a photo.
Who handles the network paperwork for an EnSmart system in Sussex?
We do. Crawley, Horsham and Haywards Heath town centres are on UK Power Networks’ South Eastern network; Horsham is near the SSEN boundary, so we confirm western addresses by postcode. Up to 16 A per phase (3.68 kW) we notify under G98 within 28 days of commissioning; above it, a G99 application is approved before we start.
How big an EnSmart battery does a Sussex home need?
Smaller than many people expect. In December a 4 kWp Sussex roof makes about 4.5 to 4.7 kWh a day on PVGIS figures (our arithmetic), less than one 5.12 kWh ELV-W pack, so the battery is sized to the evening load and to any off-peak tariff charging, not to winter self-sufficiency. Because EnSmart packs stack, you can start with one and add capacity later.