Moving home with a Solar & Battery Plus package

“What happens if I move home during my Solar & Battery Plus contract?” is a question we get asked a lot, but luckily there’s a simple answer. 

We know that you might not be in your current home for the length of your contract. And even if you’re planning to be, life might throw something at you that means you need to move. This is why we built Solar & Battery Plus to be as flexible as possible, especially when it comes to moving home.

In this article, we’ll explain why you shouldn’t worry about moving home during your contract term, and what your options are if you need to move.

Solar makes your home more attractive

Solar panels have become extremely hot property - energy bills remain a huge expense for UK households, people are much more conscious of their impact on climate change, solar technology is widely accepted, and the panels look fantastic.

Homebuyers love solar

A 2023 survey of more than 2,000 UK homeowners conducted by The Eco Experts found that 69% of people are either ‘likely’ or ‘very likely’ to buy or rent a property with solar panels. In contrast, only 4% of people said they would be ‘very unlikely’ to do this.

What’s more, your Solar & Battery Plus package has additional appeal because of the Solar & Battery Guarantee, which means free replacement parts, 24/7 monitoring of system performance, and downtime cover. Your system will also be insured by Aviva against damage, fire, and theft.

Given that electricity prices are forecast to continue rising and the UK’s electricity consumption is expected to increase as heat pumps and EVs become mainstream, it’s extremely likely that the popularity of solar panels will continue to grow.

And solar could increase your home value

By increasing the appeal of your property, solar could also boost its value.  

For the average home, solar panels increase the Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating by at least one grade, and homes with a higher EPC rating tend to sell for more. For instance, in research from 2023, Rightmove found that increasing a property’s EPC from a D to C lifts its value by 3% (or £11,157), on average.

To learn more about the potential impact of solar on property value, check out our full article here.

We’re here to help, but you’re in control

Moving home is already stressful enough, so we’ve made the process of moving home during your Solar & Battery Plus contract as simple as possible.

You’ll be guided by a dedicated customer service manager who'll make sure you have everything you need and that the process goes smoothly.

Solar & Battery Plus doesn’t include things like an airspace or roof lease, which have historically caused issues with mortgage providers. This means you have total freedom to sell your home when you want.

Passing on your contract to a new home buyer is simple

In countries where solar & battery packages have taken off (such as the US and Germany), passing on the contract has proven to be very popular.

For example, when customers move home, US provider Sunrun sees a 98% success rate when transferring their contract to the new homebuyer.

To get the ball rolling, contact us in good time ahead of your home move and we’ll provide you and the new homebuyer with everything required. 

For instance, we’ll prepare all the information about your Solar & Battery Plus contract, including an up-to-date proposal that shows the annual savings and export income, as well as all the relevant system documentation. 

We’ll then run a quick eligibility check on the new home buyer and provide all the information your conveyancer will need to complete the process. Then you’re ready to go.

Or you can sell the system with your home

Alternatively, you can include the value of your solar & battery system in the sale price of your home and make a full early repayment either before the sale or using the proceeds from the sale. There are no additional charges or hidden fees for this and you do not need to repay any future interest or monitoring and maintenance fees.

If you sell the system as part of the home sale process, the incoming homebuyer would have no further obligations to Sunsave. They would own the system outright and immediately start benefiting from energy bill savings. 

To learn more, check out our full guide to early repayment.

You could take your system with you, but it might be expensive

You own your Solar & Battery Plus system outright from the day it’s installed, so you are free to take it with you to your new home. That said, the expense of uninstalling, moving and then reinstalling it means it’s probably not worth it. 

To move the system, you’d have to pay the scaffolding and labour costs of having it removed and transported to your new property, and then scaffolding and labour costs to have it installed again. The total expense probably wouldn’t be far off the cost of just buying a brand new system. 

However, it’s up to you, and if you do decide to take your system with you, let us know and we’ll give you a quote and ensure the process doesn’t impact your Solar & Battery Guarantee.

We're clear on the costs

If you pass on your Sunsave contract, we charge a £75 administrative fee to ensure we can provide both you and the incoming homebuyer with a smooth transfer.

This will only be paid on a successful transfer of the agreements and there are no other charges.

Moving home with Solar & Battery Plus: FAQs