Solar pays: what a £100 million year means for Forest Row

Solar owners have earned almost £100 million this year

Octopus Energy, one of the UK's largest energy suppliers, has confirmed it paid out £99,235,326 to 405,233 households on its solar export tariff between August 2025 and July 2026, an average of £244 per home, for 825 gigawatt-hours sent back to the grid. Other suppliers run their own export tariffs, so this is one company's figures rather than the whole market, but the scale gives a useful sense of what solar ownership is now worth in practice. Octopus also reports a 34% rise in solar enquiries and a 630% rise in battery-only enquiries over May to July 2026 against the same period last year, which it links partly to this summer's heatwaves.

What this means for Forest Row

Around 161 homes in the village already generate solar electricity. If you are one of them, this is a good prompt to check whether your own export rate still stacks up, since rates across the market vary a great deal and can drift out of date without you noticing. If you are considering solar for the first time, it is a reminder that the return is not just about lower bills, it includes real money coming back in for what you do not use yourself. Either way, our quotes and bills review is a free way to get a second opinion.

Battery storage is having a breakout year

Home battery installations rose by around two thirds in the first quarter of 2026 compared with the same period in 2025, according to Microgeneration Certification Scheme data, making batteries the fastest-growing renewable technology fitted in UK homes right now. A battery lets a solar household store more of what it generates during the day to use in the evening, rather than exporting it and buying electricity back later, which pairs naturally with the export earnings story above.

A new safety standard for batteries arrives in October

Growth this fast has prompted a regulatory update. In April 2026 the Institution of Engineering and Technology and the British Standards Institution confirmed Amendment 4 to BS 7671, the UK wiring regulations, giving battery storage its own dedicated chapter for the first time. It sets out clear requirements for safe siting, ventilation and fire-risk mitigation, including a ban on installing batteries in lofts, and requires compliance with a separate safety standard, PAS 63100. Usable voluntarily since April, it becomes compulsory for every new installation from 15 October 2026.

Getting a battery fitted before then? A simple question is worth asking: is your installer already working to the new standard, and where is the battery going. Our audited local suppliers list is a good place to find installers we have already vetted.

Heat pumps: a quieter year, but the door is still open

Not every technology had a booming first quarter. Microgeneration Certification Scheme figures show around 12,144 heat pump installations in the first quarter of 2026, down from 15,457 a year earlier, a fall of roughly a fifth. Commentary links this mainly to the closure of a separate grant scheme (the Energy Company Obligation, not the Boiler Upgrade Scheme), rather than any change in how well heat pumps perform.

There is a positive way to read this. Fewer installations nationally generally means installers have more availability, so if you have held off getting quotes expecting a long wait, this may be a good moment to ask. The Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant itself is unaffected: £7,500 for most homes, rising to £9,000 for oil and LPG homes off the gas grid. Our grants page sets out what is currently available.

The takeaway

Nothing here needs urgent action, but there is plenty worth two minutes of your time: check your solar export rate if you have panels, ask the right question if you are getting a battery fitted, and do not assume a heat pump means a long wait. Any question about your own home is welcome at our next drop-in, Saturday 19 September, or any time via our local suppliers list and quotes and bills review.