How to choose a Tesla Powerwall installer in the UK

In the UK you cannot buy a Powerwall 3 off the shelf and have any electrician fit it. Tesla's own guidance is that installation should only be performed by a Tesla Certified Installer, and the warranty is written around that: it covers Powerwalls purchased from Tesla or a Tesla certified installer, and excludes faults caused by installation, commissioning or repair by anyone else.

So the first filter is simple — is the company actually Tesla Certified? After that, what decides whether you get a good job is ordinary and unglamorous: who surveys the property, who commissions the system, whether the DNO paperwork is handled, what the quote itemises, and who picks up the phone in three years when something needs looking at.

We are a Tesla Certified Installer ourselves, so read this with that in mind. The checks below work just as well on us as on anyone else.

In the UK, Tesla reaches customers through a partner programme: its order route connects you to a Tesla Certified Installer, and its guidance is that installation should only be performed by one. Tesla's UK partner page describes 7,000+ installers across 35+ countries and more than a million installations, and gives certified partners training, the Tesla One software platform, a Partner Portal carrying Powerwall leads and a named account manager.

Three practical consequences for you:

• Supply. Tesla's UK order route connects you to a Tesla Certified Installer, who then contacts you about next steps and pricing. Tesla does not quote you itself.
• Commissioning. A Powerwall is not finished when it is on the wall. Tesla says that once the system is commissioned you automatically get the app, over-the-air software updates and support.
• Warranty. Claims go via the certified installer who sold you the Powerwall, or direct to Tesla.

Now the honest part. Certification is not a quality rating. It tells you a company is trained and authorised. It does not tell you how many Powerwalls they have fitted, or whether the person who surveys your house is the one who specifies the system.

You will also see our own line: one of around 50 Tesla Certified Installers in the UK. That is our figure, not one Tesla publishes. Treat any "one of only X" claim, ours included, as a claim rather than something you can look up.

• Start at Tesla, not at the salesperson. Tesla's UK order route connects you to a Tesla Certified Installer, who then contacts you about next steps and pricing. Go that way and certification is settled before anyone quotes you.
• Ask them to log in at the survey. Certified partners are given the Tesla One software platform and a Partner Portal that carries Powerwall leads. Anyone genuinely certified will not mind opening it in front of you.
• Ask who registers the warranty, and when. Where a Powerwall was not bought directly from Tesla, Tesla asks for it to be registered — so the right answer is that the installing company does it and sends you confirmation. A vague answer here is the most useful warning sign in this article.
• Ask to see a recent job. Not a stock photo of a wall — a real property, with the gateway, isolators and cable route visible. We film ours for that reason; you can watch full installs start to finish.

One more thing: MCS certification and Tesla certification are different, and you want both.

1. Who surveys, and do they specify the system?

On a lot of quotes the person who visits is a salesperson with a tablet, and the design is done later by someone who has never seen the property. Ask directly. On our jobs Andy Pemberton surveys and specifies every system.

2. Backup or no backup, and whole-home or partial?

This changes the price most and gets skipped most. In the UK, Powerwall 3 is installed with Backup Gateway 2 to control the connection to the grid and monitor the home's consumption. Tesla also offers a non-backup configuration that swaps the gateway for a Tesla Remote Meter at lower upfront cost — no power during a cut, and no Storm Watch, Backup Reserve or Go Off-Grid, though a gateway can be added later. If you are having backup, ask whether it is whole-home or partial, and get the circuits listed in writing.

3. What AC output are you configuring, and who does the DNO paperwork?

Powerwall 3's nominal AC output at 230 V single phase is installer-configurable — 3.68 kW up to 11.04 kW on the UK datasheet — and the figure they set is the figure the network operator sees. The UK unit is certified to G98, G99 and G100. Ask which notification route they are using, who submits it, whether it is in the price, and what an export limit would do to your timescale.

4. Where exactly is it going, and did you measure?

A Powerwall 3 is 1,105 x 609 x 193 mm and weighs 130 kg. It is indoor and outdoor rated to IP55, works from -20°C to 50°C with performance de-rated above 40°C, and mounts on floor or wall with bottom clearance no more than 1,140 mm. Noise is under 50 dB(A) typical at one metre — worth knowing if the only sensible wall is outside a bedroom.

5. How is it getting online, and whose job is that?

Powerwall connects by Wi-Fi, Ethernet or cellular, and Tesla expects the customer to provide the internet. That is a warranty condition, not a convenience: the owner's manual says that if the connection is not established, or is interrupted for an extended period and Tesla cannot contact you, the warranty may be limited to four years instead of ten.

6. What happens on the day, and if it faults later?

Tesla's guidance is a full day for a typical installation, with the power off roughly four to six hours — up to eight hours or more if extra electrical work is needed. On faults, the UK warranty runs ten years and guarantees 80% energy retention at ten years, with unlimited cycles for solar self-consumption, time-based control and backup use. The operational question is who you ring, and whether they hold the Tesla account that lets them raise the claim.

A Powerwall quote should be a specification, not a number with a logo on it. At minimum it should name:

• The battery and how many units — 13.5 kWh usable per Powerwall 3 — plus any Expansion units.
• Backup Gateway 2, or the non-backup configuration with a Tesla Remote Meter, stated explicitly.
• Whether backup is whole-home or partial, and which circuits.
• The configured AC output, and who submits the G98 or G99 paperwork.
• If solar is included, panel count and output. Powerwall 3 has a built-in solar inverter (three MPPTs, 20 kW maximum solar input), so a new install usually needs no separate string inverter.
• Scaffolding and access, priced in or excluded.
• Commissioning, app handover and warranty registration.
• VAT. Batteries in residential property qualify for the zero rate, and that 0% VAT relief runs to 31 March 2027 under HMRC's energy-saving materials rules.

On price: Tesla publishes no UK price for Powerwall 3 — its order page says a certified installer will tell you. Our own guidance is from £8,500 installed for a single Powerwall 3. That is our figure, not Tesla's, and the final number depends on the property, the electrical work and whether solar goes on at the same time. We will not price a Powerwall over the phone.

If you might want more storage later, say so now: each Expansion adds another 13.5 kWh, and the UK datasheet allows up to three Expansions and four Powerwall 3 units.

• A fixed price without a survey. The variable cost on a Powerwall job is the electrical work and the access, and neither can be judged from a postcode.
• An offer to add a Powerwall 3 to your existing Powerwall 2. It cannot be done — Powerwall 3 can only be combined with other Powerwall 3 units.
• Any gateway other than Backup Gateway 2. The UK datasheet lists Backup Gateway 2 as the supported islanding device for Powerwall 3 here.
• Power figures above 11.04 kW. That is the ceiling Tesla quotes for on-grid and backup power on its UK page.
• Silence about the internet connection, or about who registers the warranty. Both should take one sentence to answer.
• Discounts that expire at the end of the visit. That is a sales technique, not a market condition.

Here is the part most Powerwall installers leave out. Tesla certification only matters if you are buying a Tesla. It says nothing about whether a company can fit a battery well in general, and there are very good electricians and solar firms in the North East who are not Tesla Certified and have no reason to be. For any other battery the fundamentals are identical: MCS certification, NAPIT or equivalent registration, a proper survey and clean DNO paperwork.

We fit other batteries alongside Powerwall for that reason. We are an early adopter of the Sigenergy SigenStor in the North East — we install and commission SigenStor systems and have two complete installs documented on our YouTube channel — and we install Fox ESS battery and hybrid-inverter systems (including the Fox Cube battery) and have two complete installs documented on our YouTube channel.

So the honest answer is that the right battery for you might not be a Powerwall. If your priority is the lowest cost per usable kWh, or capacity you can add to in stages, look properly at the alternatives first. Our Powerwall 3 review covers where it wins and where it does not.

So you can measure us against the list above: Andy Pemberton surveys and specifies every system. We are MCS Certified, NAPIT Registered and a Tesla Certified Installer, we hold 500+ five-star reviews across Checkatrade and Google, and we were the Checkatrade Sustainability Champion 2024 winner. We handle the G98 or G99 application with Northern Powergrid, commission the system, register the warranty, and set the app and tariff up with you before we leave. You get a fixed written price after the survey.

We install across Teesside, County Durham and North Yorkshire from our base in Yarm. How far we travel depends on the job — just ask. On the Teesside side, see our Powerwall coverage for Teesside and County Durham; further south, Powerwall installation in North Yorkshire. The main Powerwall page covers the system itself, and battery storage the wider options.

If you are getting three quotes — good, you should be. Take this list to all three.