Solar for care homes
Care homes have continuous, high electrical loads, tight margins on running costs, and a duty of care that places resilience at the heart of every operational decision. Solar with battery backup addresses all three priorities at once.
We work with independent care homes, nursing homes, residential care, dementia care, and small group operators across Wales.
Continuous loads and high baseline consumption
Care homes operate twenty-four hours a day with consistently high electrical loads from lighting, heating, cooking, laundry, lift operation, hoists, nurse call systems, and increasingly air conditioning during hot summers. Baseline consumption is typically high relative to building size, which means solar generation almost always finds an immediate home in the building rather than being exported.
Self-consumption rates in care homes are exceptional, frequently exceeding ninety-five percent, meaning the great majority of generated power directly displaces expensive grid imports. Combined with reasonable roof areas on most care home buildings, this produces consistently strong financial returns.
Resilience and continuity of care
Care homes have a duty of care that depends on continuous power for medical equipment, refrigeration of medicines, lifting equipment, and nurse call systems. A power cut is not merely inconvenient: it has direct welfare implications for vulnerable residents.
Battery storage paired with solar provides genuine backup capability, keeping essential loads running through grid outages without the noise, fumes, and maintenance overhead of a diesel generator. Even modest battery sizes cover the most critical loads for several hours, with larger systems providing whole-building backup for the duration of typical regional outages.
- Continuous backup for nurse call and emergency lighting
- Refrigeration for medicines maintained during outages
- Lift operation preserved for resident movement and evacuation
- Reduced reliance on noisy and polluting diesel generators
- Lower running costs that protect care fees from energy inflation
Heat pumps and care home decarbonisation
Many care homes still rely on gas or oil heating, which faces rising prices and tightening regulations. Air-source heat pumps paired with solar can deliver substantial running-cost reductions on heating while improving resident comfort through more even temperatures. The combination of solar and heat pumps is particularly powerful when planned together rather than retrofitted separately.
Working sensitively in occupied care settings
All our care home installations are planned around resident routines, with quiet hours respected and access carefully managed. We coordinate with care management teams to ensure installation activities do not cause distress to residents, particularly those living with dementia or anxiety conditions.
Frequently asked questions
How does solar help with our running costs?
Care homes typically see twenty to forty percent reductions in electricity bills depending on system size, which feeds directly through to operating margins or can be reinvested in service improvements.
Can solar protect us during power cuts?
Paired with battery storage, yes. Backup configurations range from essential-loads-only systems through to whole-building backup for several hours.
Will installation disturb residents?
Most installation activity happens externally and on the roof. We coordinate with care managers to plan around routines and ensure minimal disruption to residents.
Is there funding available for the social care sector?
Welsh Government has run various sector-specific decarbonisation funds over recent years. We monitor available schemes and identify funding routes at the proposal stage.
Power resilience as part of care quality
Care Inspectorate Wales and parallel regulators across the UK expect care providers to have robust business continuity plans, including arrangements for power outages. A solar and battery installation contributes directly to that resilience, providing automatic, silent backup that engages within milliseconds of a grid failure without the start-up delay, noise, and fuel risk associated with diesel generators.
For larger care groups operating multiple homes, we routinely design standardised solar and battery packages that can be deployed across the portfolio with consistent specifications, simplifying maintenance, reporting and staff training. This approach also enables group-wide energy data visibility that supports both operational management and corporate sustainability reporting.
Working sensitively in occupied care settings
Care home installations are planned with exceptional care around residents. We avoid working during typical morning routines, mealtimes, and the late evening period when residents are settling. Roof access points and routes are chosen to avoid bedroom windows and lounges, and the noisiest activities are scheduled for times when residents are less likely to be disturbed. Our project managers communicate daily with care management to identify any concerns and adjust the programme as needed.
Battery backup configurations for care environments
The specific backup configuration for a care home battery depends on the care category and resident profile. Homes serving residents with high medical equipment dependencies need different backup than homes serving more independent older people. We work with care managers to identify the specific loads that must be maintained during a power cut, including refrigerators for medication, hoists, nurse call systems and emergency lighting, and design the battery and backup configuration around these requirements rather than applying generic specifications.