Home Electrification
Electrifying a house is four decisions that interact: heating, cooking, transport and storage. Whether they add up depends less on the equipment than on the ratio between your electricity and gas prices — a number set by policy rather than engineering, and one that varies enormously between countries.
We cover heat pumps, home batteries, rooftop solar and home EV charging with the arithmetic attached, including the cases where the numbers do not work. A heat pump in a country with a punitive electricity-to-gas ratio is a worse investment than the brochure suggests, and saying so is part of the job.
Latest coverage
The BrightVolt Take: France’s Fix for Too Much Solar
France has hit a record ~800 hours of negative or zero power prices in 2026. Its answer isn’t more storage – it’s moving heat pumps, EVs and industry into the midday sun, by mandate.
The BrightVolt Take: Home Batteries Doubled in Power, Not Size
The median US home battery nearly doubled its power in a year – 6 to 11.4 kW – while its storage stayed flat at 13.5 kWh. Buyers aren’t paying for more hours. They’re paying for more muscle.
The BrightVolt Take: America’s Balcony-Solar Bottleneck
Germany has plugged in 1.3 million balcony-solar kits; the US has almost none. California just legalised it – but the real barrier was never the law. It is a missing standard and a $500 device.
The BrightVolt Take: Pakistan’s Solar Boom Is a Grid Failure
Pakistan installed an estimated 27-38 GW of rooftop solar in two years with no subsidy and no plan – the state counts just 6 GW. Its 2026 net-billing clampdown is the admission.
California’s Balcony Solar Law Outruns Its Hardware
California’s SB 868 legalizes plug-in “balcony” solar for its 39 million residents from January 2027 – a higher 1,200W ceiling than Germany’s, but almost no certified kits to plug in yet.
Electrified Homes Shield UK Bills – but Not Evenly
Ember says an electrified home – solar, battery, heat pump, EV – is ten times better shielded from price shocks. Its own numbers reveal a shield bought upfront, and a widening gap with homes that can’t.
The BrightVolt Take: The VPP Dispatch That Beat Our Forecast
Sunrun and Tesla dispatched a record 580 MW from 140,000 home batteries. A month ago we pegged that fleet’s real output at 300 MW. We were too cautious – but 16.8 GW is still wrong.
How to Size a Home Battery That Actually Pays
A home battery is sized against your consumption curve and tariff, not the installer’s quote. Here’s the arithmetic in 2026 — including the common case where the honest answer is no battery at all.
Behind the Meter vs Front of Meter: What the Split Means
Which side of the meter a battery sits on decides who owns it, who dispatches it and who gets paid. In 2025 the US installed 16 GW of front-of-meter storage and 2.7 GW behind it.
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