An AC-coupled home battery connects through your home's alternating-current wiring. It has its own inverter (or an all-in-one unit that includes one) and leaves an existing solar inverter alone. A DC-coupled setup shares the solar DC side, usually through a hybrid inverter that manages both the panels and the battery.
What it means for a home battery
If you already have solar panels, AC-coupled is the common retrofit path: the battery charges from cheap night-rate grid power, from surplus solar that would otherwise export, or both, without rebuilding the DC string. Habo's fuller walkthrough is in home battery storage for solar panels. If you are fitting new solar and a battery together, a hybrid or DC-coupled design can avoid converting solar power from DC to AC and back to DC for storage, which can cut conversion losses on that path.
EcoFlow's STREAM AC 5000 is the AC-coupled style unit Habo installs for tariff shifting and solar retrofits. EcoFlow's STREAM 5000 adds PV inputs in the same 5,024 Wh capacity class. Habo's offer is an electrician-wired EcoFlow STREAM from £2,499. Join the waitlist. Habo will try to serve anyone who registers in an area where we have an electrician.
Coupling choice does not remove grid rules. Adding a battery inverter can change the aggregate generation the DNO sees, so your installer still checks G98 vs G99. For power vs energy on the quote, see kWh vs kW. More terms sit on the glossary.
Coupling also affects how you think about surplus solar. On an AC-coupled retrofit, surplus PV usually becomes AC first, then the battery inverter decides whether to charge. On a DC-coupled or hybrid design, surplus can charge the pack before that extra conversion. Neither path removes the need for a time-of-use tariff if you want overnight arbitrage without solar.
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Frequently asked questions
An AC-coupled battery is usually the simpler retrofit, because it leaves your existing solar inverter in place and wires into the home AC system.
The STREAM AC 5000 is an AC-coupled style retrofit battery for homes that already have solar or that want tariff shifting without new PV inputs. The STREAM 5000 adds PV inputs on the same product family.
The DNO looks at aggregate generating capacity and Type Test evidence at the property. Adding a battery inverter can change that total even on an AC-coupled retrofit.
Simple battery, simple install
Electrician-wired EcoFlow STREAM from £2,499. Habo will try to serve anyone who registers in an area where we have an electrician. Nothing to pay today.
Join the waitlist