Reading time: 13 min
Solar panel cost in the UK (2026)
Installed solar panel prices by system size and region, from DESNZ 2025/26 data, with what a quote should include.
Read moreSolar panels in the UK: costs, savings and batteries
Work out what panels on your roof could generate and save, what a fair price looks like and whether a battery adds enough to be worth it, before you ask installers to quote.
Solar panels turn daylight into electricity on your roof. Every unit your home uses while the panels are generating is a unit you don't buy from your supplier, and in Great Britain you can be paid for the units you send to the grid. Whether they pay off for you depends on your roof, how much electricity you use and when, the installed price and the export rate you can get. The guides and calculator on Solar Report help you work that out with today's prices and the rules in your part of the UK.
Before you ask for quotes
- Find a year's electricity use in kWh: it is on your annual statement or in your smart meter app.
- Note which way your roof faces, how steep it is and what shades it in the middle of the day.
- Ask only MCS-certified installers to quote, and ask them to list the panels, inverter, any battery and the work separately.
Get solar panel quotes
Tell us about your home and we’ll look for an MCS-certified installer who can quote.
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We currently receive no payment from installers, or from anyone else, for quote requests.
Five steps from first idea to export payments
Check your roof
Look at which way it faces, its pitch, the space free of vents and roof windows, and what casts shade on it: chimneys, trees, dormers or the house next door.
How shade changes outputEstimate what you would generate and save
Start from your yearly kWh and whether someone is at home in the day. Where map data exists, our calculator looks up your roof. It shows the main assumptions next to the result and lets you change most of them.
Open the calculatorKnow what a fair price looks like
Compare quotes against the government's cost figures for systems fitted to existing homes, and price any battery separately.
Solar panel costCompare quotes on the same basis
Before you sign, an MCS installer must give you a written estimate of generation and of how much you would use at home, plus the datasheets for the panels and inverter.
What to compareRegister and choose an export tariff
With your MCS certificate (or equivalent certification) and a meter that records what you export, pick an export tariff. It doesn't have to come from your electricity supplier.
How export payments work
Reading time: 16 min
Are solar panels worth it in the UK?
Savings and payback by city, occupancy, export tariff and battery, with the main assumptions shown.
Read moreReading time: 15 min
Solar panel grants in the UK
Solar panel grants, loans and VAT relief for UK homes in 2026, nation by nation, with eligibility, status and the offers to avoid.
Read moreWhat solar panels could save: a worked example
Solar saves you money in two ways: the electricity you use yourself saves your unit rate, and the electricity you export earns your export rate. The standing charge stays on your bill whatever you generate. Here is what our calculator gives for one reference home, with every assumption stated.
The example home: London, 2,500 kWh of electricity a year (Ofgem's typical medium use), a 4 kWp system on a south-facing roof at 35°, no battery, and someone at home for half the day. Electricity is valued at 26.32p/kWh, the Ofgem price cap average for Direct Debit from 1 October to 31 December 2026, which carries no VAT. The installed price is £7,100 in our calculator's price model, including 0% VAT: £1,775 per kW, below the £2,109 mean for systems up to 4 kW in the government's 2025/26 cost data for systems fitted to existing homes (per kW of panel capacity, including VAT). It is not a quote.
The panels generate about 4,075 kWh a year, a long-term average from PVGIS, the European Commission's solar model. The home uses 701 kWh of that as it is generated (17%) and exports the other 3,374 kWh.
| Export to Octopus at 12p (needs Octopus as your electricity supplier) | Keep your supplier, export at 6p (E.ON Next Flex Export, open to anyone) | |
|---|---|---|
| Electricity you don't buy: 701 kWh × 26.32p | £184.50 | £184.50 |
| Export payments: 3,374 kWh × 12p or 6p | £404.88 | £202.44 |
| First-year value | £589 | £387 |
| Payback on £7,100, at today's prices | 12.3 years | 19.0 years |
Payback allows for output falling 0.4% a year: at a steady £589 a year it would be £7,100 ÷ £589 = 12.1 years. If electricity prices rose 2% a year, the 12p case would pay back in 11.9 years; that rate is the Bank of England's inflation target, not a forecast. Both export rates were checked on 24 September 2026 and can change.
Notice where the money comes from. Each unit you use yourself is worth more than twice an exported unit, but a home that is out for half the day uses only 17% of what the panels make, so the export rate decides much of the result. Being at home more, or moving the washing machine and dishwasher into daylight hours, raises the share you use.
My yearly electricity use is
Your yearly electricity use helps us size your solar panel system.
Your own figures will differ. Our guide to whether solar panels are worth it covers payback for other homes and the downsides.
Reading time: 12 min
Smart Export Guarantee (SEG) explained
How the Smart Export Guarantee works in Great Britain: eligibility, rates, applying, tax and the Northern Ireland alternative.
Read moreReading time: 12 min
Best SEG export tariffs (September 2026)
SEG and solar export rates from suppliers' own sites, with every condition, and how to weigh export rate against import price.
Read moreReading time: 18 min
Plug-in solar panels in the UK: rules, costs and savings
The 800 W limit, the one-kit rule, safety checks, permissions, costs and worked savings for plug-in (balcony) solar in Great Britain.
Read moreWhen a battery earns its place
A battery stores spare daytime electricity so you can use it in the evening instead of exporting it. Each stored unit saves your unit rate but gives up the export payment it would have earned, and a little is lost in charging and discharging. That is why, on a standard single-rate tariff, a battery takes longer to pay back than the panels in our examples.
For example, our calculator's Manchester home uses 3,600 kWh a year and has 5 kWp of panels, with someone at home for half the day, electricity at 26.32p and exports at 12p (Octopus Outgoing, which needs Octopus as your electricity supplier). Without a battery the first-year value is £667 on an £8,100 system. Adding a 5 kWh battery (£3,200 in our price model) lifts it to £874 on £11,300. The battery adds £207 a year, so on its own it takes about £3,200 ÷ £207 = 15.5 years to pay back, or about 15.9 years once output falls 0.4% a year as in our other paybacks.
For a home using a typical 2,500 kWh a year, a battery mostly moves daytime solar into the evening. Homes that use much more, for example with an electric car or a heat pump, get more from one, mainly with an overnight or time-of-use tariff. A battery powers the house during a power cut only if the system is designed and wired for backup.
Reading time: 15 min
Solar battery storage: how it works and when it pays
How home solar batteries work in the UK, what time-of-use tariffs add, worked examples with losses and export given up, and what to check before you buy.
Read moreReading time: 13 min
Solar battery cost in the UK (2026)
Installed home battery prices by capacity, retrofit and with new panels, with VAT and a worked payback example.
Read morePanels, inverters and brands
The panel's exact model decides its power, size and warranties, so compare the datasheet of the model on your quote rather than the brand name. Higher efficiency is worth paying for mainly when your roof can't take as many panels as you want. The inverter turns the panels' output into electricity your home can use: a single string or hybrid inverter suits a simple, unshaded roof, while microinverters or optimisers help where panels face different ways or catch shade.
Our brand pages cover makers sold and supported in the UK, with their models, warranty conditions and what to check on a quote: Fox ESS, Growatt, Sigenergy, SolarEdge, Solis and Tesla Powerwall. A brand having a page here means it is sold in the UK, not that we recommend it for your roof.
Export payments, VAT and help with the cost
- Export payments: the Smart Export Guarantee applies in Great Britain only. You need an MCS certificate or equivalent certification, and each supplier sets its own rate, which must be above zero. You can take your export tariff from a different company from your electricity supplier. The best export tariffs are compared with their conditions.
- VAT: installed solar panels and batteries have 0% VAT until 31 March 2027, when the rate is due to return to 5% unless the relief is extended. Panels or kits bought without installation carry 20% VAT.
- Grants and loans: what exists depends on your nation and your circumstances. Our solar panel grants guide covers England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
- Plug-in solar: small plug-in kits are a separate route with their own rules; see plug-in solar in the UK.
Frequently asked questions
How many solar panels do you need to run a house?
Panels rarely cover all of a home's electricity, because they generate most in summer and in daylight. Size them on your roof and your usage instead. In our London example, a 4 kWp system, which is ten panels if each is rated at 400 watts (4,000 ÷ 400), generates about 4,075 kWh a year against 2,500 kWh of use, yet the home uses only 701 kWh of it directly.
What is the biggest drawback of solar panels?
The upfront cost, and the fact that much of what you generate is exported for less than you pay to import. Exports earn 12p/kWh in our examples with Octopus Outgoing, which needs Octopus as your electricity supplier, or 6p with E.ON Next Flex Export, open to anyone, while imported electricity costs 26.32p at the October to December 2026 cap. Payback therefore ranges from about 12 to 19 years in the London example, depending on the export tariff.
Does any of this apply in Northern Ireland?
Panels work the same way, but the Smart Export Guarantee does not apply there, so export payments depend on your supplier's own terms. Our calculator covers England, Scotland and Wales, and does not estimate Northern Ireland postcodes because prices and export terms differ.
Is Solar Report paid by installers?
No. We are independent: no installer or energy supplier pays us. You can ask us for quotes: we look for MCS-certified installers for your home and email you when we match you with one. About Solar Report explains who runs the site and how it is funded.
Choosing an installer
The survey and the fitting matter as much as the equipment. Check an installer's MCS certification and, separately, whether they belong to a consumer code such as RECC or HIES. Under its redeveloped installer scheme MCS no longer requires membership, and a code's deposit and warranty protections apply only if the installer is a member.
Certification
Look up the MCS certificate, then check consumer-code membership on its own register.
Written estimate
Ask how the generation and self-use figures were worked out, including shading.
Itemised price
Scaffolding, bird protection, a new consumer unit and the battery should each have a line.
Who fixes faults
Find out who handles the panels, the inverter and the workmanship after handover.
Read how to choose a solar installer, then estimate your own roof so you can check the figures on every quote. How we research and check these pages is set out in our editorial method.