Are solar panels worth it in the UK?

For most houses with a reasonably sunny roof, solar panels are worth it if you plan to stay for well over a decade: in every example below the system earns back its cost within 25 years, before any repairs or a replacement inverter. At October 2026 electricity prices, a 4 kWp system costing £7,100 in our calculator's price model, on a London home with typical use that is empty for half the day, pays for itself in about 12 years with a 12p export tariff, which needs Octopus as your electricity supplier. If you keep your current supplier and export at 6p, it takes about 19 years; if electricity prices rise 2% a year, about 12 years at 12p. Your export tariff, how much electricity you use in daylight and the installation price change the answer most.

Quick verdict

Solar is likely to be worth it if most of these apply to you:

• You own a house and expect to stay long enough to reach the payback point.
• Your roof faces roughly south, east or west, with little shade, and won't need replacing soon.
• Someone is at home in the day, or you can run appliances, an electric car or a hot water tank while the sun is out.
• You are willing to switch to a supplier with a good export rate.
• Your quote is close to typical UK installed prices.

Where the money comes from

Solar panels pay you back in two separate ways, and the value of each kilowatt-hour (kWh) is very different.

1. Electricity you use at home. Every kWh your panels produce while something in the house is using power is a kWh you don't buy. It saves you the unit rate on your bill: 26.32p/kWh on average under the Ofgem price cap for Direct Debit customers from 1 October to 31 December 2026, with no VAT on electricity in Great Britain from 1 October 2026 to 31 March 2027. If the usual 5% VAT returns after that, each kWh saved is worth about 27.64p. The daily standing charge stays the same, so it is not part of the saving.
2. Electricity you export. Whatever you don't use goes to the grid. Under the Smart Export Guarantee your supplier pays you for each exported kWh. Suppliers set their own rates, which only have to be above zero.

At the export rates in this guide, a kWh used at home is worth 2.2 to 4.4 times a kWh exported. The share of your solar power that you use yourself, called self-consumption, is why two identical systems can give very different results.

A system's size in kilowatts peak (kWp) is its rated power; the energy it produces over a year is measured in kWh. In London, each kWp of south-facing panels at a 35° pitch produces about 1,019 kWh a year, according to the European Commission's PVGIS model with 14% system losses.

Why we show two export rates

The best export rates usually come with a condition: you must buy your electricity from the same company. Octopus Outgoing pays 12p/kWh, but only to Octopus electricity customers on eligible import tariffs. If you'd rather keep your current supplier, E.ON Next's Flex Export pays 6p/kWh to anyone (both checked on 23 September 2026). We lead with 12p because you can get it by switching, and switching supplier costs nothing in itself: the only charge Ofgem mentions is an exit fee if you leave a fixed-rate tariff early, and Citizens Advice says you can leave a fixed deal without one in its last 49 days. Suppliers must complete a switch within five working days. Before you move, check the import rate as well, because a dearer unit rate eats into the export gain. Our export tariff guide compares the current offers.

A worked example: London, 4 kWp

This is an illustrative example from our calculator, not a quote. It uses a household on Ofgem's typical consumption of 2,500 kWh a year that is typically out for half the day (the setting MCS installers use when they don't know your routine).

Our calculator matches its estimate of use at home to the MCS self-consumption tables that installers must use; for this home the MCS table gives 18% and the calculator 17%. Solar covers about 28% of the home's electricity use (701 ÷ 2,500).

First-year value is the bill saving plus export income: £185 + £405 = £589 at 12p, or £185 + £202 = £387 at 6p (after rounding). Dividing the price by that gives 7,100 ÷ 589 = about 12 years. The calculator goes a step further: it adds up each year's value with panel output falling by 0.4% a year, which gives 12.3 years. In the 2% column the import price rises 2% a year, in line with the Bank of England's inflation target but not a forecast, while the export rate stays flat. The 25-year return is before any repairs or a replacement inverter; check the inverter's warranty.

How much solar panels save in different homes

The same calculator settings for three homes, each in for half the day. Each cell shows the first-year value and the payback.

Every home in the table pays back within 25 years in all three cases. Without a battery, payback is 12–14 years at 12p, 18–20 years at 6p and 12–13 years if prices rise 2% a year.

What changes the answer most

Your export tariff

The export rate is the biggest single lever, because most of a typical system's output is exported. In the London example, 12p instead of 6p adds about £200 a year and shortens payback by nearly seven years. E.ON Next also paid 13p on its Export Exclusive tariff on 23 September 2026, again only to its own electricity customers.

To be paid you need a smart meter that records exports and an MCS certificate or equivalent; our Smart Export Guarantee guide explains how to apply. Export payments are free of income tax for a household when the system is at or near your home and isn't meant to generate significantly more than the home uses.

How much you use in daylight

MCS groups households into three patterns: home all day (someone in between 9am and 5pm on weekdays), in half the day, and out all day on weekdays. For the London example:

At 12p, being out all day adds about a year to payback compared with being home all day. At 6p it adds nearly four years, because each exported kWh earns so little. Running the washing machine, dishwasher or a car charger on sunny afternoons moves you up this table.

What you pay for the installation

Government figures for 2025/26 put the average cost of retrofit domestic installations up to 4 kW at £2,109 per kW, including VAT and excluding batteries (DESNZ, MCS-registered systems in Great Britain). At that rate a 4 kWp system costs about £8,435, about £1,335 more than in our example. The London payback then becomes about 14.7 years at 12p, 22.8 years at 6p and 14.1 years with 2% price rises. Getting several comparable quotes is one of the easiest ways to improve the return; our cost guide shows what a quote should include.

Installed solar panels and batteries currently carry 0% VAT when your installer supplies and fits them. The rate is due to rise to 5% from 1 April 2027 unless the government extends the relief. Panels bought without installation are charged at 20%.

Where you live and which way the roof faces

Per kWp, PVGIS gives Glasgow about 16% less sun than London, a smaller gap than many people expect. Roof direction matters about as much. In London, east-facing panels produce about 80% of a south-facing array's output, and west-facing about 77%. East and west roofs still pay back, just more slowly, and they spread generation across the morning or evening, when you are more likely to use it.

Is a battery worth adding?

For a typical home, a battery mostly stores daytime solar power for the evening, so more of it is used in the house instead of exported. It doesn't create energy: some is lost in charging and discharging, and every kWh you store is one you no longer export. That makes the export rate decisive. In the Manchester example, a 5 kWh battery costing £3,200 adds £207 a year at 12p export with Octopus as your supplier, and the whole system's payback rises from 12.4 to 13.2 years. If you keep your supplier and export at 6p, it adds £313 a year, and payback falls from 18.3 to 15.1 years.

Overnight and time-of-use tariffs pay most for higher-use homes, above all those with an electric car, because the battery can also fill up cheaply at night and cover the dearer day hours. Take a Birmingham home using 4,500 kWh a year, including charging an electric car, with 6 kWp of panels (968 kWh per kWp from PVGIS) and a 10 kWh battery costing £13,500 in our calculator's price model:

Each cell shows the first-year value and the payback at today's prices. The overnight rows use Intelligent Octopus Go 12M Fixed's London rates on 23 September 2026: 8p/kWh from 23:30 to 05:30 and 35.48p/kWh at other times, without VAT, fixed for 12 months. With this tariff the battery also charges from the grid overnight. The car's charging is counted as extra night-time use between 22:00 and 06:00, mostly in the cheap hours, not smart-charged, and savings are measured against the same tariff without solar or a battery.

Without an electric car you can't get that rate. Its 35.48p day rate would also make a home's electricity dearer before any solar: for the Manchester home, about £1,141 a year in unit costs instead of £947 at the price cap. On an Octopus Flux-type tariff, which needs a home battery and Octopus for both import and export, the Manchester home with its battery gets £901 in the first year and about 12.8 years to pay back. This estimate does not sell stored energy at the evening peak, so a battery run for peak export could earn more.

Compare any battery's payback with its warranty period before you buy. Our battery storage guide covers sizing, backup power and prices.

Why online estimates disagree

Published figures for similar homes range from about £270 a year (bill savings only) to about £675 (bill savings plus export). Most of the gap comes from four choices:

• Bill savings only, or bill savings plus export. Some figures count only the drop in your bill; others add export income. In our London example that is £185 against £387–£589.
• The export rate. Many published estimates assume 12p or more, which usually requires buying your electricity from the same supplier.
• Who is at home. Assuming someone is in all day adds to the result.
• The date and direction of prices. Older unit rates or installation prices, or an assumed yearly price rise, can move the result a long way.

When you compare figures, including those in a quote, check each of these first.

Downsides, and who should wait

• You may move soon. If you sell before the payback point, you only recover the cost if the buyer values the system.
• The roof needs work. Taking panels off and refitting them later adds cost. Have the roof checked first.
• Heavy shade or a north-facing roof. Output may be too low to pay back within the system's life. An MCS installer's performance estimate will show the effect of shading.
• You won't switch supplier and are out all day. In the London example, that combination takes 21.5 years to pay back.
• Northern Ireland. The Smart Export Guarantee covers Great Britain only, and electricity VAT is still 5% there. Export payments depend on your supplier's own tariff.
• Flats, listed buildings and some protected areas. You may need permission from the freeholder or the planning authority. Check before paying for a survey.

In Scotland the sums work as in the Glasgow example, but the Home Energy Scotland Grant and Loan does not fund solar PV panels or batteries (only hybrid PV-T panels, with a loan). See our solar panel grants guide for what is available in each nation.

Paying with a loan

If you borrow, the interest is part of the cost, so work out payback from your total repayments rather than the cash price.

The government's Warm Homes Loan Scheme is designed to let approved private lenders offer reduced-rate loans for solar panels and batteries, up to £15,000 for each, with a government grant to the lender of up to 20% of the loan. The installer must be MCS certified. The scheme rules set a first consumer launch phase from September 2026, and lenders remain responsible for their own pricing and credit checks; no lender had been named on 23 September 2026. Anyone arranging a loan for you, including an installer, must be authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority or be an appointed representative of an authorised firm; you can check either on the FCA Register.

Check the numbers for your home

The examples above use typical homes. Your roof, shading, usage and tariff will give different results. Our solar calculator runs the same model for your address, asks when you're usually at home and which tariff you're on, shows the 6p and 2% cases beside the headline, and lists the main assumptions with the result.

Before you sign anything, an MCS-certified installer must give you a written performance estimate and a self-consumption figure worked out with the MCS tables. Compare two or three quotes on the same basis, and see our cost guide for what each should include.

Frequently asked questions

How much do solar panels save a year in the UK?

For our three example homes in London, Manchester and Glasgow, in for half the day and without a battery, about £575–£670 in the first year at a 12p export rate, which needs Octopus as your supplier, or about £385–£460 if you keep your supplier and export at 6p. For a 4 kWp system in London that is £185 off the electricity bill plus £405 of export income at 12p, or £202 at 6p.

How long do solar panels take to pay for themselves?

For the same three homes, about 12–14 years with a 12p export tariff, which needs Octopus as your electricity supplier, 18–20 years if you keep your supplier and export at 6p, and 12–13 years at 12p if electricity prices rise 2% a year. A lower installation price or higher daytime use shortens it.

Are solar panels worth it if I'm out at work all day?

Usually yes, but more slowly. In London an out-all-day home takes 13.0 years to pay back at 12p export with Octopus as your supplier, against 11.9 years for someone home all day. The gap is much wider at 6p, so a good export tariff matters most if you're out.

Is it worth getting solar panels without a battery?

Yes. In every example, panels without a battery pay back within 25 years, before any repairs or a replacement inverter. For a typical home a battery mostly stores solar power, which lengthened payback at 12p export and shortened it at 6p; overnight tariffs add most for homes with an electric car.

Why is my electricity bill still high with solar panels?

Solar only replaces the electricity you use while it is generating. The daily standing charge stays (54.83p a day on the Ofgem cap from October to December 2026). In December a London system makes under a third of its June daily output, so most winter and evening use still comes from the grid; in our London example, solar covers about 28% of the home's electricity over a year. Export income is worked out from your export meter readings, separately from the units you buy.

Are solar panels worth it in Scotland?

Yes, on similar terms. Glasgow gets about 16% less sun per kWp than London, so payback in our example is just over a year longer: 13.6 years at 12p export with Octopus, or 20.1 years at 6p.