Solar panel grants in the UK: what you can get in 2026

There is no UK-wide grant that pays for solar panels for every home. What most households get is 0% VAT on panels and batteries supplied and fitted by an installer, currently until 31 March 2027. A government-subsidised loan scheme is launching: its rules plan a first consumer phase from September 2026 through approved private lenders, but no lender had been named on 23 September 2026. Fully funded panels are mainly for lower-income households in homes with a poor energy rating, and each nation runs its own scheme.

Below: what each nation offers as of 23 September 2026, who qualifies, how to apply, and why "free solar panels" offers are often not free.

Solar panel grants by nation at a glance

Most funded schemes depend on money being available and on an assessment of your home. Being eligible does not guarantee that you will get solar panels.

0% VAT: the relief open to every household

The VAT relief applies anywhere in the UK, and you do not apply for it: the installer charges 0% VAT. HMRC's guidance sets three conditions:

• The installer must supply and fit the equipment. Energy-saving materials supplied without installation are charged at the standard rate of 20%. That includes DIY kits and plug-in solar bought in a shop.
• Batteries qualify too. Since 1 February 2024 a battery installed in your home is zero-rated, including one added to existing panels.
• The zero rate is temporary. It covers installations supplied up to 31 March 2027. From 1 April 2027 the rate is scheduled to return to 5%, not 20%, unless the government extends the relief.

The relief also applies in Northern Ireland, where it has been in force since 1 May 2023.

Worked example: what the 0% rate is worth. This is an illustration, not a quote. The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) publishes the average cost per kW of solar installations on existing homes in Great Britain. For 2025/26 systems of 0 to 4 kW, the mean was £2,108.65 per kW of panel capacity. It covers panels, fitting and grid connection, but not batteries. Assume a 3.5 kWp system at that price, with 0% VAT:

• 3.5 kWp × £2,108.65 = £7,380 (rounded)
• The same job at 5% VAT: £7,380 × 1.05 = £7,749
• Difference: £7,749 − £7,380 = £369

Your quote will differ; our solar panel cost guide explains what it should include. If your installation will be close to 31 March 2027, ask the installer in writing which VAT rate they will charge.

The Warm Homes Loan Scheme: loans, not grants

The Warm Homes Plan is the UK government's programme for home energy upgrades. For households that do not qualify for a low-income grant, its solar offer is the Warm Homes Loan Scheme, and it is a loan, not a grant. You borrow from a private lender; the government pays that lender a grant of up to 20% of the loan so it can charge you less interest, and you repay the full amount. The facts from the scheme rules:

• Where: any home in the UK.
• Who: homeowners living in their home and private landlords. The scheme sets no income test and no minimum energy-efficiency requirement. Lenders run their own credit and affordability checks and can add conditions, such as asking for an EPC.
• What: roof-mounted solar panels up to £15,000, including adding panels to an existing system, and a battery up to £15,000, with or without panels. An EV charger can be included only as part of a solar or battery installation. The scheme does not pay for roof replacement or structural work.
• Installer: the installer and the product must both be certified by MCS, the Microgeneration Certification Scheme.
• Interest: the grant aims to cut the lender's usual rate by up to 5 percentage points, never below zero. Some products may reach 0%, but none is guaranteed to; each lender sets its own rate.
• Term: only loans of three years or longer qualify.
• Not covered in the first phase: leasing, subscription and property-linked finance.

Status on 23 September 2026: the scheme rules describe an initial consumer launch phase from September 2026. The government's lender page, last updated 17 September 2026, names no approved lender. Lenders may not use the scheme's branding or call themselves a scheme lender until the government has approved them. We do not name, link or recommend lenders. Before you sign any credit agreement, check the lender on the FCA Register.

Interest becomes part of the cost, which changes the payback: see whether solar panels are worth it.

England: the Warm Homes: Local Grant

The Warm Homes: Local Grant is England's main route to funded solar panels. Your home must:

• be in England;
• be privately owned, by you or your landlord;
• have an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) of D, E, F or G. If you do not know your rating, you can find it when you apply.

Your household income must usually be £36,000 a year or less. If you earn more, you may still qualify if you live in an eligible postcode area or someone in your household gets certain benefits.

You apply online. If your council has funding, it usually contacts you within 10 working days to arrange a survey, which decides what you are offered: insulation, air source heat pumps, smart controls or solar panels. The council organises and pays for the agreed work. If you rent, your landlord may need to pay for some of it.

• Social housing tenants do not apply themselves. Funding goes to social landlords through the Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund. In April 2026 the government announced an extra £100 million for the fund, subject to final approvals, to help deliver up to 57,000 solar installations in 2026/27.
• From 2027/28, the government plans to merge the Local Grant and the Social Housing Fund into a single low-income scheme delivered area by area. Eligibility may change then.

The Boiler Upgrade Scheme, often listed next to these, pays towards heat pumps in England and Wales, not solar panels.

ECO4: open to the end of 2026, and solar only in some homes

The Energy Company Obligation (ECO4) is a Great Britain scheme in which medium and large energy suppliers fund energy-saving work for low-income, fuel-poor and vulnerable households. The government extended it by nine months to 31 December 2026. There will be no successor supplier obligation: the government now funds home upgrades through the Warm Homes Plan instead.

For homeowners, gov.uk says you need to claim certain benefits and live in a home rated D to G. You apply by asking your council whether it takes part, or by contacting an energy supplier directly.

Solar is only part of ECO4 under strict conditions. Ofgem's delivery guidance says panels count only when the home is heated, already or as part of the project, by:

• a heat pump that heats water for radiators or underfloor heating;
• high heat retention electric storage heaters;
• another electric heating system that meets a set responsiveness rating.

The home must also meet minimum insulation requirements, and solar is capped at 10 kWp per home, including existing panels. A battery can be fitted but does not count towards the scheme. With a gas boiler, ECO4 will not fund solar panels on their own.

Ask your council or supplier whether it is still taking on new homes before the scheme ends.

Scotland: Home Energy Scotland and Warmer Homes Scotland

Scotland funds heat pumps generously. Its main grant and loan scheme does not cover standard solar panels, but its fuel poverty programme can fit them for eligible households.

Home Energy Scotland Grant and Loan. The scheme's funding table lists two solar technologies, each with an interest-free loan of up to £5,000 and no grant:

• solar thermal panels, which heat water;
• hybrid solar PV and water heating, where only PV-T panels, which produce both electricity and hot water, are eligible.

Standard solar PV panels and batteries do not appear in the table. Heat pumps, by contrast, get a £7,500 grant plus an optional interest-free loan of up to £7,500. The scheme is for homeowners living in their home, funding is first come, first served, and you need a written offer before work starts.

Warmer Homes Scotland is the Scottish Government's fuel poverty programme. It offers improvements worth £10,000 or more to eligible homeowners and private tenants. Among other conditions, your household must include someone who:

• gets a qualifying benefit, such as Universal Credit or Pension Credit Guarantee;
• is aged 75 or over and has no working heating;
• or has a DS1500 or BASRiS medical certificate.

Possible improvements include insulation, heating and "a home renewables system", so solar panels are possible but not guaranteed: an assessor decides. In most cases the Scottish Government meets all the costs.

For both schemes, start with Home Energy Scotland on 0808 808 2282. The UK-wide Warm Homes Loan Scheme and the Smart Export Guarantee also apply in Scotland.

Wales: Nest and Green Homes Wales

Nest provides free home energy improvements, and the Welsh Government lists solar panels among them, alongside heat pumps and insulation. Nest's eligibility rules say you must:

• own your home or rent it privately (council and housing association homes are excluded);
• live in a home with an energy rating of 54 (band E) or lower, or 68 (band D) or lower if someone in your household has an eligible health condition;
• receive a means-tested benefit, such as Universal Credit, Pension Credit or Council Tax Reduction, or have a low income. The income limit depends on your household: £15,521 a year after mortgage or rent payments for a single adult with no children.

Call Nest on 0808 808 2244 to check whether you are eligible.

Green Homes Wales is a Welsh Government scheme for homeowners, whatever their income. It offers interest-free loans of £1,000 to £25,000 and a fully funded home assessment. Grant funding is available for some measures, but only alongside a loan. The loan must be repaid. Solar panels, solar panels with a battery and PV-T panels are among the eligible measures. It is not means-tested, but applications are subject to credit and affordability checks. Your home must be in Wales, be owned by you and be your main home. New builds under six months old that have never been lived in, listed buildings and landlords are excluded. Funding is limited. The scheme asks you to contact Nest first for advice.

Northern Ireland: no solar grant, but the VAT relief applies

nidirect, the Northern Ireland government's advice site, says: "There is no financial support available for homeowners who wish to generate their own electricity through domestic renewable technologies, such as solar panels." It notes that the 0% VAT relief now applies in Northern Ireland, and points homeowners to the NI Energy Advice service.

Northern Ireland's current schemes cover other improvements. The Affordable Warmth Scheme gives grants for energy efficiency improvements to low-income owner-occupiers and private renters, and the Northern Ireland Sustainable Energy Programme (NISEP) funds measures including heat pumps and insulation.

Warm Healthy Homes Fund: planned by the Department for Communities to replace Affordable Warmth from 2027. Its proposals, consulted on until 19 August 2026, include solar panels and batteries for eligible low-income households after a home assessment. The details are not final.

The Warm Homes Loan Scheme covers any home in the UK, so it will apply in Northern Ireland once lenders offer it. The Smart Export Guarantee does not: export payments depend on your supplier's own tariff.

Council schemes and Solar Together

Solar Together, now called Switch Together, is a group-buying scheme run by iChoosr Limited with councils. It is not a grant. Registering is free and without obligation; you receive a personal offer and pay for your system if you go ahead. The Warm Homes Plan cites Solar Together as an example of collective buying lowering costs. Compare its offer as you would any quote.

"Free solar panels": what free has to mean

Under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, a business may not describe a product as "free" if you have to pay anything beyond the unavoidable cost of responding to the offer and collecting or paying for delivery. By that test, panels are genuinely free to you only when a funded scheme pays the whole cost, as the Local Grant and Nest do, and Warmer Homes Scotland and ECO4 usually do, after an eligibility check.

Other offers advertised as free are usually paid for in another way:

• Rent-a-roof or roof lease. A company installs panels it owns on your roof under a long-term legal agreement. Before signing, ask:
• who owns the panels and who receives the export payments;
• how long the agreement runs;
• what happens when you sell or remortgage;
• who pays for repairs, roof work and removal.

Have a solicitor read the agreement, and ask your mortgage lender whether it needs to consent.

• Subscription or "solar as a service": a monthly fee replaces the upfront price, so compare the total of all payments with the cost of buying.
• "£0 upfront" finance: a loan that may carry interest.

Export payments are not a grant

The Feed-in Tariff closed to new applicants on 1 April 2019. New systems in Great Britain can instead be paid for exported electricity through the Smart Export Guarantee, at rates each supplier sets above zero. It is income, not a grant, and it does not apply in Northern Ireland. See our Smart Export Guarantee guide and, if you are adding storage, our guide to solar battery storage.

Checklist: find out what you qualify for

Before you ask for quotes

• Find your home's EPC rating. Funded schemes in England, Scotland and Wales use it.
• England: apply for the Warm Homes: Local Grant on gov.uk if your home is rated D to G.
• Scotland: call Home Energy Scotland on 0808 808 2282.
• Wales: call Nest on 0808 808 2244.
• Northern Ireland: contact NI Energy Advice. There is no solar grant, but 0% VAT applies.
• Paying yourself: make sure the quote shows 0% VAT and an MCS-certified installer.
• Borrowing: check the lender on the FCA Register and compare the total amount repayable.

If you are paying for your own system, our calculator gives an illustrative estimate of output and bill savings for homes in Great Britain.

Frequently asked questions

Is the UK government offering free solar panels?

Only to some lower-income households, through the Warm Homes: Local Grant in England, Nest in Wales and Warmer Homes Scotland, which usually meets all the costs. ECO4 funds solar only in some electrically heated homes and ends on 31 December 2026. Northern Ireland has no government solar grant for homeowners yet.

Who qualifies for free solar panels?

In England, a privately owned home rated D to G and, usually, household income of £36,000 or less. In Wales, a low EPC score plus a means-tested benefit or low income. Eligibility gets your home assessed; it does not guarantee panels.

Are Warm Homes Plan loans 0%?

Not necessarily. The government pays lenders up to 20% of each loan to cut interest by up to 5 percentage points. Some loans may reach 0%, but each lender sets its own rate. On 23 September 2026 no participating lender had been publicly named.

Does Home Energy Scotland give grants for solar panels?

No. It offers only an interest-free loan of up to £5,000 for PV-T hybrid panels and solar thermal. Standard panels and batteries are not listed.

Is there a grant for a solar battery?

We found no scheme that gives households a grant for a battery on its own (checked 23 September 2026). Installed batteries get 0% VAT, the Warm Homes Loan Scheme covers them up to £15,000, and the Warm Homes Plan says its low-income packages can include them.

Can landlords get funding for solar panels?

Private landlords will be able to borrow through the Warm Homes Loan Scheme once approved lenders offer it. In England, private tenants can apply for the Local Grant, but the landlord may need to pay for some of the work. Green Homes Wales does not accept landlords.