Are solar panels worth it in the UK in 2026?
For most homes, yes. A typical 4 kW system costs £5,000 to £7,000 and pays for itself in about 11 to 13 years on our figures, then keeps working for 25 years or more. Your export tariff and how much you use at home matter more than where you live.
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For most UK homeowners with a reasonable roof, yes. A typical 4 kW system costs £5,000 to £7,000, and the Energy Saving Trust puts payback with export payments at 9 years in London, 9 to 10 years in Aberystwyth, 10 to 11 years in Manchester and 11 to 12 years in Stirling. Panels are expected to last 25 years or more, so most systems spend over a decade of their life in profit. The inverter is the part that usually needs replacing, at around 12 years.
The UK passed 2 million solar installations in March 2026, according to the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero. Around 269,000 were completed in 2025, roughly 255,000 of them on rooftops. Solar is no longer unusual, and the government's cost statistics credit growing supply and better technology for the fall in prices.
The honest caveat is that the headline payback figures hide two variables that matter more than roof direction: the export tariff you sign up to, and how much of your own generation you actually use. Both are covered in detail below, with the numbers worked through.
What does a solar system really cost?
£5,000 to £7,000 for a typical 4 kW system, with no VAT until 31 March 2027. The government's figures put the median at £1,546 to £1,595 per kW.
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Two independent sources agree on the broad number. MCS reports that the average certified home solar system cost just over £7,000 in 2025, about £500 less than in 2024. The Energy Saving Trust puts a typical domestic system at around 4.5 kWp for about £7,600. A 4 kW array, a common size for a three bedroom house, normally lands at £5,000 to £7,000. The government's own cost statistics, drawn from MCS records for April 2025 to March 2026, put the median at £1,595 per kW for systems up to 4 kW and £1,546 per kW for 4 to 10 kW, which is about £6,400 for 4 kW and £9,300 for 6 kW. Those medians include new build homes, which cost less per kW, so a quote for an existing house will often sit above them.
Installations of solar panels in residential accommodation anywhere in the UK, including Northern Ireland since 1 May 2023, are zero rated for VAT until 31 March 2027, under VAT Notice 708/6. From 1 April 2027 the relief reverts to the reduced rate of 5%, not the standard 20%, so the saving from installing before the deadline is around £300 on a £6,000 job rather than the £1,000 some sites still quote.
How much electricity will your roof generate?
About 3,444 to 4,036 kWh a year from a 4 kW system on a clean south facing roof, depending on the city. Manchester makes about 13% less than London; Cardiff slightly more.
| Location | kWh per kWp a year | 4 kWp system | Compared with London |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cardiff | 1,009 | 4,036 kWh | +2% |
| Bristol | 992 | 3,968 kWh | +1% |
| London | 987 | 3,948 kWh | Baseline |
| Birmingham | 940 | 3,760 kWh | -5% |
| Newcastle upon Tyne | 921 | 3,684 kWh | -7% |
| Belfast | 893 | 3,572 kWh | -10% |
| Edinburgh | 878 | 3,512 kWh | -11% |
| Manchester | 861 | 3,444 kWh | -13% |
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The table below is modelled output for a 1 kWp array and a 4 kWp array, south facing at a 35 degree pitch with 14% system losses, using the European Commission's PVGIS tool on the SARAH3 irradiance database covering 2005 to 2023. These are the figures for a clean, unshaded roof at a good angle, so treat them as the ceiling for each city.
Source: PVGIS 5.3 (European Commission Joint Research Centre), PVGIS-SARAH3 database, crystalline silicon, building-integrated mounting, 35 degree slope, 0 degree azimuth, 14% system losses. Queried 20 September 2026 and rechecked 25 September 2026.
The spread across Great Britain is smaller than most people assume. Manchester to Cardiff is about 17%, a little less than the 20% or so you give up by facing your panels east or west instead of south. Note also that a single city is not a region: Cardiff is one of the sunniest parts of Wales and Edinburgh one of the sunniest parts of Scotland, so the calculator above uses your postcode district's PVGIS figure less 7% for shading and dirt, or regional averages of 795 to 945 kWh per kWp without a postcode. Those cautious figures also allow for the shading and soiling that real installations have and PVGIS's ideal case does not. Roof direction and pitch are asked for separately.
Does roof direction and pitch matter?
South is best, but east and west still make about 80%, and a shallow north facing roof about two thirds. Pitch barely matters on a south facing roof.
| Roof faces | Shallow, 20 degrees | Typical, 35 degrees | Steep, 45 degrees |
|---|---|---|---|
| South | 96% | 100% | 100% |
| South-east | 92% | 95% | 94% |
| South-west | 91% | 93% | 93% |
| East | 82% | 80% | 77% |
| West | 81% | 80% | 76% |
| North-east | 71% | 63% | 58% |
| North-west | 71% | 62% | 57% |
| North | 67% | 55% | 47% |
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Output from each kind of roof as a share of a south facing roof at 35 degrees, the best common case. These are from PVGIS for London, Manchester and Edinburgh, averaged; the three cities agree to within 3 points. The calculator uses the same figures.
Two things stand out. Pitch barely matters on a south facing roof, but it matters more the further the roof turns from south: a shallow roof suits east, west and north faces better than a steep one, because the panels see more of the sky. And a north facing roof is not a write-off at a shallow pitch, where it still makes about two thirds of what a south facing one does. Many homes put panels on both the east and west faces of the same roof, which spreads generation across the day and can raise the share used at home. A flat roof with panels on frames at about 10 degrees makes about 90%.
How much do solar panels generate each month?
About two thirds of the year's output comes from April to September. July makes about 3.4 times what December does in London, so no battery carries you through winter.
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Annual figures hide how lopsided UK solar is. The chart below shows modelled monthly output for a 4 kW south facing system in London.
| Month | kWh per kWp | 4 kW system | Share of the year |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 40 | 159 kWh | 4.0% |
| February | 52 | 207 kWh | 5.2% |
| March | 84 | 336 kWh | 8.5% |
| April | 111 | 442 kWh | 11.2% |
| May | 116 | 462 kWh | 11.7% |
| June | 118 | 474 kWh | 12.0% |
| July | 119 | 477 kWh | 12.1% |
| August | 107 | 427 kWh | 10.8% |
| September | 92 | 369 kWh | 9.3% |
| October | 67 | 267 kWh | 6.7% |
| November | 47 | 188 kWh | 4.8% |
| December | 36 | 142 kWh | 3.6% |
| Full year | 987 | 3,948 kWh | 100% |
Source: PVGIS 5.3, London, south facing, building-integrated mounting, 35 degree slope, 14% system losses. Monthly figures are rounded, so the columns do not sum exactly to the annual total.
July produces about 3.4 times as much as December in London, and the gap widens as you go north: in Edinburgh June makes nearly five times what December does. April to September carries roughly two thirds of the year's output. This is the single most important thing to understand before buying, because it means no domestic battery can carry you through a British winter: in December a 4 kW array makes about 4.6 kWh a day, which is less than many households use before lunchtime. Solar cuts your bills across the year; it does not take you off grid.
How many solar panels do you need?
Most homes need about 7 to 12 panels. A medium user of 2,500 kWh a year needs about 2.6 kWp to generate what they use in a year, though most of that use will still come from the grid.
| Yearly electricity use | Ofgem band | System generating the same | Panels | Panel area |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1,600 kWh | Low | 1.7 kWp | 4 to 5 | about 8 m2 |
| 2,500 kWh | Medium | 2.6 kWp | 7 to 8 | about 13 m2 |
| 3,800 kWh | High | 4.0 kWp | 10 to 12 | about 20 m2 |
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There are two limits on system size: what your roof can hold, and what your household actually uses. Start with usage. Ofgem reviewed its typical domestic consumption values in May 2026 and cut them, with the new figures applying from July 2026. A single rate electricity meter is now assumed to use 1,600 kWh a year for a low user, 2,500 kWh for a medium user and 3,800 kWh for a high user.
System size assumes 945 kWh per kWp a year, the figure this calculator uses for southern England when no postcode is given. Panel counts assume panels of about 330 to 400 watts. Panel area assumes modules of about 20% efficiency, which works out at roughly 5 square metres per kWp. Consumption bands are Ofgem's 2026 typical domestic consumption values for Profile Class 1 meters, in force from July 2026.
Now the part almost every solar calculator skips. Matching annual generation to annual consumption does not mean covering your consumption. A 4 kW system generates about 1.5 times what a medium user consumes in a year, and still leaves that household buying most of its electricity from the grid, because the generation arrives in summer daytime and the demand arrives in winter evenings. The next section puts numbers on it.
On the roof side, allow around 5 square metres of panel per kWp, plus edge clearance. The Energy Saving Trust says a typical 4.5 kWp system covers 20 to 30 square metres of roof with around 12 panels. On a flat roof the panels are tilted up on frames, often weighted down rather than fixed through the roof covering, and the rows need spacing so they do not shade each other, which takes more area per kWp.
How much of your solar will you actually use?
Usually less than a quarter without a battery. A typical 4 kW system on a medium use home uses 14% to 23% of its output, rising to about half with a 5 kWh battery.
| When the house is occupied | No battery | 5 kWh battery | 10 kWh battery |
|---|---|---|---|
| Someone home all day | 23% | 54% | 60% |
| Empty half the day | 19% | 52% | 59% |
| Empty on weekdays | 14% | 48% | 58% |
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This is where most estimates go wrong, and it changes payback more than your postcode does. Electricity you use yourself is worth the full 26.32p per kWh you would otherwise pay. Electricity you export is worth whatever your SEG tariff pays, which can be a quarter of that.
MCS publishes a modelled method for this in guidance document MGD 003, Solar PV Self-Consumption, built on Loughborough University research into domestic electricity demand. The figures below are read straight from its look-up tables for a household using 2,500 to 2,999 kWh a year with a system generating 3,600 to 3,899 kWh, which is a typical 4 kW array.
Source: MCS MGD 003 Issue 2.0, tables 7-3, 7-12 and 7-21, generation row 3,600 to 3,899 kWh. Battery columns use usable capacity, which MCS takes as 90% of nominal for lithium chemistries unless the datasheet says otherwise, so a 5 kWh battery reads from the 4.1 to 5.0 kWh column and a 10 kWh battery from the 8.1 to 9.0 kWh column.
Two things stand out. First, a 4 kW array on an average home uses less than a quarter of its own output, even with someone in all day. The calculator on this page reads these MCS tables directly rather than assuming a single share, which is why its payback figures can be longer than rough estimates. Second, most of what a battery buys you comes from the first 5 kWh; doubling the battery adds only about 7 percentage points, because in winter there is rarely enough surplus to fill a bigger battery, and in summer a 5 kWh one already covers much of the evening's use.
You can move these numbers without spending anything. Running the dishwasher, washing machine and immersion heater in the middle of the day is the cheapest self-consumption upgrade there is. If you have an electric car, charging it at home on a sunny afternoon is worth more than any battery.
Is a solar battery worth it?
Not on solar alone. A 5 kWh battery costs about £4,600 and adds about £178 a year in a typical home, so it takes about 26 years to pay back and lasts 10 to 12. A time of use tariff, an electric car or a heat pump can change that.
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The Energy Saving Trust prices home battery storage at £1,500 to £10,000, with a 5 kWh system at around £4,600 and a typical home system around 10 kWh. Expect a lifespan of about 10 to 12 years, which is shorter than the panels, and a unit roughly the size of a washing machine that is taller and wider but much less deep.
Take the medium user above, empty half the day, with a 4 kW system in Birmingham generating 3,760 kWh. Without a battery they self-consume 19%, which is 714 kWh, worth £188 off the bill. With a 5 kWh battery they self-consume 52%, which is 1,955 kWh, worth £515. The battery therefore adds about £327 a year in bill savings, but it also removes 1,241 kWh from export, which costs around £149 of export income at 12p per kWh. The net gain is roughly £178 a year against a £4,600 outlay, so on solar alone that battery takes about 26 years to pay back and will not last that long. Over the 25 year life of the panels you would buy it twice, which is how the calculator above counts it: £9,200 of batteries for about £4,200 of extra benefit.
When a battery does stack up
The Energy Saving Trust is clear that battery savings will not always justify the cost on their own, and that a battery earns more running a heat pump than shifting surplus solar. The case improves sharply if you pair it with a time of use import tariff and charge it overnight at off peak rates, or if you have an electric car or a heat pump adding electrical demand. Our guide to solar battery storage works through those cases.
Smart Export Guarantee rates in September 2026
From 4.1p to 17.5p per kWh, depending on the tariff. Outgoing Octopus pays 12p to Octopus customers; the highest rates are tied to buying your system from that supplier.
| Tariff | Rate | Type | Who can get it |
|---|---|---|---|
| E.ON Next Export Premium v3 | 17.5p | Fixed | Only if E.ON installed your system from 10 November 2025 |
| E.ON Next Export Exclusive v3 | 13p | Fixed | E.ON Next import customers, not on time of use tariffs |
| Outgoing Octopus | 12p | Variable | Octopus import customers on an eligible tariff, with a smart meter |
| E.ON Next Flex Export v1 | 6p | Variable | Open to anyone, any import supplier |
| Octopus SEG | 4.1p | Flat | Open to anyone, any import supplier |
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The Smart Export Guarantee replaced the Feed-in Tariff in January 2020. Licensed suppliers with at least 150,000 domestic electricity customers must offer at least one SEG tariff to eligible generators; smaller suppliers may do so voluntarily. Suppliers set their own rate, contract length and terms, and Ofgem's only pricing rule is that the rate must always be above zero.
Rates are not comparable to each other without reading the small print, because the best ones are closed tariffs tied to buying your system from that supplier. Here is what two of the largest suppliers published on their own websites on 25 September 2026.
Rates read from octopus.energy, the Octopus tariff data service and eonnext.com on 25 September 2026. Outgoing Octopus fell from 15p to 12p on 1 March 2026. Octopus also offers Prime Outgoing at 16p between 4pm and 7pm and 9p at other times, and Agile Outgoing which tracks day ahead wholesale prices. Export rates change often, so check before you commit.
To get onto a SEG tariff you have to show that the installation and the installer are suitably certified. Ofgem's guidance for generators says this is normally an MCS certificate, and that accreditation to EN 45011 or EN ISO/IEC 17065:2012 is also recognised. Without that evidence a supplier is not obliged to pay you anything. This is the main practical reason to insist on an MCS-certified installer. You do not have to export to the same company that supplies your electricity, although the best rates usually require it.
Worked example: a 4 kW system in Birmingham
Payback from 8.3 to 19.2 years on the same roof, depending only on the export tariff: 10.8 years on Outgoing Octopus at 12p.
| Export tariff | Export income | Total yearly benefit | Payback on £6,000 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Octopus SEG, 4.1p | £125 | £313 | 19.2 years |
| E.ON Next Flex Export, 6p | £183 | £371 | 16.2 years |
| Outgoing Octopus, 12p | £366 | £554 | 10.8 years |
| E.ON Next Export Exclusive, 13p | £396 | £584 | 10.3 years |
| E.ON Next Export Premium, 17.5p | £533 | £721 | 8.3 years |
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A three bedroom semi in Birmingham with a south facing roof, nobody home for half the day, and a medium electricity use of 2,500 kWh a year. The system costs £6,000, the midpoint of the 4 kW range, with no VAT.
3,760 kWh generated a year, from the PVGIS figure of 940 kWh per kWp for Birmingham. MCS MGD 003 gives 19% self-consumption for that occupancy and system size, so 714 kWh is used at home and 3,046 kWh is exported. The 714 kWh saves 714 multiplied by 26.32p, which is £188 a year off the bill, whatever tariff you export on. Everything after that depends on the export rate.
Bill saving of £188 is constant across all five rows. Payback is the £6,000 cost divided by the total yearly benefit, with no allowance for future electricity price changes or panel degradation. The calculator above works payback out the same way and applies 0.5% a year degradation to its 25 year figure only. It uses a regional figure of 885 kWh per kWp for the Midlands, below Birmingham's PVGIS figure of 940 to allow for shading and less than ideal roofs, so for this home it gives 11.4 years on 12p.
The gap between the top and bottom rows is almost 11 years, on identical hardware. That is the answer to whether the Smart Export Guarantee is worth bothering with: for a household that is out during the day and exports most of what it makes, the export tariff is roughly half the investment case. Sort it out before you sign the installation contract, because the best rates are conditional on who installs the system.
How long do solar panels take to pay for themselves?
About 11 to 13 years: 10.8 years in the south to 12.6 in Scotland on our figures, and much longer on a 4p export tariff. The panels then keep producing for 25 years or more.
| Location | Home all day | Home half the day | Out all day |
|---|---|---|---|
| London | 9 years | 9 years | 9 years |
| Aberystwyth | 9 years | 9 years | 10 years |
| Manchester | 10 years | 10 years | 11 years |
| Stirling | 11 years | 11 years | 12 years |
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Our worked example lands between 8 and 19 years depending on the export tariff. As an independent check, the Energy Saving Trust publishes payback periods with export payments for four UK locations, using fuel prices as of July 2026.
Source: Energy Saving Trust, solar panels advice page, last updated 27 August 2026. Figures based on fuel prices as of July 2026 for England, Scotland and Wales. Northern Ireland is not yet covered.
The Energy Saving Trust figures are a little shorter than ours, and the Trust also takes around 12p per kWh as a typical export payment. Both point the same way: somewhere around a decade in the south, a year or two longer in Scotland, and considerably longer if you end up on a 4p export tariff. After payback the panels keep producing for the rest of a life of 25 years or more, with an inverter replacement along the way, and our full guide to solar panel payback goes through the sensitivities.
Frequently asked questions
How much do solar panels cost in the UK in 2026?
MCS reports that the average certified home solar system cost just over £7,000 in 2025, about £500 less than in 2024. The Energy Saving Trust puts a typical 4.5 kWp system at around £7,600. A smaller 4 kW system is usually £5,000 to £7,000. Solar installations are zero rated for VAT until 31 March 2027, after which the 5% reduced rate returns.
How much electricity does a 4 kW solar system generate in the UK?
PVGIS modelling for an unshaded south facing roof at 35 degrees gives about 3,950 kWh a year in London, 3,760 kWh in Birmingham, 3,510 kWh in Edinburgh and 3,440 kWh in Manchester. Real roofs with shading or a less ideal pitch produce less, so this calculator uses more cautious figures: your postcode district's own PVGIS output less 7% for shading and dirt, or regional averages of 795 to 945 kWh per kWp.
How many solar panels do I need?
Ofgem's 2026 typical consumption values are 1,600 kWh a year for a low user, 2,500 kWh for a medium user and 3,800 kWh for a high user. At about 945 kWh per kWp in southern England that is roughly 1.7 kWp, 2.6 kWp and 4 kWp, which is about 4 to 5, 7 to 8 and 10 to 12 panels. Allow about 5 square metres of roof per kWp.
How much of my solar electricity will I actually use?
Less than most people expect. MCS guidance MGD 003 shows that a 4 kW system on a home using 2,500 to 2,999 kWh a year self-consumes about 23% if someone is home all day, 19% if the house is empty for half the day and 14% if it is empty on weekdays. A 5 kWh battery lifts those figures to roughly 48% to 54%.
How much can I earn from the Smart Export Guarantee?
Rates we checked on 25 September 2026 ranged from 4.1p per kWh on the flat Octopus SEG tariff to 17.5p per kWh on E.ON Next Export Premium, which is only open to people who bought their system from E.ON. Outgoing Octopus pays 12p per kWh. On a 4 kW system in Birmingham exporting about 3,050 kWh a year, that is the difference between £125 and £533 of annual income.
How long do solar panels take to pay for themselves?
The Energy Saving Trust puts payback with export payments at 9 years in London, 9 to 10 years in Aberystwyth, 10 to 11 years in Manchester and 11 to 12 years in Stirling, using July 2026 fuel prices. Your export rate matters more than almost anything else: the same system can pay back in 8 years on a 17.5p tariff or 19 years on a 4.1p one.
Is a solar battery worth it?
A battery raises how much of your own solar you use, but rarely pays for itself on solar alone. The Energy Saving Trust prices a 5 kWh battery system at around £4,600, expects it to last about 10 to 12 years, and says savings will not always justify the cost. On a 4 kW system a battery adds about £180 a year, so it would need replacing long before it paid for itself. Batteries make more sense when paired with a time of use tariff, an electric car or a heat pump.
How much do solar panels generate in winter?
Very little. PVGIS data for London shows December produces about 3.6% of the year's output and July about 12.1%, so July generates about 3.4 times as much as December. April to September accounts for about 67% of annual generation. No domestic battery can bridge that gap.
Do solar panels work on cloudy days?
Yes. Panels generate electricity from daylight, not direct sunlight, so they still produce on overcast days, just at a fraction of their rated output. The UK's climate means annual generation is lower than in sunnier countries, but high electricity prices keep the financial case reasonable.
Where these figures come from
Ofgem, PVGIS, MCS, the Energy Saving Trust, the government's solar cost statistics and the suppliers' own tariff pages.
Show every source and date
Every figure on this page comes from one of the sources below. The installed cost bands by system size are our own, checked against the government's cost statistics.
| Figure | Source | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Electricity at 26.32p per kWh, standing charge 54.83p a day | Ofgem energy price cap, unit rates and standing charges | 1 October to 31 December 2026 |
| Generation by region and by month | PVGIS 5.3, European Commission Joint Research Centre, SARAH3 database | Queried 20 September 2026, rechecked 25 September 2026 |
| Roof direction and pitch: east or west about 20% less than south, south-east and south-west 5 to 7% less, north about 45% less at a 35 degree pitch | PVGIS 5.3 for London, Manchester and Edinburgh at 20, 35 and 45 degree pitches, averaged | Queried 25 September 2026 |
| Self consumption with and without a battery | MCS MGD 003, Solar PV Self-Consumption, Issue 2.0 | Published 1 April 2022 |
| Average installed cost, just over £7,000 | MCS Data Dashboard, reported on the MCS consumer solar page | 2025 installations |
| Median cost of £1,595 per kW up to 4 kW and £1,546 per kW for 4 to 10 kW, used to check our cost bands | DESNZ Solar PV cost data, total installed capacity basis | Published 28 May 2026, April 2025 to March 2026 |
| Typical 4.5 kWp system at £7,600, payback by location, panel lifespan, inverter replacement after around 12 years | Energy Saving Trust, solar panels advice | Updated 27 August 2026, fuel prices July 2026 |
| Battery cost and lifespan | Energy Saving Trust, battery storage advice | Updated 19 August 2026 |
| Typical household consumption of 1,600, 2,500 and 3,800 kWh | Ofgem, review of typical domestic consumption values: decision | 27 May 2026, in force from July 2026 |
| 0% VAT to 31 March 2027, then 5% | HMRC VAT Notice 708/6, energy-saving materials and heating equipment | Current guidance, checked 25 September 2026 |
| Smart Export Guarantee rules and certification | Ofgem SEG programme page, and Ofgem SEG guidance for generators | Programme page current; generator guidance December 2019 |
| Export tariff rates | Octopus Energy and E.ON Next published tariff pages | Checked 25 September 2026 |
| Carbon saving of 0.14395 kg CO2e per kWh, car at 0.26699 kg CO2e per mile | DESNZ greenhouse gas reporting conversion factors 2026, generation plus transmission and distribution | Published 11 June 2026, revised 31 July 2026 |
| 2 million UK solar installations | Department for Energy Security and Net Zero press release | 28 May 2026 |
Full detail on how our tools work is on the methodology page.