Is it worth it, and what will it cost?

Solar panel costs in the UK

Not a government service. UKSolars is an independent company. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by or acting on behalf of the UK Government, DESNZ, Ofgem, MCS or any local authority. We do not administer any grant scheme, we cannot approve an application, and we never charge for anything a government provides free.

How we are paid. We are paid a fee by installers when we introduce a homeowner who asks for a quote. It does not change your price, and we are not paid more by one installer than another for the same job. In full.

Short answer

A typical 4.4kWp UK system: about ten panels: costs roughly £6,000 to £7,800 installed, and the national average job value is around £7,279. Scaffolding, a consumer unit upgrade and bird proofing can add £1,200 to £2,900 on top, and are frequently missing from the first quote you are shown.

4.4kWp installed
£6,000–£7,800
UK average job
~£7,279
Usually excluded
£1,200–£2,900
VAT
0% until March 2027
By the UKSolars editorial team Updated 2026-09-02
Sources checked 2026-09-02 0% VAT on domestic solar: checked 2026-08-23
Solar installers fitting black panels to a tiled roof on a red-brick UK house using scaffolding
Access and scaffolding can materially change an installation quote, so compare what each installer has included. · Original UKSolars editorial image
Checklist of six items to compare in a UK solar quote: panels, inverter, scaffolding, electrical work, roof work and bird proofing
A quote-comparison checklist. Mark each item as included, excluded or not required before comparing totals.

Most cost pages in this category give you a headline number and a payback table. The headline number is usually about right. The payback table is where they fall apart: one page ranking for this term publishes a break-even table showing the same number of years for three different system sizes, which cannot be true unless cost and yield scale identically, and they do not.

So this page does two things instead: gives you the price ranges with what they exclude, and hands you the model rather than the answer.

The install cost

Panel prices are relatively standard. UK quotes vary more because of access, electrical work and roof condition. Two quotes for the same array can differ by £1,500 without either being wrong.

The costs left off the first quote

Check which additional works are included before comparing totals.

A quote without these is not cheaper: it is incomplete

Scaffolding is required on many jobs and varies with access. It is also often excluded from headline prices. If one quote is £900 below the others, check whether scaffolding is in it before you conclude anything.

Payback: why we will not give you one number

For many UK households the estimate is 8 to 16 years. The range reflects differences between properties and usage.

Six inputs drive it:

  1. Installed cost: the final amount you pay.
  2. Yield: kWh per kWp per year, set by orientation, pitch and shading.
  3. Self-consumption share: the proportion you use rather than export. This is the big one.
  4. Import price: what you avoid paying, currently around 27p per unit.
  5. Export rate: what you are paid. The best untied flat rate in our table was 6p/kWh on 1 September 2026.
  6. Inverter replacement: £800 to £1,800, typically at year 10 to 15.

~15p

The gap between using a unit yourself and exporting it. Self-consumption share is the input that moves payback most, which is why it is the one worth arguing about

Import based on typical price cap unit rates; export from the best widely available untied flat rate

A household that is out on weekdays with no battery typically self-consumes 30 to 40% of what it generates. Someone working from home, or with a battery, an EV or a heat pump, can reach 60 to 80%. Same roof, same cost, very different payback.

A single national payback figure cannot account for these factors. The calculator lets you change all six inputs.

What our model deliberately leaves out

No electricity price inflation, and no discount rate.

Both are defensible, both cut in opposite directions, and both are the levers by which a payback figure gets quietly engineered down to a marketable number. Leaving them out keeps the result conservative and the arithmetic checkable. If you want to model rising prices, raise the import price input and watch what happens.

What you should be comparing between quotes

  • Total kWp and panel count, and the panel make and model.
  • Inverter make and model, and its warranty separately from the panel warranty: they are rarely the same length.
  • The generation estimate and its assumptions: orientation, pitch, shading. A single confident number with no working is a sales figure.
  • Scaffolding, in or out.
  • Consumer unit upgrade, in or out.
  • Bird proofing, in or out.
  • What happens if the survey finds the roof needs work: before you have paid a deposit.
  • Who handles the DNO application, and whether the system needs G99 approval.

On funding, before you spend anything

Three things are worth checking first:

  • 0% VAT applies to every domestic installation until 31 March 2027 regardless of income. There is nothing to apply for.
  • Grant funding exists but is narrow: broadly, a means-tested benefit or income under £36,000 plus an EPC of D to G. If that might be you, check before you buy, because you cannot claim retrospectively.
  • An export tariff is worth choosing deliberately. The spread between suppliers is wide and the best headline rates are usually tied to taking your import from the same company.

Cost data

The UK Solar Cost Index uses the latest DESNZ regional table, derived from MCS installation records. It is a benchmark rather than a quote for your roof.

Installed cost by system size

SystemPanelsRoof area Typical installed costUsually suits
3.5 kWp 8 16 m² £5,000–£6,500 A 1–2 bedroom home, or a low-usage household
4.4 kWp 10 20 m² £6,000–£7,800 The UK median installation — a 3 bedroom semi
5.3 kWp 12 24 m² £7,000–£9,000 A 3–4 bedroom home with a heat pump or an EV
6.2 kWp 14 28 m² £8,000–£10,500 A 4+ bedroom home, high daytime usage
7 kWp 16 32 m² £9,000–£12,000 Large detached, usually needing G99 approval

These bands have not yet been rebuilt from an MCS extraction, so no data month is shown. Ranges are indicative, not a quote.

The costs that are usually left off the first quote

ItemTypical cost When it appliesWhat to watch
Scaffolding £300–£1,200 Almost always Varies with height, access and whether the scaffold has to go over a conservatory or a neighbour’s land. Some quotes exclude it entirely — check.
Consumer unit upgrade £400–£800 Where the existing board cannot take the circuit Older boards frequently cannot. It is a legitimate cost, but it should appear on the quote rather than on the invoice.
Bird proofing £500–£900 Recommended, rarely quoted upfront Pigeons nesting under an array is the single most common post-install complaint. Retrofitting mesh costs more than fitting it on day one.
Roof remediation up to £3,000 Where the roof needs work first A 25-year array on a roof with 8 years left is a false economy. A survey should establish this before you sign.
Inverter replacement £800–£1,800 Year 10–15 Panels outlast inverters. Payback models that run 25 years and never replace the inverter are wrong by roughly one replacement.
DNO G99 application up to £400 Systems above 3.68kW per phase Usually handled by the installer, and usually free, but approval takes 4–8 weeks and can come back with conditions.

These bands have not yet been rebuilt from an MCS extraction, so no data month is shown. Ranges are indicative, not a quote.

Common questions

How much do 10 solar panels cost in the UK?
Ten panels is roughly 4.4kWp at current panel wattages, and runs about £6,000 to £7,800 installed. The spread within that range comes mostly from roof access and scaffolding rather than from the panels themselves, which are close to a commodity.
What does a 4kW system with a battery cost?
Add £4,000 to £8,000 to the panel cost, driven mainly by usable battery capacity. Fitting the battery at the same time as the panels avoids a second set of scaffolding and a second visit, so it is cheaper than retrofitting later: though retrofit is entirely practical if you would rather split the spend.
Why are the quotes I have been given so different?
Usually because they are not quoting the same job. Check whether each includes scaffolding, a consumer unit upgrade, bird proofing and any roof remediation, and whether the panel and inverter makes are the same. A quote that excludes scaffolding is not cheaper, it is incomplete.
Is VAT included?
Domestic solar is zero-rated for VAT until 31 March 2027, after which it reverts to 5%. On a £7,000 job that is around £350. A quote showing VAT on a domestic installation today is worth querying.
How long until it pays for itself?
Realistically 8 to 16 years, and the spread is real rather than uncertainty. The biggest single driver is how much generation you use at home rather than export, because a unit used is worth about 27p and a unit exported about 12p. The calculator lets you set that yourself.

Sources

Checked 2026-09-02. Rates, rules and eligibility can change. Confirm current terms before signing a contract or applying for funding.

Read next

Model your own payback→

Every assumption editable, nothing sent anywhere.

Is it worth it at all?→

Check when storage improves the numbers.

What funding exists→

Before you pay for anything.

What will solar cost you, and when does it pay back?

Set your roof size, your bill, your tariff and your export rate, and see the install cost, annual saving and payback year — with every assumption visible and editable. Runs in your browser; nothing is sent anywhere.

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