How much do solar panels cost in the UK?

Two houses on the same street can be quoted very differently, and usually for good reasons. The number of panels and their output set the equipment cost, but access, roof construction, electrical work and the amount of storage often account for a large part of the difference.

A single advertised figure only holds for one specific system on one specific roof. Publishing it invites a comparison that does not survive contact with your property, and it encourages sizing a system to hit a price rather than to fit your electricity use.

Instead, we start with measurable facts about your roof, add your actual electricity usage, and quote against the system that follows from them. You get the reasoning as well as the number.

Savings have two components: electricity you no longer buy because you used your own generation, and payment for exported surplus if you are on an export tariff. That makes your saving dependent on your consumption pattern, your unit rate, how much generation you use in the home and whether you add storage.

Any online estimate — including ours — is a model. Our estimate uses your own roof data and the usage figures you enter, and it states the assumptions behind it, so you can see exactly what would change the answer.

Compare quotes on what they include rather than the total alone. Check the panel count and wattage, the inverter model and capacity, usable battery capacity rather than nameplate, whether scaffolding and electrical works are included, the warranty terms for each component and for the workmanship, and who handles the grid connection paperwork.

Also check the assumptions behind any savings figure. A larger claimed saving usually means a more optimistic self-consumption assumption, not better equipment.

Our proposals are written as one installed system rather than a parts list, so the price covers the design, the equipment, the mounting, the scaffolding, the electrical work, the installation, the testing and commissioning, the grid connection paperwork and the handover documentation. Anything excluded is stated in the proposal rather than left for you to discover.

Prices move upwards where the roof or the property adds genuine work: difficult access or an unusually high roof, multiple small roof faces, in-roof mounting, roof repairs found at survey, a consumer unit that needs replacing, long cable routes, three-phase supplies, or export limitation equipment required by the network operator.

Two things outside the installation itself affect what a system costs you overall. VAT treatment on domestic solar and battery installations is set by government policy and applied as it stands at the time of your contract, and is confirmed in writing in your proposal. Payment for exported electricity is made under the Smart Export Guarantee by your chosen electricity supplier, at that supplier's own rate, rather than by us.

Payback is simply the total cost divided by the annual benefit, so it moves with both. We only present a payback figure alongside the assumptions used to produce it, and it is always an estimate rather than a promise.