Are solar panels worth it? UK guide, 2026 Are solar panels worth it?

In this guide

Is it worth getting solar panels? The short answer

For many UK households, solar panels are worth it. A typical solar panel system costs about £7,600, cuts electricity bills by roughly £190 to £330 a year before any export income, and, with export payments, pays for itself in about a decade. The panels should then keep working for 15 years or more, so most of the savings come after the payback period.

Lots of people have reached the same answer: MCS recorded 148,531 certified solar installations in the first half of 2026 alone. Solar is less worth it if your roof faces north, is heavily shaded or needs replacing soon. The rest of this guide shows where the savings come from, how long they take to cover the cost, and how to tell which group your home is in.

How much do solar panels save?

There are two kinds of saving: electricity you don't have to buy, and payment for what you send to the grid. How much electricity a system makes depends on its size, which way the roof faces and where you live. As a rough guide, a 4 kWp solar panel system makes about 3,200 to 3,900 kWh a year, based on national government figures for 2024 (a dull year) and 2025 (a sunny one). A typical household uses about 2,500 kWh a year, Ofgem's medium figure, so a system that size can make more than you use over a year, though much of it at times you're not using it.

1. Lower energy bills: electricity you don't buy

Every unit your solar panels make that you use in the house is a unit you don't buy. From October to December 2026 the price cap for electricity is 26.32p a unit (a kilowatt hour). (The government removed VAT from electricity bills from October 2026 to March 2027, which makes each unit you buy slightly cheaper, and so each unit you generate worth slightly less.)

Which?'s 2024 survey of solar owners gives a feel for how much that covers: about a quarter said their panels supplied between half and three-quarters of the electricity they used in a year, and nearly 30% said between a quarter and a half.

2. Export income for excess energy

What you don't use goes to the grid, and under the Smart Export Guarantee (SEG) an energy supplier pays you for that surplus electricity. You need an MCS certified system, fitted by an MCS certified installer, and a smart meter that records exports. Rates range from about 1p to 25p a unit. The best rates are usually for customers who also buy their electricity from that supplier.

3. Using more of your own: a battery or an electric car

Because buying a unit costs more than twice the typical export rate, the more of your solar electricity you use yourself, the better the return. Running the washing machine in the day, a solar battery, or an electric car charged from the panels all help.

The direction and shading of the roof made a bigger difference than the distance between London and Edinburgh.

Should you buy solar panels now or wait?

Two things argue against waiting. Every year you wait is a year of savings you don't get. And government incentives change: the 0% VAT on solar panels and batteries fitted in homes ends on 31 March 2027. The rate is then due to go back to 5%, which adds about £380 to a £7,600 system.

Prices have been falling. Trade press reports of the government's 2025/26 cost data say the typical cost per kW of small home systems fell by about 8 to 9% on the year before, after inflation. There's no guarantee that continues, while the VAT change is already scheduled.

Is it worth adding battery storage?

A battery stores daytime solar for the evening, so you use more of your own electricity and import less. It adds a lot to the upfront cost: the Energy Saving Trust puts battery storage at anywhere from £1,500 to £10,000, with a 5 kWh system around £4,600, and says the savings "won't always be enough on their own" to justify it. It suits homes whose electricity usage peaks in the evening.

Most new batteries now go in alongside panels: MCS says 92% of battery installations in 2026 so far were on homes with solar. If you're pricing solar and battery storage together, ask for the panels on their own too, so you can see what the battery adds. You can also add battery storage later: we fit batteries to systems other companies installed too. Our guide to whether solar batteries are worth it does those sums.

Environmental impact and energy independence

Solar cuts your carbon footprint: the Energy Saving Trust estimates around a tonne of carbon a year for a typical system. At the end of their life, panels come under the WEEE recycling rules in their own category, which means producers fund their collection and recycling.

It gives you some independence from energy prices, because every unit you make yourself is one you don't buy at whatever the price cap is. It doesn't take you off the grid: you'll still rely on imported electricity at night and in winter, and pay the standing charge, so expect lower energy bills, not none.

On house value the evidence is mixed. Which? found most estate agents said panels don't typically add value but can make a home easier to sell, while Solar Energy UK's analysis puts the average uplift at 0.9% to 2%.