Solar Panel Costs, Savings and Payback in the UK
Solar panels convert sunlight into electricity you can use in your home, cutting how much you buy from the grid. Here’s what UK homeowners typically pay, and what they typically get back.
What solar costs
Because every property is different, it’s nearly impossible to give an accurate installed cost from a page like this. The real figure depends on your house size, current electricity spend, roof orientation and pitch, shading from trees or nearby buildings, and your location, among other things. Get matched with an installer for a quote based on your actual property.
Payback period
How quickly a system pays for itself depends on system size, roof orientation, how much electricity you use during daylight hours, and export tariff rates, so it varies from home to home. Adding a battery (see our battery storage page) usually extends the payback period, because you’re paying more upfront, but it also increases how much of your own generation you actually use rather than exporting it cheaply.
Annual savings
At current electricity prices, a typical 4 to 6kW system cuts a household’s annual electricity bill by a meaningful amount, combining reduced grid electricity purchases with export payments for anything you don’t use. The exact figure depends on your system size, your own usage pattern and how much of what you generate you use directly rather than export, try our energy cost calculator for an estimate based on your own home. The Smart Export Guarantee (SEG), which pays you for electricity you export back to the grid, typically adds a few hundred pounds a year on top of your direct usage savings, more for a larger system that exports more. See our SEG guide for how that breaks down.
Return over the system’s lifetime
Solar panels are generally expected to last 25 years or more. Over that period, most homeowners get back well more than they paid for their system, though the actual return depends on system size, how much you use versus export, and whether electricity prices stay broadly similar to today’s, which isn’t guaranteed.
These figures are UK-wide averages for illustration, not a quote. Your actual cost and savings depend on your roof, location, household electricity use and the installer you choose. Get matched with vetted installers for a quote based on your own home.