How much do solar panels cost in the UK?
Solar panels cost £7,000 on average in the UK. Most jobs fall between £5,000 and £12,000 installed. System size: 3-4 kW £5,000 to £7,000; 5-6 kW £7,000 to £9,500; 6 kW+ £9,000 to £12,000. Prices reviewed June 2026.
A solar panel setup, sometimes called solar PV, is priced by system size in kilowatts, then by whether you add a battery. A battery roughly doubles the value of the panels for evening use but adds a lot to the price.
Solar panels cost calculator
Use the calculator to price your solar panels in 2026. Adjust the options and area for a UK cost range. Nothing is sent anywhere.
To price the whole job, use the solar panel cost calculator.
Solar panels cost breakdown
Typical solar panels costs, by option:
| System size | Typical UK cost |
|---|---|
| 3-4 kW (smaller home) | £5,000 to £7,000 |
| 5-6 kW (typical) | £7,000 to £9,500 |
| 6 kW+ (larger home) | £9,000 to £12,000 |
| + Add a battery (5 to 13.5 kWh) | add £4,000 to £11,000 |
What's included in the price?
Typical solar panels prices include:
- Panels, inverter and mounting
- Installation and scaffolding
- Certification and grid notification
- A monitoring app
What changes the price?
The things that move solar panels prices most:
System size in kilowatts (more panels, more output)
Whether you add a battery and how big
Roof type, pitch and any shading
Scaffolding and access
How the price is built up
The figure on your quote is built up from the panels and mounting, the inverter, the wiring and electrical work, scaffolding to reach the roof, and a day or two of installer labour, plus the MCS (or equivalent) certification and registration that lets you claim export payments. System size is the main driver, so a small array near the £5,000 end carries far fewer panels than a larger one nearer £12,000, and adding a battery is the single biggest step up in price. Roof type and any shading or access difficulty push the labour and scaffolding portion up, which is why two homes with the same number of panels can be quoted quite differently. Installations currently carry 0% VAT until 31 March 2027, so the prices here already reflect that relief. Most of the cost is in the kit, the panels and inverter making up the bulk, plus the battery if you add one, with labour, scaffolding and the MCS certified electrical work usually accounting for roughly a third of an installed price.
Ways to keep the cost down
- Decide on the battery separately. It is the largest single add-on, often £4,000 to £11,000, and you can add one later if the upfront figure is too steep.
- Get three MCS certified quotes for the same system size, as installed prices for comparable arrays vary widely between firms.
- Check whether scaffolding is included in the quote rather than added afterwards, since it can be £400 to £800 on its own.
- Size the system to what you actually use in the daytime. Self-consumption saves far more than the SEG export rate of around 12p to 15p per unit, so a bigger array you cannot use yourself pays back more slowly.
Does where you live change the cost?
In London, solar panels typically cost around £8,400 installed, about 20% above the UK average of £7,000. In the North, Scotland and Wales the guide figure is nearer £6,800.
| Region | From | Typical | Up to |
|---|---|---|---|
| Midlands / East (UK average) | £5,000 | £7,000 | £12,000 |
| London | £6,000 | £8,400 | £14,500 |
| South East / South West | £5,300 | £7,400 | £12,500 |
| North / Scotland / Wales | £4,900 | £6,800 | £11,500 |
Guide prices installed, scaled with the same regional multipliers as the calculator. Not quotes.
Solar panels cost in major UK cities
| City | From | Typical | Up to |
|---|---|---|---|
| Belfast | £4,800 | £6,700 | £11,500 |
| Birmingham | £5,000 | £7,000 | £12,000 |
| Bristol | £5,300 | £7,400 | £12,500 |
| Cardiff | £4,900 | £6,800 | £11,500 |
| Edinburgh | £4,900 | £6,800 | £11,500 |
| Glasgow | £4,900 | £6,800 | £11,500 |
| Leeds | £4,900 | £6,800 | £11,500 |
| Liverpool | £4,900 | £6,800 | £11,500 |
| London | £6,000 | £8,400 | £14,500 |
| Manchester | £4,900 | £6,800 | £11,500 |
| Newcastle | £4,900 | £6,800 | £11,500 |
| Sheffield | £4,900 | £6,800 | £11,500 |
City guide estimates, scaled by local labour costs. Indicative averages for solar panels, not quotes.
Less location-sensitive than wet trades, but scaffolding and labour are higher in London.
Compare this with a real quote
The figures above are guide prices. Two or three quotes for your solar panels tell you what it costs where you live.
Common questions
How much do solar panels cost for a 3 bed house?
A typical 4kW to 5kW system for a 3 bedroom house costs around £5,000 to £8,000 without a battery. Add a 5kWh battery and the total is about £9,000 to £14,500, or £11,500 to £17,000 with a 10kWh one.
Is a solar battery worth it?
A battery lets you use more of what you generate in the evening and adds £4,000 to £11,000 depending on usable capacity. Whether it pays back depends on your usage pattern and electricity price, so model it before committing.
How much does a solar battery add to the cost?
A home battery typically adds £4,000 to £11,000 to a solar installation, and usable capacity is what decides where you land. A 5kWh unit for evening use is about £4,000 to £6,500 fitted, a 10kWh battery for a typical family home £6,500 to £9,000, and 13.5kWh or more for a large home or whole-home backup £8,500 to £11,000. It is the single largest optional item on most quotes, which is why a 4 to 5 kW array is £5,000 to £8,000 on its own and about £9,000 to £14,500 with a 5kWh battery. You do not have to buy it at the same time, as a battery can be added later, though fitting it alongside the panels saves a second visit and a second set of electrical work.
Does scaffolding cost extra on top of the quote?
Scaffolding usually costs £400 to £800 for a standard two-storey house and is often already included in the installed price, but not always. It is needed for safe roof access during the fit, so it is a genuine part of the job rather than an upsell. Awkward access, a third storey or a steep or fragile roof can push this figure higher. Always ask whether the quoted price includes scaffolding before comparing one installer against another, since an excluded figure can make a cheaper looking quote dearer overall.
How long do solar panels take to pay for themselves?
Payback in the UK is typically around 6 to 14 years, and where you fall in that range depends mostly on how much of your own generation you use rather than export. Using power directly in the day, for example running appliances, an EV charger or a heat pump, saves you the full unit price you would otherwise pay, while exported electricity only earns the Smart Export Guarantee rate of roughly 12p to 15p per unit. A typical 4kW system might earn £120 to £370 a year from export alone, so households that self-consume a large share reach payback sooner.
Are solar panels worth it in the UK?
Solar panels are worth it for many UK homes, though it depends on your roof and how much electricity you use during daylight. A typical system costs around £7,000 installed and cuts your bills by using power you would otherwise buy. Surplus you export can earn a little through the Smart Export Guarantee, with rates that vary a lot between suppliers. The case is stronger if you are home in the daytime, have a roof with little shade, and plan to stay put for several years.
How much do 12 solar panels cost?
Twelve solar panels usually cost between £5,000 and £8,000 installed, with around £7,000 being typical. At roughly 400 to 450 watts each, twelve panels give about a 5 kilowatt system, which suits many three and four bedroom homes. Your final price depends on roof access, height and shading, so it helps to compare quotes on total kilowatts and expected yearly output rather than on panel count alone.
Can I fit solar panels myself?
You can fit the mounts and panels if you are genuinely equipped for work at height, but not the whole job, and be honest with yourself about the first part. HSE calls all work on roofs highly dangerous, falls from height are the biggest single cause of death in construction, and a panel is heavy and awkward in wind. Confidence is not edge protection. The electrical connection has to be done by a qualified electrician and notified to your network operator, and if the installation is not certified under MCS or an equivalent scheme you lose access to grants and the export tariff. Since labour, scaffolding and the certified electrical work are only about a third of an installed price, doing part yourself saves less than you would think and risks the payback.
Check they are registered before they start
This is grant-relevant work, and certification is usually what decides whether you can claim anything. Checking takes about a minute and it is free.
- Find an MCS certified installer MCS · MCS certification is what makes a grant claim possible on this work, so check it before you sign anything
Official guidance and sources
The rules and schemes referenced on this page come from these official UK sources. The price figures are Costwise's own; see how we price.
- Smart Export Guarantee (SEG) Ofgem · SEG pays you for solar electricity exported to the grid; suppliers set the rate, which must be above zero.
- Solar PV cost data (DESNZ) GOV.UK · Real MCS-installed solar cost: about £1,600 per kW for systems up to 4 kW in 2025/26, so a typical 4 kW system is around £6,400.
Cite this data
These figures are free to use in articles, reports and research under a CC BY 4.0 licence. All we ask is a credit to Costwise, and online a link. Where your style allows, please make "Costwise" the linked word so readers can check the figure for their own region.
Costwise (2026): Solar panels typically cost £7,000 in the UK, ranging from £5,000 to £12,000 installed. Reviewed June 2026. costwiseuk.co.ukSource: Costwise (costwiseuk.co.uk)Costwise (2026). Solar panels cost. Costwise UK cost data, version 2026-09-28. https://costwiseuk.co.uk/solar-panel-cost/2026-09-28 (156 jobs)Dataset DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.21159943 · also on Kaggle, Hugging Face and Figshare. Method: how we price. Downloadable CSV.
These are independent guide prices based on typical UK jobs in 2026. Your actual cost depends on your property, spec, access and where you live. Always get at least three written quotes before committing.