What it costs
Solar panel cost in the UK: the 2025/26 figures.
Solar panel cost in the UK, from the government’s MCS records for 264,742 systems fitted between April 2025 and March 2026: what homes paid per kilowatt, by system size and region.
It is the average, not a quote. A survey of your roof turns it into a price for your house.
The short answer
What solar panels cost in the North West.
- £1,800 per kW for a 0–4 kW systemThe North West mean for 2025/26, across 22,983 systems in the data. As an illustration only, a 4 kW array at that rate comes to about £7,200.
- £1,627 per kW for a 4–10 kW systemThe per-kW figure drops as systems get larger. Illustration: a 6 kW array at that rate is about £9,800.
- £1,955 per kW for homes alone, 0–4 kWThe regional figures mix homes and businesses; the domestic mean across Great Britain is higher, and £1,645 for the 4–10 kW band.
Included: the panels, the inverter, installing and connecting them, and VAT where it applied. Excluded: batteries, extended warranties and other work. Source: DESNZ, Solar photovoltaic (PV) cost data, 2025/26 (published 28 May 2026).
Across Great Britain
The national figures, and how they moved.
- Median £1,595 per kW at 0–4 kWDown from £1,667 the year before; after inflation, the fall was about 7%.
- Median £1,546 per kW at 4–10 kWDown from £1,641; about 9% after inflation.
- Existing houses cost more than new buildsA retrofit on an existing home averaged £2,109 per kW at 0–4 kW, against £1,518 on a new build, where the scaffold and labour are shared with the rest of the build.
- Wales averaged £1,838 per kW at 0–4 kWAnd £1,424 per kW at 4–10 kW, for anyone over the border in Wrexham or Mold.
All means and medians are per kW of installed capacity, not adjusted for inflation unless stated, from the same government release.
Why your quote differs
What moves the price of a solar installation.
- Access and scaffoldingThree storeys, a conservatory in the way, or a street with no room for a scaffold all add to the job.
- The roof itselfSlate takes longer than concrete tile, and a flat roof needs a different mounting system; how panels go on a flat roof explains why.
- The shape of the roofHips, dormers and roof windows can force several smaller arrays instead of one.
- The electricsAn old consumer unit, a long cable run to the inverter, or a system big enough to need a G99 application.
VAT and export
VAT on solar, and what exporting pays.
- 0% VAT until 31 March 2027Residential solar panels, batteries and diverters fitted by an installer who both supplies and installs them are zero-rated for VAT from 1 May 2023 until 31 March 2027, when the rate reverts to 5%. VAT is fixed at the time of supply, so an installation completed after 1 April 2027 pays 5% even if it was agreed earlier. Solar fitted to a new build during construction is zero-rated under a separate notice. HMRC VAT Notice 708/6 (energy-saving materials).
- The Smart Export GuaranteeThe Smart Export Guarantee obliges larger licensed suppliers to pay you for surplus electricity you export, and requires an MCS-certified installation. Rates as at June 2026: Octopus Energy Outgoing Octopus (Fixed) 12p per kWh; Good Energy Solar Savings (standalone) about 15p per kWh; E.ON Next Export about 16.5p per kWh; British Gas Export & Earn Plus about 15.1p per kWh; OVO Energy SEG about 12p per kWh. They change at about 30 days’ notice, so check before you choose; more in our Smart Export Guarantee guide.
The other half of the sum
What a kW of panels makes here.
About 951 kWh a year for every kW on a south-facing roof near Ellesmere Port, by PVGIS 5.2, EU Joint Research Centre. The figure for your own town is on its page, for example solar panels in Chester, Warrington or Wrexham, and the roof studio runs the model against your own bill.
Help with the cost: solar panel grants and schemes in Cheshire.
Cost questions
Solar panel cost: what people ask.
If yours isn’t here, give us a ring and ask, or see every question.
The government publishes the answer every May from MCS installation records. Its 2025/26 release draws on the MCS records of 264,742 systems fitted across Great Britain and gives the cost per kilowatt of capacity by system size, region, and whether the house is new or existing; the figures are set out at the top of this page.
No. The figures count the generation kit and the cost of fitting and connecting it, with VAT where it applied; a battery fitted at the same time is left out, so a quote that includes one needs splitting before you compare it.
Not for most homes until 31 March 2027: the rate is 0% when one firm supplies and fits the panels, then 5% from 1 April 2027. The date that counts is when the job is completed, not when it was agreed.
Scaffolding, labour, the inverter, the paperwork and the network notification are partly fixed costs, so they are spread over more panels on a bigger system. The government’s own figures show the same pattern every year.
About 951 kWh a year on a south-facing roof at a typical pitch near Ellesmere Port, by PVGIS, the European Commission’s solar model. East- or west-facing roofs and shaded ones make less.
Where next
From the average to your roof.
Start here
Get a quote for your roof.
Tell us the postcode and roughly what you use. We’ll tell you honestly whether the roof is worth doing — and if it isn’t, that’s a perfectly good answer too.
- Takes about a minute
- You get a person, not a brochure
- No obligation, and no visit until you ask for one