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On our calculation, a 4 kWp system without a battery is worth around £523 to £603 a year on a south-facing roof and £435 to £495 on an east-facing roof, if you buy your electricity from the supplier that pays you 12p per kWh for exports. At an export rate open to anyone (about 4p), a south-facing roof is worth around £299 to £333. That's bill savings plus Smart Export Guarantee payments, for a household using 2,500 kWh a year at the October to December 2026 price cap.
See how we calculated
Through us you get quotes from several installers, so you can choose the one that suits you best.
Answers to the most common questions.
No. Installation of solar panels and qualifying battery storage on a residential property is zero-rated at 0% VAT until 31 March 2027, whether or not the battery is included in the original installation. After that date the rate rises to 5%; confirm the position with your installer if you are planning a system that straddles the deadline.
On our calculation, solar panels without a battery pay back in about 11–16 years on a south-facing roof if you also buy your electricity from the supplier that pays 12p per kWh for exports, and in about 20–28 years at an open export rate of about 4p. Adding a battery raises the upfront cost and changes the payback. An unshaded, south-facing roof is ideal. East-facing roofs or those with shading take longer. Any quote that states a shorter payback should also state the roof orientation, tariff, and consumption figures behind it.
Benefit depends heavily on your roof and your export tariff. On our calculation, a 4 kWp system without a battery is worth around £523–£603 a year on a south-facing roof and £435–£495 east-facing, if you also buy your electricity from the supplier that pays 12p per kWh for exports; at an open export rate of about 4p, a south-facing roof is worth around £299–£333. That assumes a household using 2,500 kWh a year that is at home for half the day. Adding a battery changes these figures, as do your actual consumption and SEG tariff.
Most domestic solar installations fall under permitted development and do not require a formal planning application. Exceptions include listed buildings, properties in conservation areas or World Heritage Sites, and some flat-roof installations. Your installer should confirm your property's status before work begins.
The SEG requires suppliers with at least 150,000 domestic customers to offer a paid export tariff for surplus power your system sends to the grid. To qualify, your installation must be certified under MCS or an equivalent scheme. Rates vary by supplier and must always be above zero, so it pays to compare tariffs from several suppliers once you have your MCS certificate.
Unshaded south-facing roofs generate the most per panel. East or west-facing roofs still work but produce less, extending payback. Shading from chimneys, trees, or neighbouring buildings reduces output further. A proper site survey, which any serious installer should carry out before quoting, is the only way to get a figure that reflects your actual roof.
Component brands, battery chemistry, inverter quality, scaffolding requirements, and workmanship warranty terms all vary between installers and affect the price. A lower headline quote may exclude items a higher one covers. Asking each installer to break out panels, inverter, battery, mounting, labour, and warranty separately lets you compare offers on equal terms.
A solar and battery system can shift more of what your panels generate into the hours you actually need it, cutting what you buy from the grid beyond what solar alone achieves. The Energy Saving Trust puts a typical 4.5 kWp home solar panel system at around £7,600 installed (2026), and installation currently attracts 0% VAT (zero-rated to 31 March 2027).
The question most homeowners face is whether adding battery storage makes the numbers work for their roof, their usage pattern, and their budget. The answer depends on specifics no headline figure can give you, which is why real quotes, sized to your home, matter more than any published estimate.
Below is a comparison of what each type is like.
A battery added to an existing solar array via its own inverter. This is the most common route when panels are already in place and you want to add storage without replacing working kit.
Panels, battery, and a single hybrid inverter installed together in one project. Energy moves from panel to battery before conversion, which cuts losses. This is often the more efficient choice when starting from scratch.
Panels without a battery, relying on the Smart Export Guarantee to pay for surplus sent to the grid. Upfront cost is lower, but you buy from the grid at peak times in the evening. SEG payments require an MCS-certified install and the rate varies by supplier.
A system sized to store several days of typical household use. It can be paired with an EV charger or heat pump. It suits homes with high evening demand or regular grid outages.
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A larger array generates more power and can charge a bigger battery, but it costs more upfront. The right size depends on your annual consumption, roof area, and how much of your usage you want to cover directly; oversizing for a small household rarely improves payback.
Battery cost is roughly proportional to storage capacity in kilowatt-hours. Lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cells now dominate the domestic market for their cycle life and safety record, but prices vary between manufacturers, and the headline kWh figure alone does not tell the full cost story.
An unshaded south-facing roof generates measurably more per panel per year than an east-facing or partially shaded one. Installers should model your specific roof before quoting: a system priced for ideal conditions on a shaded roof will not deliver the expected return.
A straightforward pitched roof on a two-storey house costs less to install on than a flat roof, a listed building, or a property that needs scaffolding for access. These variables rarely appear in published price guides but can shift the final invoice by hundreds of pounds.
Item | Value |
|---|---|
Typical payback period | about 11–16 years south-facing and 13–19 east-facing if you buy your electricity from the supplier paying 12p for exports; about 20–28 years south-facing at an open rate of about 4p (our calculation) |
Typical panel/product warranty | panels: terms vary by manufacturer; inverters: at least 5 years, often extendable (Energy Saving Trust) |
VAT on residential solar installation | 0% (zero-rated to 31 Mar 2027) |
Typical installed system cost (domestic) | £7,600 approx. for a typical 4.5 kWp home system (Energy Saving Trust, 2026) |
Annual benefit incl. Smart Export Guarantee | £523–£603 a year south-facing and £435–£495 east-facing if you buy your electricity from the supplier paying 12p for exports; £299–£333 south-facing at an open rate of about 4p (our calculation, 4 kWp, no battery) |
Facts verified as of 2026-10-02.
Once you have chosen an installer and signed the contract, the first practical step is a detailed site survey, often the same visit used to confirm measurements, roof load, and cable routes. The installer lodges any required planning notification or permitted development confirmation at this point; most domestic solar installations fall under permitted development, but properties in conservation areas or listed buildings may need formal consent.
Installation itself typically takes one to two days for a combined solar-and-battery system on a standard roof. The installer commissions the system, checks the inverter settings, and registers the installation with MCS. That registration is what enables you to apply for a Smart Export Guarantee tariff with your electricity supplier.
Suppliers with at least 150,000 domestic customers must offer a SEG tariff once you provide an MCS (or equivalent) certificate; the rate is supplier-set and varies, so it pays to compare tariffs at that stage. Panel product warranties vary by manufacturer; inverters around 5–15 years. Keep all certificates and warranties in a single folder: you will need them if you sell the property or make a warranty claim.
Prices and rates reviewed 2 October 2026
